281–290 of 483 posts
(Disclosure: FB employee) Most of the problems about overhearing conversations, etc, can be dealt with by a nice pair of headphones. Here, it's universally accepted as the 'do not disturb' signal.
What about all of the visual distractions? People walking by, mingling, etc. Headphones don't solve that.
Open offices were developed by people who don't have to really concentrate for their job. They're awful for developers.
In addition open offices: * Are usually cheaper * Look good in photo ops and publicity: "Look how much everyone is working together _all the time_. So much activity happening! We are not like those places with loners and antisocial people hiding in cubicles" * Cubicles were used to be associated with boring, slow bureaucratic offices. Those 4 things conspire to make them more popular. I think it is simpler a function…
Honestly, I'd rather work in a "boring, slow bureaucratic office" than at some hip modern startup. The "boring, slow bureaucratic office" probably takes better care of their employees and offers a less-stressful work environment.
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Your office doesn't have a single shared meeting room? Most places I've seen with open offices have some sort of meeting rooms to use for private conversations. How do you have a client call or anything of that matter?
The company I just left does not. The company I was at previously had so little meeting room space that it was almost impossible to get a room without booking days in advance.
There were things I liked at that company (mostly the people), but everything about the way the offices were set up had me on edge all the time. No private meeting space, not a single person had their back to a wall, people were thrown into offices at random with no regard to who was on what team...
After I got laid off, I landed at a place where I work in a cube farm, and it's so much less stressful.
I hope your leaving was voluntary, though... if it was, then congrats on the new job!
(and, yeah, I figured out who you are from the about section on your profile... I used to sit right behind you)
It's also very easy to "accidentally" put more people into a very large room than it would be allowed by working regulations. There's at least one large Silicon Valley company who likes to do that. The working conditions can be quite miserable. You can call it an open office that amplifies communication in the team, so noone will notice that they're almost piling up vertically. And the problem is not just noise. Too…
Would that be the one who started putting interns in half-cubes in hallways? Where the biggest buildings might not be complying with the fire code?
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This. It's the otheredness of the conversations which happen at a cafe that makes it work. If you found yourself at a cafe sitting next to, say, the co-worker you can't stand, the director you've heard is trying to kill your project, an ex-partner and their new partner, I suspect the scene could get quite distracting rather quickly.
>> an ex-partner and their new partner That's why you never date your co-worker. And if you couldn't help it and fell in love then you should quit your job first and ask him/her on date later.
I work in an open office, and have been to Facebook's open office campus many times. I love working in an open office, and think Facebook's campus looks excellent. I think the disadvantages of open offices are radically exaggerated by people who have difficulty imagining how easy it is to book a small conference room for yourself for a few hours, to walk away to a hotel desk in a more quiet part of the office, or (mo…
Some countries mandate, for good reason, that you can't work on you laptop, without an external monitor, mouse and keyboard, when not on the road. Plus you're desk is require to be height adjustable. That sort of eliminate the option of moving around to much. Personally I feel that a persons desk is the place where they're suppose to be doing the majority of their work, so that should be the quite area. The noise peo…
I'm also curious as to which countries require this.
As the moderator of a Reddit sub focused on comp sci careers, I don't think the open office is an issue for junior level developers. The worship of what we in that sub call the big 4 (some combo of Google, Facebook, Apple (or Microsoft), Amazon) is pretty much what you hear from every college senior, and I've never heard anyone even mention this as a negative. Of course these are mostly people who haven't had much ex…
I'm under the impression that Microsoft was The One Company of the big five that still gives its employees offices with doors.
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I'm under the impression that Microsoft was The One Company of the big five that still gives its employees offices with doors.
Microsoft's buildings are converting one after the other ones into open office. About 8 to 12 people per office.
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That depends on the person. I like when other people come to my desk and ask me for help on a whim, even when I'm in the middle of something. It doesn't destroy my productivity, and often it even gives me ideas how to make my work more useful. I do respect when other people don't want to be interrupted, though.
If you stop what you are doing then, by definition, it is breaking your workflow and stopping your productivity.
I worked for a year at IBM's RTP campus. Everyone had their own dimly lit cube with 5-foot walls, no natural daylight, and white noise playing over speakers to drown out conversation. The depressing undertone of the office was part of what pushed me to quit. My team at my present job works in an open setting with 8 people in the room and windows with natural daylight. It's quiet enough to focus but gives us the oppor…
Team sized rooms sound good but what happens with a few more people are added and there is no room to easily expand?