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Everyone seems to hate open offices, but since it's all I've ever known, what's the alternative? Everyone get a 4-walled office?
Although it was kinda scary at first, I've adapted to it, and can see the practical benefits. Not having special offices, there is a sense of egalitarianism amongst the workers and none of the usual rat-race for better offices. As pointed out in another comment, most employees tend to use headphones when they need privacy. Since all the cubicles are the same, maintenance is a breeze.
I guess it depends on your temperament. If you really just like to be left alone when working, it won't help. For me, having so many people around kinda prevents me from going drowsy, which used to happen a lot at my previous job.
Everyone seems to hate open offices, but since it's all I've ever known, what's the alternative? Everyone get a 4-walled office?
PS: and while my team is a distraction for others in my office (relatively, not absolutely) I dislike open-spaces. They aren't mentally comfortable, not because of noise (for me) but because of no "feeling" of privacy. It is all subjective of course.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes.
That's probably not affordable for a majority of companies.
1) $100-200k/yr salary 2) $200-300k/yr fully loaded cost 3) $500k-$5mm/yr value created per employee (rev or market cap or whatever) -- this is actually more like -$huge to +$huge)
Offices cost $7/ft2/mo in Palo Alto, or $2-4/ft2/mo in SF.
A private office is probably 50-100 ft2 more than open plan.
So, we're talking about $100 to $700/mo difference.
I'd personally be willing to pay $500/mo pre-tax to have a private office, vs. a desk in an shared office. Productivity benefits to company are on the order of $10-50k/mo.
Next time I do a startup, I'm doing 3-4 person sized offices for each person (i.e. you have a guest desk, workspace, etc., normally empty), and project areas shared per team, after there are more than just founders.
I work for a company whose entire office is on an open plan. Yes, even the CEO sits in a cubicle, as do all the senior management and stuff. And this is not a startup, mind you, its a mid size company. Although it was kinda scary at first, I've adapted to it, and can see the practical benefits. Not having special offices, there is a sense of egalitarianism amongst the workers and none of the usual rat-race for better…
Everyone seems to hate open offices, but since it's all I've ever known, what's the alternative? Everyone get a 4-walled office?
I had one experience in an "open office" for approximately six months. It was terrible, constant shuffling of people to acquire the plethora of free food available. Nerf Gun wars and the constant click clack of ping pong approximately 30 ft. away. This article has offered me some vindication in my distaste for the "open office".
In 1987 the book "Peopleware" already described the open office trap. But since, the idea keeps coming back in CEOs minds. I experienced it in a big corporation I was in. Decades after Peopleware, Open-Office was declared as "big new invention from the US" -- but it still was the same old fallacy.
The idea kept coming up always in new flavors and new "inventions" -- it seems that the idea is just to attractive for managers to be buried.
The problem is, that you have to invest in people to get best results -- and conventional economical thinking often times goes the opposite direction, how to cut costs.
I generally prefer open office plans. Clearly other people don't. Everyone is different. There is no RIGHT answer, just RIGHT for you, or for your team...