Anyone else miss spontaneous conversations at work?

At the office? Kinda, but mostly not. In the end, it all is superficial. I haven't had a friendship from work that lasted more than 6 months after I quit. In retrospect, I would have liked all that time chatting back.

Outside the office, on the other hand, I definitely miss spontaneous conversation. In my experience, post corona, it's kinda hard to talk to anyone random. Most places where it would be appropriate are operating at a lower capacity, everyone is wearing a mask(making it difficult to read sentiment), and they all just want to get in and get out. It doesn't help that at least 20% of people are down right paranoid about getting the virus. I miss those random conversations at the cafe, the gym, the grocery store, the gastropub, etc., because at least they happen in a natural environment and have some potential for actual acquaintance. I know things are opening up very slowly, but it's still not the same.

Workplace, I can't care less. People are more fake at the workplace than in real life.

The biggest thing I miss were the daily walks with close coworkers, whether to grab coffee, lunch or just to get outside and enjoy the fresh air.

I'm blessed in that I have two roommates I'm also best friends with, so that definitely helps, but I do agree with you that there is a certain privilege, if you will, to the spontaneity that comes with office talk.

We're back in the office 40 hrs/wk. Cubemates aren't exactly best buds, but today, we talked about: 1) motorcycle tire geometry 2) are Can-Ams really motorcycles 3) mechanical stethoscopes & car noises 4) the different types of superchargers 5) sports car vs super car 6) catalytic converters... I don't know, I would much rather telework 2, 4, even 5 days/wk. I don't think you're missing much, but I don't know your coworkers.

I think after-work hours are the big suck right now: teleworking 9-5 would be way better if 6-10 all the restaurants / bars / coffeeshops / .. were open (for that matter, coffeeshops 996 or st).

Yes. A lot. this is one of the things that really hit me hard when we closed our office and went fully remote Ad hoc random conversations about mechanical keyboards, good beers and tech opinions (React vs Vue, iOS vs Android) A lot of people will dismiss them as superficial (which it is to a great extent) but I still think it made us much more of a tight knit team

My team has been remote for years, and it never stopped us from having spontaneous conversations. We have Slack channels set up specifically for that purpose, where many people say hi each morning, and throw in their thoughts. We'll do occasional calls with everyone as well, just to catch up.

The barrier to this isn't lack of an app - it is just developing the habit of reaching out and saying "Hi."

I built a social network for conversations during the lonely lockdown: https://taaalk.co. The conversations are typically about a subject (e.g. mental health, bitcoin, etc.). Anyone can start one and/or you can leave your details to Taaalk with others/request to Taaalk with someone who has left their details.

Please enjoy :). Always interested in feedback. Email in bio.

If the problem sounds interesting to anyone, I hacked up a little landing page to try and explain the proposed app better and gauge interest, https://trychitchat.web.app/ .

Shoutout to https://uselander.xyz/ for making it so easy to create clean landing pages.

I don't miss it, but I've been working remotely for a long time. I recommend scheduling meetings a bit long on either end to facilitate chit-chat. An always-on voice channel is kind of nice sometimes as well (something like Mumble or Discord). Also, scheduling regular social hours with coworkers is pretty nice -- it can be as simple as playing a video game or a virtual happy hour.

No. The open office environment was very annoying.

So I got some good noise canceling headphones and all was right for awhile until people start waving their hand in front of your face. ;-/

for me, I've yet to have an online hangout experience that I actually enjoyed. I have a lot of trouble focusing on a screen, and with only one person able to talk at a time, I just can't get into conversations. They feel so unnatural.

Some people at work meet up on zoom rooms to hang out but the idea gives me weird anxiety. I'd give anything to go back to the office, but yet another meetup app wouldn't do anything for me.

I do just for the social aspect. I don't miss other stuff like sitting in rows and never talking to the rows behind me because we're not on the same team and never overlap on anything. That's always just struck me as strange.

I also miss blowing off some steam with colleagues. I find noone really complains or blows off steam on Zoom or in MS Teams Chat.

We've extended our standups to have a chit-chat part, we also have coffee hangouts 2 a week. We did have always on voice channels on discord but they died out after couple of weeks. Once in a while we watch stupid movies together, and comment with voice chat. I'd stay it's not a replacement, but a decent substitute. I do miss the coffee in the office though.

I had the same problem and so I created a website to make it easy for you to talk with your colleague.

The idea is that you can see who is around and just jump into a conversation without calling.

If you are interested you can look at it at https://www.inoffice.chat

Maybe check out https://www.wonder.me/? Seems like it could be useful

Some people at my company are using it, but I don't miss the watercooler talk that much, so I haven't tried it

I show up to meetings 15 minutes early if I can. Sometimes I catch other earlybirds doing this and we take the time to chat. Doesn't quite scratch the itch, but it's a good way to meet people.

yep, i'm ready go back to the office. This WFH stuff isn't all that it was hyped up to be and from talking to my co-workers, I'm not alone.

I don't think I'd ever work for a company that doesn't have significant in person/office presence.

Absolutely unequivocally no.

Duplicate question https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24664221 The guidelines ask for "Please don't delete and repost." but I think that also applies to asking the same question within 2 hours.