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The Open-Office Trap

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Re: The Open-Office Trap

#61

Post by sliverstorm »

PythonicAlpha wrote: post #44
bane wrote: post #17

I've written here quite a bit about my basic hatred for open offices. My personal opinion is that open offices are masked in lots of terms about "information flow" and "collaboration" when the reality is that it's about companies being cheap. I also went to a high school built originally on a completely open plan. At some point they realized teachers shouting over each other didn't work, or the teacher next door givi…

Why do 1-3 people offices inhibit communication? I can't see it. You can also have a central or conference room for communications, or coffee corners connecting the offices. I think, Joel Spolsky has shown a real good example: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/BionicOffice.html His office does give both: Everybody can retreat, but also a huge area to communicate, live and exchange in community.

I read your parent as saying offices inhibit communication in exactly the way "Meeting Mode" on your cell phone inhibits communication.

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#62

Post by Florin_Andrei »

shijie wrote: post #3

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. 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.

There were kids growing up in Soviet Russia who really loved Lenin. They didn't have anything to compare it with, either.

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#63

Post by dpark »

sdepablos wrote: post #41
dpark wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glass walls don't provide any feeling of privacy, which is one of the complaints employees typically have about open floor plans. If shared offices are used, I think they should have opaque walls and everyone should be able to position themselves such that they have a wall at their back. This leads to a feeling of privacy. And it actually encourages discussion among those sharing an office, as opposed to the more typ…

What is so important about privacy? You're supposed to be working, aren't you? I can totally understand privacy when you're dealing with sensitive date that shouldn't be seen by other people.

When people feel they have no privacy, they are more anxious, more stressed, less satisfied, and less productive. The New Yorker article linked to a published article about this: http://www.jstor.org/stable/255498

But you don't need an article to tell you this. It feels shitty to feel like you're under a microscope all the time. Basic privacy makes people more comfortable.

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#64

Post by Florin_Andrei »

majormajor wrote: post #10
shijie wrote: post #3

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. 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 t…

Sweatshop-style open office plans are great and even mandatory if you're an early startup, very small, full of very bright, energetic, motivated people. It is awful in any other situation.

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#66

Post by dpark »

bqe wrote: post #46
dpark wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but this doesn't fix the comfort factor. It also doesn't change that headphones are just a bandaid for the core issues which are excessive distraction and ambient noise.

I think the culture of the office matters, too. If there's a culture, of, "Hey people are working here let's not be loud." and "She has her headphones in so let's not bother her." then it won't be too distracting or have too much noise. Conversely, if an office with a closed office plan has a culture where closed doors are common and it's rude to knock, then collaboration will definitely be hindered. We need to colla…

> The best solution is probably default closed offices with a culture of having your door open and lots of collaborating spaces that are actually used.

This is what I have right now at Microsoft and it's awesome. Everyone on my team has a private office, and we have plenty of collaboration spaces, including conference rooms as well as less formal gathering spaces between blocks of offices and near the food areas, plus a few large open areas dedicated for meetings (these are more isolated from offices, and generally used like conference rooms, but open to the hallways, with curtains that can be used to isolate a bit more).

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#67

Post by yummyfajitas »

VLM wrote: post #36

If open plan offices actually worked, all academic facilities would install dozens of TVs each showing a different cable TV channel and volume turned up to distracting level in each study tank. Oh wait, places where people have to actually think are pin-drop silent? Really? You mean most calculus homework isn't done at frat keggers? The root of the problem is a management primate dominance fad; the mere grunt laborer…

Quite a bit of calculus homework is done at the frat house, the coffee shop, or other such places. Many people work best in situations other than total isolation and quiet.

I'm not sure about the dominance thing either - most open office plans I've seen have no offices for anyone. At my last job the incoming CTO inherited the desk of a freelancer who left the week before.

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#68

Post by RossM »

sdepablos wrote: post #41
dpark wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glass walls don't provide any feeling of privacy, which is one of the complaints employees typically have about open floor plans. If shared offices are used, I think they should have opaque walls and everyone should be able to position themselves such that they have a wall at their back. This leads to a feeling of privacy. And it actually encourages discussion among those sharing an office, as opposed to the more typ…

What is so important about privacy? You're supposed to be working, aren't you? I can totally understand privacy when you're dealing with sensitive date that shouldn't be seen by other people.

I get this feeling. I guess a way to describe it would be to ask - are you constantly productive from the minute you sit down to the minute you leave? I work in an open-plan office, in a corner with my back to the room. As such, my monitor's in sight of 10 peers and managers. Someone might look over when I'm taking a quick break, or it might be when I've become distracted due to the noise level and am finding it hard to concentrate. Would you be happy with someone watching your screen remotely at unknown intervals?

It's not entirely logical - chances are no one's watching me - but it's brain overhead you don't need.

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#69

Post by bane »

Nicholas_C wrote: post #59
bane wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's really weird is that lots of the new, VC funded startups that should be really progressive about coddling employee needs are building these kinds of offices.

Showing a picture of iProduct lined desks with young people staring intently into their screens looks a lot cooler and trendy than a picture of a hallway with closed doors I guess.

I always thought it funny how it evokes pictures like this

http://therealrevo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/pool....

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#70

Post by greenyoda »

AlisdairSH wrote: post #40
dpark wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cubes still suck. They have most of the same noise issues as open floor plans. Assholes on speakerphone conference calls... Also your plan requires that everyone work primarily on laptops (unless you expect to lug your desktop and monitors to a cube when you need to concentrate). And you've basically allocated double the space (cubes for half the team plus a room big enough for the whole team). Why not just cut the s…

Does anybody work for a software company that doesn't issue laptops as the primary PC? I haven't had a desktop in 10 years and just assumed that was the norm.

Where I work (a software company), only people who travel a lot have laptops as their primary PCs. People can easily connect to their desktop machines from home using the VPN.

I couldn't see myself working on a laptop all day unless it had an external monitor, keyboard and mouse. It would just be too physically painful.

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