I read within a job description, "...open floor plans inspire a constant exchange of ideas, advice, and banter.". Is it just me, or do all of those things make you cringe when you're thinking about actually getting work done?
Ask HN: Why do we still use open floor plans?
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Re: Ask HN: Why do we still use open floor plans?
#2In decades past, it was predicted that people would work far less than 40 hours per week due to increases in productivity. Maybe that has happened, but we just pretend it hasn't: people now spend hours a day discussing beer with their coworkers in their open offices instead of working.
Re: Ask HN: Why do we still use open floor plans?
#3In decades past, it was predicted that people would work far less than 40 hours per week due to increases in productivity. Maybe that has happened, but we just pretend it hasn't: people now spend hours a day discussing beer with their coworkers in their open offices instead of working.
Feels more like, "We couldn't afford to build offices or didn't feel like spending money on that, so we'll give you a big cheap floor with lots of distractions, but hey creativity and all that."
Re: Ask HN: Why do we still use open floor plans?
#4I have noticed a strong trend away from doing actual work, towards cooperation and collaboration as a means of increasing the upside of the small amount of work that is actually done, to ensure it is worthwhile and relevant work being done. People in knowledge work create tremendous, near infinite at times, value - in a very small percentage of their work time. The majority of the work is meta-work that enables those tiny periods of massive contribution, and the balance is just hanging out.
Re: Ask HN: Why do we still use open floor plans?
#5Among many reasons, open floor plans are cheap. Offices require drywall and doors and (re-)construction permits. Cubicle walls are surprisingly expensive for how cheap they look. If you are looking to cut every cost you possible can, open floor plans certainly cut costs.
Re: Ask HN: Why do we still use open floor plans?
#6I work in an open plan office and sometimes I find it annoying. If I come in early, I get about an hour's peace. When people start coming in I hear conversations about kids then sport.. then when people who sit closer to me come in, I obviously have a quick morning chat with them.
The whole thing can be very distracting.
On the plus side, it's never lonely even when I am not talking to anyone. It's easy to see if people are available. It's easier to go chat to people about work.
Re: Ask HN: Why do we still use open floor plans?
#7It's a trade-off. Closed offices make deep thinking easier; open floor plans make communication easier. Ideally, you want both, but how do you get it?
Re: Ask HN: Why do we still use open floor plans?
#8this is really typical. good luck finding a startup with cubicles or private offices. It might be cheaper or maybe it's a design attempt to look effortless and elegant.
Re: Ask HN: Why do we still use open floor plans?
#9It's a trade-off. Closed offices make deep thinking easier; open floor plans make communication easier. Ideally, you want both, but how do you get it?
The "hub and spoke" model that Cal Newport suggests in Deep Work.
Re: Ask HN: Why do we still use open floor plans?
#10Among many reasons, open floor plans are cheap. Offices require drywall and doors and (re-)construction permits. Cubicle walls are surprisingly expensive for how cheap they look. If you are looking to cut every cost you possible can, open floor plans certainly cut costs.
If anyone was curious, $150 for a single straight cubicle wall, up to $1,500 for an "Office Space" style fully surrounded cubicle (inc. desk), and $5,100 for four cubicles (inc. desks and shared walls).
These are all generic grey looking ones, nothing fancy like tempered glass.