We’ve reached the halfway point of our 10-part season, which felt like the right moment to step back and talk about one of the most persistent topics in modern engineering teams - remote and hybrid working. In this episode, Si and Neil explore what working from home actually means when you’re managing software engineers. Not the policies, perks, or perfect desk setups, but the lived reality. What changed during lockdown, what stuck, what didn’t, and what still feels unresolved. The conversation spans office-first teams, fully remote organisations, and hybrid models, touching on privilege, trust, inclusion, junior development, boundaries, and the invisible rules that often go unspoken. There’s talk of sheds, spare rooms, surveillance software, walk-and-talk one-to-ones, and why “just get people back in the office” is rarely the full answer. As ever, there’s no silver bullet. Just two engineering managers comparing notes, challenging assumptions, and trying to design better ways of working on purpose. Chapters 00:00 – Mid-season check-in and why this topic keeps coming up 02:00 – Life before lockdown and the shift to hybrid working 05:30 – Fully remote by design vs remote by reaction 10:15 – Privilege, space, and the uneven reality of home working 15:10 – Choice vs circumstance and how it affects teams 19:45 – Making office days intentional, not performative 24:40 – Trust, transparency, and working in the open 30:00 – Cameras, connection, and staying human at a distance 34:00 – Surveillance tools, productivity myths, and broken trust 40:00 – What actually matters in a home working setup 47:00 – Boundaries, rituals, and knowing when the day is done 52:00 – Juniors, missed context, and unwritten rules 54:00 – Trust as the foundation and what we’d revisit next
