Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?

#211

Post by 0xFACEFEED » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 2:38 PM UTC

matchagaucho wrote: post #188

ubermonkey wrote: post #157

I get I'm part of the privileged few, but: I've been working for a small software company for almost 11 years, and EVERYONE at my company is remote. We don't lease any real estate anywhere, unless a mailbox and a colo rack count. It's AWESOME, but there are caveats. The biggest one is that we can't really hire newbies; everyone we've brought in has to be mid-career at a minimum because the absence of the "water coole…

This is my #1 challenge at the moment... how to sustain a remote company culture and offer mentoring/onboarding to early career Developers. I support the "craft" of Software; which requires an equal distribution of Apprentice, Journeyman (Journeyperson) and Master level people. But it's difficult to "pass on" the craft to an Apprentice who is remote, so our team tends to be all mid-career folks.

I've seen this strategy work: pick a senior engineer with an affinity for leadership and hire a couple junior people in their local area. The senior person would have the final say on hiring the juniors and co-work with them occasionally.

The company would pay for coffee/food if it's a coffee shop, space/food if it's a co-working space, etc.

Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?

#212

Post by IntelMiner » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 2:42 PM UTC

blitzo wrote: post #70

rdl wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the office concept I've always wanted to build. It would be cool if someone from the company could document it/blog post/etc. -- might be good for recruiting too. (Especially since Viasat does pretty cool stuff -- excited about the new Exede sat expanding coverage...) I was thinking it would make sense to have roller doors or some other way to open the entire side of the office (on both sides -- "neighborhood"…

I find this https://imgur.com/CvtAHgZ IKEA Mandal divider turn-into cubicle reach a compromising middle ground between open and closed space.

Personally I feel like that thing would be even worse

Everyone walking past and around would cause the light streaming in through the gaps to randomly flicker

That would be endlessly distracting for me, personally at least

Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?

#213

Post by hamandchris » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 2:44 PM UTC

motohagiography wrote: post #176

Funny behaviors from an open office plan I experienced: - tribes claiming spaces: there was a couch area where a natural affinity group formed based on common personality types typical of urban/suburban tribal divide. developed an in-group/out-group mentality. a counter group formed in a lunch area. - posturing: top tech individual contributor used main boardroom for "really important video conference meetings," and…

> Callout culture, where instead of addressing issues, people would call out others to demand explanations in front of teams, managers, or in main slack channels.

While it definitely sounds like the open floor plan was weaponized for this, that is definitely its own problem that can be observed anywhere leadership doesn't specifically root it out.

Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?

#214

Post by the_snooze » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 2:46 PM UTC

Not a "tech company" in the traditional sense, but everyone had an office (shared with one, maybe two, other people) when I was at a university lab. It was great because those really facilitated conversations, both work-related and otherwise.

I spent two years in a "tech company" after that, which had a cubicle setup, and I totally hated it.

I'm back in academia now with my own office, which is pretty sweet. "Non-office" setups are probably a dealbreaker for me at this point.

Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?

#215

Post by smashface » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 2:47 PM UTC

SAS at the Cary, NC headquarters does not use open floor plans. I don't know about other office locations though. Pretty much everyone gets their own office with a door. Only time I've seen people without their own space was interns in their own cubicle or contractors in a shared office.

Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?

#216

Post by vippy » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 2:49 PM UTC

Our team has bays, which aren't perfect, but at least we have walls between teams. We're a software shop.

At Applied Security Inc. in Reston Virginia, most people have individual offices; there are, at most, two or three people per office.

Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?

#217

Post by matchagaucho » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 2:51 PM UTC

0xFACEFEED wrote: post #211

matchagaucho wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is my #1 challenge at the moment... how to sustain a remote company culture and offer mentoring/onboarding to early career Developers. I support the "craft" of Software; which requires an equal distribution of Apprentice, Journeyman (Journeyperson) and Master level people. But it's difficult to "pass on" the craft to an Apprentice who is remote, so our team tends to be all mid-career folks.

I've seen this strategy work: pick a senior engineer with an affinity for leadership and hire a couple junior people in their local area. The senior person would have the final say on hiring the juniors and co-work with them occasionally. The company would pay for coffee/food if it's a coffee shop, space/food if it's a co-working space, etc.

That's an excellent suggestion. Thx.

Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?

#218

Post by mindB » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 2:51 PM UTC

DisruptiveDave wrote: post #170

I juuuust got off a catch-up call with an old college buddy who works at one of the big wireless companies. He described what I read about here on HN and in some blog posts: The company completely changed its "culture" in a desperate attempt to "attract millennials" (and be on trend). Moved to an open floor plan where nobody has an assigned desk. You literally cannot leave anything overnight or you get some sort of a…

What's crazy about this is that this nonsense with open floor plan to "attract Millenials" isn't even happening just in tech. My dad's an engineer working in GM's radio group, and they're pushing hot-desking on his entire building. Before it was common practice for each engineer to have a bench for doing small soldering and things like that at, but now even that kind of stuff is hot-desked in a common "lab" area. From just a few conversations with him, it's clear the drain on productivity has been insane, but nobody seems to care.

Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?

#219

Post by BurritoAlPastor » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 2:51 PM UTC

PeterStuer wrote: post #194

afoot wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is very interesting, because your office sounds like hell to me. Any time I work from home I'm absolutely desperate for meaningless social interaction, a walk and a chat while out for coffee, a beer with my team at lunch or after work and face to face discussion. I guess it's hard to find something that works for everyone.

Interesting. I work from home most often, and I find that not having to tack on a 2 1/2 hr daily car commute leaves me time for actually socializing IRL as opposed to trying to cram that need into the office.

Yeah, but where do you find anybody to socialize with?

Re: Ask HN: What are some tech companies that do not use an open floor plan?

#220

Post by jschwartzi » Wed, Apr 18, 2018, 2:52 PM UTC

gdulli wrote: post #172

benzesandbetter wrote: post #110

If avoiding open-plan is a priority, I recommend you focus on negotiating for a remote work arrangement, rather than excluding good companies. My last two long-term engagements have been at Fortune 100 companies and I've worked remotely for both. In the first case, I was the only remote employee in my business unit. I was hired because I had a high level of competency with a technology they were investing heavily in.…

Working alone at home would be a worse option for me than working in an unfavorable office environment. More like a non-starter than worse. I get that there are people who love the idea of being isolated. But I think there are more who want to be around people instead of alone. And there should be a reasonable option for them, not open plan.

Remote does not mean isolated. I spend most nights and weekends out with friends and groups. When I worked in an office I would frequently be too tired from interacting with people to plan things.