> This topic seems to come up time and time again on here. As someone young and new to the industry I have only ever experienced open plan offices, so I don't really know what the alternative is like.
I appreciate your open mind on the subject!
> However I'm inclined to say I don't think I would enjoy cubicles or private offices. I feel like you'd miss out on so much collaborative effort and serendipitous & spontaneous conversations with colleagues that solve problems out of the blue.
This is very unsettling to hear: That's the exact kind of hand-wavy argument that managers make.
Truthfully, I can't help but think of Stockholm syndrome when I read that sentence.
Here's the clencher: If you can't collaborate effectively in a private office or from home, there's a systemic mechanism failure. If your team or company isn't setup for effective communication, you will find yourself trapped in an open office plan and believing they're the only way to work.
However, the real problem is buried: Your team/company either cannot effectively collaborate outside of an artificial environment, or at least believes that to be the case. Assuming this is true: Why?
For background, I've worked remote for most of my career, but at the start, I had an open office job (and a two hour commute each way, consisting of an hour walk to the nearest bus stop and an hour bus ride to downtown Orlando, because the job didn't pay well enough to consider purchasing a car). In hindsight, it was a miserable experience, but at the time I just coped with it.
> I also think it's just plain isolating being on your own in a room all day.
Easy lifehack: Don't do that. Working remote doesn't require you do that. Working in a private office doesn't require you do that.
If you have a private office, you can also schedule 1:1 meetings in your office.
If you're working from home, take regular breaks to talk to your family/neighbors/etc. Pet your dogs. Dogs need love too!
> What's wrong with just putting some headphones on if you want to put your head down and do some deep, quiet work?
What's wrong with putting your jams on the speakers, rather than headphones, in your home office and standing up to dance when a good song comes on your playlist to get your blood flowing?
Different strokes.