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Open-plan offices decrease face-to-face collaboration: study

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Re: Open-plan offices decrease face-to-face collaboration: study

#21

Post by agentultra »

More than Agile?

Snark aside, I have a personal office and I love it. I don't like to listen to constant noise/music to cancel out the other noise/music. I like being able to have private calls without all of the noise in the background. If I'm working on something particularly difficult I like closing my door and having peace and quiet. I also enjoy the sense of ownership and prestige. It's nice feeling like I matter and my space and attention are worth something.

Working in an open office is too chaotic for me. Being around people is exhausting and distracting. I like to have a space I can retreat to for a few hours and get some deep work done. Silence is usually what I appreciate the most.

Re: Open-plan offices decrease face-to-face collaboration: study

#22

Post by LeSaucy »

t-writescode wrote: post #13
rgblambda wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never really worked in a cubicle (once had a mid tower PC and dual monitors acting as partitions to the front and left) but wouldn't an advantage of an open plan office over a cubicle be that you can see your manager walking towards you from a mile off and be able to quickly look like you're working.

These issues sound a lot like managers not trusting employees to get work done, which sounds like a bigger issue.

Not to mention that as knowledge workers, a lot of the value+ideas you provide come from reading and research that is not explicitly work related. I encourage my team to spend time doing non-related research and work/tinker on finding new things they are interested in, and to not feel guilty if I walk by and they have reddit or hn open/visible. That being said, working in an open office is like being stuck in a plane of purgatory.

Re: Open-plan offices decrease face-to-face collaboration: study

#23

Post by Scarblac »

rrauenza wrote: post #4

Isn't increasing workspace density the real reason this is done with collaboration just used as the public rationale?

It was originally. Now I think there is no reason anymore, it's just the default option.

When the company I work for was looking for an extra office close by, they were all open plan. Changing that was never a topic of discussion.

Re: Open-plan offices decrease face-to-face collaboration: study

#25

Post by vikramkr »

influx wrote: post #17
tannerc wrote: post #9

Not every solution will solve every problem for every person. Some people thrive in open environments, some don’t. Some people need accidental encounters to propel innovative change, some don’t. To say these types of cultures are “dumb” (or even the opposite) is akin saying “peanut butter is the worst possible thing you could ever eat!” just because you’re allergic to it.

My hypothesis is that this style of office is detrimental to most software engineers. Not sure how to prove that though!

A randomized controlled trial with some clear prospectively defined measure of detriment would be how to prove that. Actually running a trial like that is going to be logistically near impossible though.

Re: Open-plan offices decrease face-to-face collaboration: study

#26

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

montagg wrote: post #16
Mikeb85 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much. Real estate is expensive.

I’d be really curious how much of a hit to people’s salary they would be willing to take, or the reduced capabilities of their business, to get an open office environment. I worked with an internal team that created a brand new office for a decently-sized tech company. We had this exact debate: open or closed. We explored closed, or versions of it (see Spotify’s team rooms as a great example of a compromise), but the…

I'd easily take a 10% paycut to get a cubicle again. (Whether 10% actually covers the extra costs, I don't know.)

Re: Open-plan offices decrease face-to-face collaboration: study

#27

Post by simonebrunozzi »

venantius wrote: post #2

This article is from 2018 and gets posted pretty regularly. I happen to agree with its core thesis but I'm not sure we get anything out of having it on the front page again.

Good point - I stumbled on the article again and decided to post it. It already has ~20 comments, and it's on the front page. My take is that even if the article is not the best on the topic, the conversation about it is happening.

I don't think there's an article out there that I would consider far superior to this. If there is, please post it, I'd upvote it in a heartbeat.

Context: I mostly work remote (a combination of luck, laziness, and my ability to ask for things I really want), but every time I have to be in the office (like today, leaving home in ~30 minutes), I have a weird, unpleasant feeling.

I know I don't like open floor plans.

I particularly don't like that people walking behind me can see my monitor.

I don't like that I can't take calls without disturbing others. Or that getting a private room to talk or make a video call is difficult.

Yesterday, for example, I had to leave a room where I was having a call because someone else had booked it, but I needed to extend the call by another ~15 minutes, so I ended up finishing it in the corridors next to the restrooms.

And mind you, I work with (not for) a great firm, people are super nice - but nobody seems to fully understand how toxic an open office space can be for people.

Finally, I also don't like that startups trying to partially solving these problems are getting funded like crazy, based on a relatively crappy product [0] and an expensive price tag.

[0]: https://room.com/

Re: Open-plan offices decrease face-to-face collaboration: study

#28

Post by commandlinefan »

rrauenza wrote: post #4

Isn't increasing workspace density the real reason this is done with collaboration just used as the public rationale?

Constant surveillance is another part of the real reason with collaboration used as the public rationale. I mean, it doesn't make sense, but it makes them feel more like slave-owners, and that makes them happy.

Re: Open-plan offices decrease face-to-face collaboration: study

#29

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

nkrisc wrote: post #20
joegahona wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just recently went from a personal office to an open plan and find the new situation devoid of merit. Noise-canceling over-the-ear headphones are a must, and phone calls are impossible. Since meeting rooms are minimal, that's an issue too. I've done a handful of meetings in my car.

> phone calls are impossible And woe to those who need to take a conference call with multiple of their desk neighbors but no conference rooms are available. Nothing like a bunch of people all sitting next to each other talking on the same phone call. Why companies would implement an open office without a plethora of private meeting spaces is beyond me.

I suspect that, as people have been discussing upthread, open offices and a lack of meeting rooms are both symptoms of the underlying problem that a company just doesn't have enough space. I worked in an open office once where the company wasn't under space pressure, and it wasn't nearly as bad.

Re: Open-plan offices decrease face-to-face collaboration: study

#30

Post by LeSaucy »

cagenut wrote: post #15
rrauenza wrote: post #4

Isn't increasing workspace density the real reason this is done with collaboration just used as the public rationale?

not just density, but "easier" for the decision makers. Its easier to rent a big open room than to figure out an office plan and seating plan and construction schedule. Its easier to move desks around like musical chairs than to have to mutate rooms and halls. People will almost always take the near-term cheaper and easier option, even when its worse and more expensive in the long run. Incidentally, this was the one…

Coincidentally I am sure that the decision makers would love to hear about your concerns, in their closed offices.
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