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Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

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Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#61

Post by InclinedPlane »

pklausler wrote: post #10

The problem with open office plans is that it takes just one noisy person to spoil it for everybody. If managed carefully and actively, they can work -- it just takes an manager willing to correct bad behavior or send sick people home. Where I work, I have a budding tupperware percussionist, three imminent victims of whooping cough, some parents managing high-maintenance offspring over cell phones, and one guy who co…

> "If managed carefully and actively, they can work -- it just takes an manager willing to correct bad behavior or send sick people home."

That's not a solution though, that just removes the entire benefit of the open office while also removing all the benefits of having individual offices. It's important to have places where people can socialize and collaborate, the major downside of open offices is that this has to happen in the same space where everyone else is trying to work, with obvious deleterious effects on productivity. The appropriate alternative is not to simply instill a library type atmosphere of deathly quiet, the alternative is to make it easier for people to choose whether they want to collaborate, socialize, or work, which is easiest when everyone has their own office.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#62

Post by Swizec »

mtviewdave wrote: post #46
Swizec wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe they do all those studies and decide that the hit in productivity is worth the cheaper open space? Maybe individual performance just doesn't matter that much? I'd bet that the bigger the company, the less it matters how effective individuals are and the more it matters how effective teams are. As much as I love working from home or an office or whatever, team productivity is better when people who work together…

I've worked for several big companies (though not Facebook, Google, Apple, or others in that class). None of them showed any interest in analyzing developer productivity, much less looking for ways to increase it. My gut instinct is that developer productivity is hard to measure, real estate costs are easy to measure, so you end up with 500 people in a noisy environment doing the work that 100 could do in a quiet env…

Exactly!

This isn't a problem of one office design or another. It's a problem of misaligned incentives between individual workers and the people making these decisions.

I don't think there's a solution for that.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#63

Post by mmanfrin »

ThePhysicist wrote: post #42

The company I'm currently working at bought everyone some top-of-the-line Bose noise-canceling headphones for the same reason, as we have an open plan office and coworkers can be chatty sometimes. And while the noise canceling is far from being perfect, it really makes it much easier to stay focused when working. I even wear them on my commute now as they are very good at filtering out constant amplitude white noise…

I bought some QC25s when I moved to a big open office. For me, they don't help -- what they do is they kill all the background noise, but then the individual voices still come through and they come through as the only thing I hear.

I could play music, but sometimes I like the roar of silence.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#65

Post by TeMPOraL »

bcheung wrote: post #5

I'd say environmental factors such as being so freaking hot that you are sweating or so freaking cold you have to bring in a heater to counteract the AC are pretty distracting as well. And in terms of productivity, not having enough ventilation so that the air builds up CO2 makes people really tired and unproductive.

Seconding. I've previously worked in places where I would fight my sleepiness for the whole day because ventilation was poor. I'm somewhat more sensitive to that than average, judging by the fact I was the only one with this problem.

Environmental factors are annoying, too. I prefer it colder than most people, so I sometimes will sit in a t-shirt while my cow-orkers complain it's too cold...

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#66

Post by dasmoth »

ritchiea wrote: post #16

I will never understand why this is such a point of contention on HN and why it isn't accepted that some people legitimately prefer open office plans while others prefer quiet. And even more practical and intelligent would be to offer different kinds of spaces so that people can choose where to work based on a particular mood. But instead we just get weekly complaints about open offices. I'm probably more productive…

Has anyone tried "free choice"? My suspicion is that it won't irk brillantly because even the loudest open-plan advocates generally perceive private offices as higher-status.

Also, once people are in separate offfices you do need to think about information exchange slightly more actively (a good thing IMO -- but potentially a bit of a shift for the folks who find open plan, listen-in-on-everything to work well)

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#67

Post by ghaff »

ethanbond wrote: post #56
davidtgoldblatt wrote: post #18

An anecdote for those who hoped they'd find suggestions in the comments: I ended up buying some over-the-head earmuff headphones aimed at construction workers (I think with a 25dB noise reduction rating). I put in ear plugs, then the headphones, and play some light music; even relatively loud and nearby conversations drop away pretty quickly. (Ordinary "noise cancelling" headphones aren't intended to block the sound…

At the risk of seeming spammy since I just replied to another person on here, you should check out the Here One by Doppler Labs. I had the first version and it's incredible – albeit mostly a novelty device. They're taking preorders for the new one right now and it seems to no longer be a novelty device at all... Also since you specifically mentioned comfort, these are just little wireless earbuds that feel comfy enou…

Looks interesting. I have the Bose QC-20s and they're great for traveling. They're great on planes although, as others indicate, they're better at background noise than voices. I held off on noise canceling headphones for ages because I pack pretty light and refused to bring over-the-ear headphones traveling--and then hesitated at the price.

But they were really worth it. I never realized before using them how much I was cranking up the volume to compensate for the background noise even with ear canal phones that isolated relatively well.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#68

Post by lobotryas »

Matachines wrote: post #9

Another thread where most commenters will advocate for remote work and/or private offices. I agree. Dan Luu recently said this about Peopleware, which advocates for offices and is highly regarded: > This book seemed convincing when I read it in college. It even had all sorts of studies backing up what they said. No deadlines is better than having deadlines. Offices are better than cubicles. Basically all devs I talk…

Maybe these companies are succeeding in spite of these policies instead of because of them.

I also work in an open office environment. What are the most desirable desks for people to get? The ones next to windows or furthest away from foot traffic.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#69

Post by silveira »

space99 wrote: post #15

This thread is brought to you by Bose quiet comfort headphones. They are amazing!

Bose QC15 here. It makes miracles in noise workplaces, it works better with pitch voices (usually man's voice).

It also upgrades the quality of any flight.

Re: Noisy Coworkers And Other Sounds Are A Distraction In Workplace

#70

Post by theandrewbailey »

joesmo wrote: post #23
bcheung wrote: post #5

I'd say environmental factors such as being so freaking hot that you are sweating or so freaking cold you have to bring in a heater to counteract the AC are pretty distracting as well. And in terms of productivity, not having enough ventilation so that the air builds up CO2 makes people really tired and unproductive.

Totally! I once quit a job because the average temperature in the office was 85F in winter (also really shitty spaghetti code)! Unfortunately, not before I got incredibly sick. When I complained, they said they could do nothing about it because other people were freezing. In the Bay Area, on the other hand, I had a job in a similar place that was always freezing, even when it was warm outside. That was actually not a…

Sometime at a previous job, the A/C failed in the server closet. Since the rest of the office was so chilly, the door was propped open, and stayed that way at least until I left. For the first time, the temperature was sometimes bearable. I wonder if that episode killed some of those geriatric servers; this was 2012 and there were several Pentium 3 Xeons running Win 2K Server in there.

A while after that, building management sent around a survey. It included a table that asked 'how is the temperature in...' and various parts of the building. I put 'too cold' for everything. I bet everyone else did too, because two weeks later, they installed a thermostat in the office, and things were comfortable enough without a jacket.

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