It is unquestionably destroying productivity. Of that there can be absolutely not one shred of doubt. There are literally over a THOUSAND studies showing that open floor plan offices absolutely massacre productivity, especially in any form of mental work. It is patently insane that so many smart people just spit in the face of mountains and mountains of legitimate research.
Is Facebook’s Massive Open Office Scaring Away Developers?
431–440 of 483 posts
Re: Is Facebook’s Massive Open Office Scaring Away Developers?
#432Earlier quoted context omitted.
It depends on the headphones. A good set of active or passive noise cancelling headphones will block all the sound even with no music. I wear my headphones as earplugs on an airplane when I want to sleep, and I can usually keep my volume at 10% of max or less and hear everything crystal clear. The biggest downside is that my headphones cost $350 and are only available in Europe or Montreal, CA.
Noise-canceling headphones are really hit or miss, though. Like, I can't wear them. They drive me crazy . Ambient noise is not bad. Ambient noise is good! Being in an isolated bubble is the sort of dystopic future-stuff that...ew. No. Do not want. (For a while I thought things like Coffivity were a good idea to restore the ambient noise I was killing out with perpetual headphones...but then I realized what I was doin…
>
Noise-canceling headphones are really hit or miss, though. Like, I can't wear them. They drive me crazy. Ambient noise is not bad. Ambient noise is good! Being in an isolated bubble is the sort of dystopic future-stuff that...ew. No. Do not want.
My experience is different. I'm a person who is very sensitive towards noise (even in the classroom writing tests was horror). I personally consider silent environment + good noise canceling headphone (for silencing all the remaining noises that are still there - you are surprised how many there are) as comforting. The static noise that any noise-canceling headphone will produce is the smaller evil here.
For https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=raziel2701
> Noise canceling headphones are much more effective on constant noise like an airplane engine than transient noises like speech or phones ringing.
Also my experience. They decrease the noise of speech and phones rining, but that's it.
Re: Is Facebook’s Massive Open Office Scaring Away Developers?
#433I used to work at FB and the huge, open offices were one of my least favourite parts about the job. I worked in the London office for a year and that was actually a little better because it's smaller and generally quieter there, but the three years that I did in the Menlo Park offices were not particularly fun for all the reasons described. It's very difficult to concentrate when there's constant background noise. Me…
> The worst thing of all (in my opinion) is the fact that the open office culture is simply accepted there as being the best thing for all concerned. It's like a theory that cannot be challenged. The introverts basically don't get listened to, while the extroverts can sing and dance with happiness. Agreed.. this is the most troubling part. If you raise a concern you're brushed off or even worse looked on with suspici…
It doesn't even have anything to do with introverts or extroverts. Open floor plan offices annihilate productivity of both groups. Human beings, especially when doing mental work, can not cope with distraction. Period. It's just like how human beings can not multitask. These are limitations to the human animal which are supported by decades of research. The research on open floor plan offices isn't even a tough call. There are over a thousand different studies, all concluding the exact same things - open floor plan offices are total poison. I'm sure in 50 years we'll look back on today and be flabbergasted at what we did to people, like looking at an old work site filled with asbestos fibers drifting about and lead paint chips flaking off the walls.
Re: Is Facebook’s Massive Open Office Scaring Away Developers?
#434Earlier quoted context omitted.
Huh, when I interned at Facebook in the new, open floor building, not only was noise not a problem, I could always walk to one of the many mini-lounge/libraries for absolute silence when I needed to. Plus, headphones and ear plugs are always offered, if I recall.
For me noise isn't the only problem. People moving around, and walking by my desk is just as distracting.
Same for me. My productivity is divided at least by 2, not only because of the noise, but also because of the visual pollution, constantly seeing x or y going around.
From my experience, situation is rendered worse when management people are in the mix: then you have to observe the subtle communication tricks of small power politics, which seem to favor those who think loudly.
Not to mention non-IT guys are usually ignorant of the huge cost of context switching for programmers.
