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Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

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Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#71

Post by nitrogen »

uhtred wrote: post #61
collyw wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Boring farts. I enjoy being able to wind down and have beers the last couple of hours on a friday (in companies that have allowed it). I organise my workload so there is nothing difficult to do then anyway.

I prefer to wait until the work day has finished and then go to the pub and have a beer or two. I don't really understand the appeal of drinking at work (which seems more prevalent in US), surrounded by office equipment and computers, it's not really relaxing. Plus there might be people still in the office at 5pm who actually have something important to do and it's not really fair that they then have to try to work w…

If everyone is complaining about their office being too noisy, how can an even noisier pub be more relaxing than that?

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#72

Post by benjaminasmith »

mv4 wrote: post #22

Having worked in traditional offices, open offices, at home, at Starbucks, and at various coworking spaces - I still don't know how to feel about shared offices. I am using one right now on trial basis, and I can tell once or twice a week is about right for me. It's great for putting together a marketing presentation, not so great for coding. I also ran a tech coworking space for a couple of years. I shut it down. I…

I'd be interested to hear about those experiences running the tech co-working space.

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#73

Post by kerkeslager »

jlemos wrote: post #23

YMMV, but my current workplace sits in a co-working space (although we are big enough to have our own exclusive office within it) and the noise levels on the common areas from what I have seen are ok most of the time. No music being pumped anywhere. The place described in the article sounds like a dystopian nightmare, but I doubt its the norm... Also, if you are a freelancer or a tech founder that wants to work on hi…

Public libraries are a good alternative, too.

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#74

Post by specialist »

megaman22 wrote: post #55

I think I'd rather commit seppuku or eat Tide pods than work in an open office as described. Hopefully there is an eighth circle of hell in the afterlife reserved for management that inflicts such things on their workforce, full of gibbering, odoriferous, chronically sneezing demons that will pelt them with whiteboard markers and constantly ask for TPS reports.

People clipping their nails in public is my kryptonite.

Tuneless whistling is also irritating.

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#75

Post by [deleted] »

cup-of-tea wrote: post #17

I "work" in an open office type space. My ears are filled with people on the phone or just talking about work they could do. In my peripheral vision is a colleague and various other movements. I'm here to do only very simple work because I can't think very deeply. Any serious work is done at home where I am many times more productive. For some work this type of setup might be fine, but for anything resembling enginee…

[deleted]

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#76

Post by kerkeslager »

nathanaldensr wrote: post #2

They want an office that matches their personality. And apparently, that means beer on tap and lots of it. The office looked like the lobby of a hipster hotel. Over the next few weeks, we showed up each day and tapped away on MacBook Airs to the sounds of Portuguese house music and old-school hip hop piped in through speakers. (“Rap is urban, and so is WeWork,” the company explains online. “But more profoundly, the c…

Or you could try working in one of the many environments that fit your work style.

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#77

Post by sneak »

ryandrake wrote: post #19
reificator wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If this is the future of tech work, then I guess I'd better find another career--perhaps gardening or wood-working? Exactly. I can't imagine working in an environment like that. You don't want to hear me playing Smooth by Neil Cicierega[1], and I don't want to hear you playing rap. A work environment is not the place to be playing music for everyone around you. Constant generic music is the worst part of retail, an…

Also alcohol flowing at work? I’m no teetotaler but isn’t that a recipe for trouble? Assuming we’re not just talking about sharing a few beers after hours. I’ve worked with people who drank on the job to the point where they were working totally shitfaced, and it’s not pretty. If they’re meeting with other teams or customers, they’re going to be an embarrassment, and if they’re checking in code... let’s not even go t…

Drinking in general is a really bad idea. I use it as a good and clear signal for who not to associate with, personally and professionally. I am all for having more opportunities for drunkards to expose themselves.

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#78

Post by munificent »

gambiting wrote: post #5
nathanaldensr wrote: post #2

They want an office that matches their personality. And apparently, that means beer on tap and lots of it. The office looked like the lobby of a hipster hotel. Over the next few weeks, we showed up each day and tapped away on MacBook Airs to the sounds of Portuguese house music and old-school hip hop piped in through speakers. (“Rap is urban, and so is WeWork,” the company explains online. “But more profoundly, the c…

I can't imagine worse environment for a tech job than the one where you have music playing out of speakers. Also - working on your laptop? Without proper monitors and upright sitting position? Nope, thank you.

Two of the most productive times in my life were when I had a tiny office to myself and was able to play music on speakers instead of through headphones. I got a lot less ear fatigue that way, and the ambient background music really helped me get in the zone. Having a space to myself certainly helped too.

Of course, this only worked because the work I was doing during those times also required very little coordination and communication with other people. I'm introverted enough that if I have my own space but need to get out of it to talk to someone, I'll find myself procrastinating doing that.

Having a shared open plan office makes it harder for me to focus, but easier for me to interact with people. I'm not sure if that's a net win for my productivity or not.

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#79

Post by [deleted] »

nimbius wrote: post #49

Because Hollywood and overzealous architectural design firms dont understand acoustics...many of them have only recently come to realize the hubris of their ideas. I once worked for a $web_company in a cubeless open office with hard flooring and lots of glass. It was so bad you could hear a fart in the bathroom from the kitchen. Developers routinely recommended brands of noise cancelling headphones. In the sysadmin p…

[deleted]

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#80

Post by majewsky »

nimbius wrote: post #49

Because Hollywood and overzealous architectural design firms dont understand acoustics...many of them have only recently come to realize the hubris of their ideas. I once worked for a $web_company in a cubeless open office with hard flooring and lots of glass. It was so bad you could hear a fart in the bathroom from the kitchen. Developers routinely recommended brands of noise cancelling headphones. In the sysadmin p…

I would've hired a new executive instead.
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