Open-plan office is the worst. Why can't we kill it?
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Open-plan office is the worst. Why can't we kill it?
1–10 of 98 posts
Re: Open-plan office is the worst. Why can't we kill it?
#2This is painfully relatable... Marketing and sales teams don't seem to mind much but as a developer I once had to quit a job because of this.
Re: Open-plan office is the worst. Why can't we kill it?
#3This is painfully relatable... Marketing and sales teams don't seem to mind much but as a developer I once had to quit a job because of this.
I actually worked in sales and trust me, we DO mind the noise. Imagine trying to talk to a client on the phone when you can barely hear yourself.
Re: Open-plan office is the worst. Why can't we kill it?
#4> Treat your office like a library, not a kitchen.
A VP at my fast growing and profitable Fortune 500 publicly ridiculed my proposal to let our smallish engineering team geek in empty, unused offices in the building, on grounds that the office was not a library. He was kicked upstairs and to another division, bless him.
Re: Open-plan office is the worst. Why can't we kill it?
#5> Treat your office like a library, not a kitchen. A VP at my fast growing and profitable Fortune 500 publicly ridiculed my proposal to let our smallish engineering team geek in empty, unused offices in the building, on grounds that the office was not a library. He was kicked upstairs and to another division, bless him.
Honestly, they only upside of an open office is economic. When you have empty offices in the building, putting up with it really makes no sense.
Basecamp actually designed their office around "library rules": https://m.signalvnoise.com/library-rules-how-to-make-an-open...
Re: Open-plan office is the worst. Why can't we kill it?
#6Ideally, high ceilings and light are great. A hybrid office type is the best. Offering several different work areas has most advantages.
I like to think of my college library, areas open and no noise restrictions. Other areas closed off/private for hard focus. Some private rooms for group meetings, private rooms for individual work.
Mobile technology has been a great thing, offering all that extra flexibility
Re: Open-plan office is the worst. Why can't we kill it?
#7At least in NYC, it's because of rent.
Re: Open-plan office is the worst. Why can't we kill it?
#8Because it's cheap. Less walls to build, more employees packed on to a floor.
Do you lose more money than you're saving due to decreased productivity? Maybe. But that's hard to prove, and "This office proposal is $X million cheaper because we can lease three fewer floors" is very straightforward.
Re: Open-plan office is the worst. Why can't we kill it?
#9Because it is the cheapest...
Re: Open-plan office is the worst. Why can't we kill it?
#10> Treat your office like a library, not a kitchen. A VP at my fast growing and profitable Fortune 500 publicly ridiculed my proposal to let our smallish engineering team geek in empty, unused offices in the building, on grounds that the office was not a library. He was kicked upstairs and to another division, bless him.
Honestly, they only upside of an open office is economic. When you have empty offices in the building, putting up with it really makes no sense. Basecamp actually designed their office around "library rules": https://m.signalvnoise.com/library-rules-how-to-make-an-open...
That office is mostly empty space, and with all the effort to noise damp one has to ask - why bother? Just add offices at that point. At Microsoft you could always chat in the halls and people would just close their doors.