As I do no see myself explaining that I am an introvert who needs calm, the only hope is to see my side project allowing me to earn enough money to escape this nightmare.
http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2016/04/05/the-open-plan-offic...
Re: Is Facebook’s Massive Open Office Scaring Away Developers?
#435Earlier quoted context omitted.
Huh, when I interned at Facebook in the new, open floor building, not only was noise not a problem, I could always walk to one of the many mini-lounge/libraries for absolute silence when I needed to. Plus, headphones and ear plugs are always offered, if I recall.
> headphones and ear plugs are always offered This isn't a solution. Wearing headphones all day will lead to hearing loss. Especially if you have them turned up to any sort of level needed to block out even light conversation.
Earmuffs. 3M™ PELTOR™ Over-the-Head Earmuffs X4A for example goo.gl/kNR9ZG
Re: Is Facebook’s Massive Open Office Scaring Away Developers?
#436Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
What good reason is that? To me that seems a bit intrusive. I'm also curious as to which countries require this.
All Scandinavian countries have these rules, FWIW.
Height adjustable desk is nice-to-have rather than essential (would hate to go without it though, since it allows me to stand while working once in a while).
But external monitor should rightfully be mandated by law, IMO. Looking down, even slightly, puts a lot of strain on your neck muscles and can easily cause injury over the longer term. Your head and neck is like a bowling ball balancing on a pencil - fine when it it right on top, but dangerously heavy if tilted slightly off center.
Re: Is Facebook’s Massive Open Office Scaring Away Developers?
#437Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've had this and private offices... what happens is that difficult conversations can't take place except outside of the office (unless there is another space to go). Need to have a 1-1? Everyone else hears it. No meta conversations can take place unless someone is willing to go out for some coffee. The team banter ends up being trivial, and can be incredibly distracting if you need to buckle down to get something do…
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?
There's also the problem of all the small meeting rooms being booked out and occupied all the time. Usually by people from sales or administration/hr.
Re: Is Facebook’s Massive Open Office Scaring Away Developers?
#438Earlier quoted context omitted.
For me noise isn't the only problem. People moving around, and walking by my desk is just as distracting.
Same for me. My productivity is divided at least by 2, not only because of the noise, but also because of the visual pollution, constantly seeing x or y going around. From my experience, situation is rendered worse when management people are in the mix: then you have to observe the subtle communication tricks of small power politics, which seem to favor those who think loudly. Not to mention non-IT guys are usually i…
Same here, and also my productivity gets divided by 4 whenever I'm aware of people walking or standing behind me. I've been like this since childhood - when I'm doing stuff on computers, I get distracted by the very presence of other people; doubly so, if they're able to see my screen.
Re: Is Facebook’s Massive Open Office Scaring Away Developers?
#439Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
If everyone has their own office, then someone coming into your office is an everyday affair. They could be talking about a programming problem, lunch, or something personal. You don't know, but you would go crazy wondering about it, because it happens all day. In an open room where half a dozen or so people sit, if two people stand up, walk into a conference room, and shut the door, that's weird and curious.
> If everyone has their own office, then someone coming into your office is an everyday affair.
Why don't you introduce the rule that entering another office is only allowed for scheduled appointments and emergency cases (life is in danger or the production server crashed).
Re: Is Facebook’s Massive Open Office Scaring Away Developers?
#440Earlier quoted context omitted.
I couldn't do anything in an open office without blocking the noise. Visual distractions are almost as bad but are harder to block. I use sox to generate audio. It is available for win/Mac/Linux. I set it for 90 minutes of brown noise which gives me a reminder to get up and walk around when it ends. I believe it can generate white or pink noise if you prefer. >play -n synth 90:00 brownnoise brownnoise
> Visual distractions are almost as bad but are harder to block. I find a second row of monitors helps for this.
I run out of monitors already. My current office looks like this:
|
O|O
---+--- |
O|O O|O
| ---+---
X|O
|
+----|
| | | |
--+DDD+--+ |----------
| |
X - me
O - other people,
DDD - doors.