The Open-Office Trap
newyorker.com
The Open-Office Trap
1–10 of 123 posts
Re: The Open-Office Trap
#2I work in an open office and I tend to agree that:
Noise causes distractions which lead to a decrease in efficiency.
Also, having absolutely no privacy makes me feel vulnerable especially having directors and managers as the closest people within ear shot.
Re: The Open-Office Trap
#3Being in my late 20s and having only worked in open-office environments, the thought of having my own office seems archaic and counter-intuitive to productivity and communication. If I have my headphones in, I'm busy. If I don't, I can answer questions or talk to my colleagues about something. Projecting how I would feel in a "closed office" environment, I can honestly say I'd feel trapped and isolated.
My experience is of course, purely anecdotal and non-scientific, but I can't help feeling that younger people such as myself lean more toward an open-office configuration due to how differently we approach and accomplish tasks. It's neither better or worse, just different.
Re: The Open-Office Trap
#4Most open offices I have worked in have been quite noisy. Most people end up wearing headphones of some type. I'm not sure how that contributes to information flow and collaboration.
I have worked in some open offices that are designed quite well with noise baffling and spaces broken up such that there wasn't an additive effect of every noise in the larger office being heard.
I prefer some mix.
Re: The Open-Office Trap
#5Being in my late 20s and having only worked in open-office environments, the thought of having my own office seems archaic and counter-intuitive to productivity and communication. If I have my headphones in, I'm busy. If I don't, I can answer questions or talk to my colleagues about something. Projecting how I would feel in a "closed office" environment, I can honestly say I'd feel trapped and isolated. My experience…
I've worked in both and I can't stand open office plans. You mentioned that you have your headphones in when you are busy, I did the same. I'm sure I contributed to my hearing loss because I had to cover my ears to prevent me from being distracted by my co-workers when I needed to concentrate. What about when I want to concentrate in silence? Can't do it.
Also open office "productivity" devolved into my co-workers being able to easily turn around and interrupt me constantly for trivial items vs. if there was a bit more friction in them getting my attention: walking to my office etc, they would go figure out the problem themselves. These two things were major reasons I hated working in an open workspace.
Re: The Open-Office Trap
#6Being in my late 20s and having only worked in open-office environments, the thought of having my own office seems archaic and counter-intuitive to productivity and communication. If I have my headphones in, I'm busy. If I don't, I can answer questions or talk to my colleagues about something. Projecting how I would feel in a "closed office" environment, I can honestly say I'd feel trapped and isolated. My experience…
>Being in my late 20s and having only worked in open-office environments, the thought of having my own office seems archaic and counter-intuitive to productivity and communication
Being in my late 20s and having worked in cubicles, open-office environments, and now with my own office, the thought of not having my own office sends shivers down my spine.
For me, an office with a door is mandatory. It's now the second or third question when I'm interviewing. I would not work at company that does not provide one to me. Period.
The surprising thing is that I was like you - when I worked in the open floor plan environment I really liked it, and felt like it improved my collaboration and teamwork. I wasn't able to see how damaging it was until I got my own office: ambient noise is now nonexistent, I don't have to rely on a clunky signal (headphones) to tell people I'm available/not, and I'm able to sit down and focus on a problem without playing my music at full volume.
Again, yet another anecdote. But I haven't seen any study that indicates a cross-generational difference in office preference; open floor plan settings are universally panned, and rightly so, IMO.
Re: The Open-Office Trap
#7I have worked in both, and I really like open office layouts more. It works well for me and the open spacious environment really helps my mood especially in the winter. I'm pretty good a tuning out surroundings though, so I understand that can be frustrating for some when trying to concentrate.
Re: The Open-Office Trap
#8Being in my late 20s and having only worked in open-office environments, the thought of having my own office seems archaic and counter-intuitive to productivity and communication. If I have my headphones in, I'm busy. If I don't, I can answer questions or talk to my colleagues about something. Projecting how I would feel in a "closed office" environment, I can honestly say I'd feel trapped and isolated. My experience…
I am also in my late 20s and have worked in situations in which I've had my own office and situations in which I had to share my office with one other person. I much prefer having my own office. I dislike the feeling of always being watched in an "open office" environment. If you can take out your headphones, why can't you call a colleague or go into her office?
I'm also not sure there's a generational difference in how "differently [people] approach and accomplish tasks."
Re: The Open-Office Trap
#9So we've seen a lot of "open offices are bad" articles but they rarely are accompanied by any solutions.
Anyone have any better ideas?
Re: The Open-Office Trap
#10Being in my late 20s and having only worked in open-office environments, the thought of having my own office seems archaic and counter-intuitive to productivity and communication. If I have my headphones in, I'm busy. If I don't, I can answer questions or talk to my colleagues about something. Projecting how I would feel in a "closed office" environment, I can honestly say I'd feel trapped and isolated. My experience…
I had a private office with a door before I ever worked in an open office layout. I currently do not want to go back to having an office at all, but there's an enormous caveat there: I don't want to go back as long as the team is good. I've seen other teams where it quickly turned into a really bad situation, and can see how easily it could be a nightmare compared to a private office situation.
More important than the office layout is having a good IM setup that everyone uses, IMO. Even when you have your own office there are people who'll knock on your door which is more of a pain to deal with then just wave them away with a "not right now," IMO, if you don't have some other way of communication for trivial questions or indicating status.
The other thing an open plan has to have is lots of small conference rooms you can jump into at any time either for a discussion with other people or just to take advantage of silence for a while.