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The Open-Office Trap

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Re: The Open-Office Trap

#101

Post by mhurron »

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #49
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…

I've always wondered what would happen if I told management "you guys made us work in a Dickensian sweatshop floor plan? Okay, how about I bring my own cubicle from home, and install it around my place here? I'm pretty good with DIY projects, you guys don't have to spend anything, I'll just fix the problem on my own. I'll paint it in the corporate colors and all, don't you worry."

You don't sound like a team player.

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#102

Post by cma »

johnward wrote: post #85
ArkyBeagle wrote: post #45

Cubes are not cheap. Price them some time. The last time I saw figures, the were considerably more expensive than offices made of sheetrock and steel 2X4s plus modest desks. They do increase potential density of employees.

I find it hard to believe a cube with cardboard walls could be more expensive. Assuming that is true. What about the fact that you can jam 4 cubes into a single normal sized office space? You could probably get 8-10 in some VP level office. All of that space adds up in expensive real-estate. Open offices are purely about jamming as many people in a space as possible.

Cubicles aren't cardboard boxes; that would never pass fire code.

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#103

Post by strangetimes »

VLM wrote: post #58
Florin_Andrei wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always wondered what would happen if I told management "you guys made us work in a Dickensian sweatshop floor plan? Okay, how about I bring my own cubicle from home, and install it around my place here? I'm pretty good with DIY projects, you guys don't have to spend anything, I'll just fix the problem on my own. I'll paint it in the corporate colors and all, don't you worry."

Going a little too far. Just ask to install a TV. After all, noise and distraction are supposed to be good, right?

You joke, but the powers that be installed a TV in our office blaring CNBC just feet away from where developers are trying to work. This was considered an "upgrade" to our space.

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#104

Post by owenjones »

I feel like the problems with the open office plan are, and always have been, pretty evident.

Why they continue is also obvious... You just have to ask yourself who is benefiting.

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#105

Post by Arnor »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #42
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…

> I've even seen spaces with rows of inside sales guys on phones cold calling two desks over from very frustrated developers. We have that. If there wasn't a short dividing wall between us, I could kick one of our sales directors in the shin. There's four more in that particular section. Sometimes it's noisy and annoying, but at least I can put on headphones, turn on music and/or white noise, and ignore them - they d…

I was in a similar situation a few months ago. The worst part was there were two office whistlers. One had a Vice President role so you couldn't really kick him in the shins...

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#106

Post by Frqy3 »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #42
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…

> I've even seen spaces with rows of inside sales guys on phones cold calling two desks over from very frustrated developers. We have that. If there wasn't a short dividing wall between us, I could kick one of our sales directors in the shin. There's four more in that particular section. Sometimes it's noisy and annoying, but at least I can put on headphones, turn on music and/or white noise, and ignore them - they d…

I am also stuck adjacent to the sales group with not even the minimal cubicle walls separating desks. Their standard work process seems to be make a sales call, then chat and joke around for half an hour.

I recently converted my standard headphones into industrial noise-isolating headphones. http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2014/01/fix-a-broken-pair-of-he...

It might signal that I'm not a 'team player', but my productivity is way up.

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#107

Post by PythonicAlpha »

RandallBrown wrote: post #98
robotresearcher wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "hey where did you check in the change for foo?" ... and you just took me out of the Zone. I was about to be intensely productive on hard code for 30 minutes, but now I see it's only 15 minutes 'til lunch. Maybe I'll check email instead of building up that concentration level again.

That same shit happens to me in my open office. The difference is that it's easier for me to dick around for 3 hours instead of 15 minutes since nobody can see my screen or even see if I'm here.

The here key is: trust!

Something, that most big companies lack.

(many successful companies start with trusting their people, but end up with no trust at all ... and at least then the way goes downhill)

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#108

Post by nknighthb »

dpark wrote: post #55
AlisdairSH wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo all provide a desktop and two monitors (or one 30" one), or did the last time I worked for or interviewed at these companies. They might also provide laptops, but they aren't the primary device for dev work. I seem to recall the same for Amazon, but am not certain. I actually don't understand this belief that a laptop should be the primary device given the body of research that shows the…

Of course you're "docking" it. Nobody sane hunches over a laptop all day every day.

The advantage to the laptop is you can have your core machine with you everywhere -- home, office, or traveling. But when you're in the two places you spend the most time -- the office or at home -- you plug it into an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#109

Post by nknighthb »

greenyoda wrote: post #70
AlisdairSH wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> People can easily connect to their desktop machines from home using the VPN.

And use what to interact with it? VNC? I'd lose my mind. That's not an efficient user experience, it's slow and finicky and fucks up keyboard shortcuts.

> I couldn't see myself working on a laptop all day unless it had an external monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Which is exactly what we do. What lunatics do you work with that use laptops as primary work machines without doing this?

Re: The Open-Office Trap

#110

Post by memracom »

The property department is responsible for acquiring and managing office spaces and all that other stuff like toilet paper. If they can save money by cramming the people into a smaller space, then they will look real good on their year end review, get a raise, and next year move on to a property management job at another company where they can do it again.
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