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“Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

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Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#291

Post by kzhahou »

People always talk about the terrible NOISE in open office plans.

For me, I hate the feeling of BEING WATCHED. It's just unnerving. There's people all around me with low cube walls...

* I want to stare ahead as I focus - someone's looking at me.

* I have my big headphones on and am rocking to the music - someone's looking at me.

* I wanna put my head down on desk and think - someone's looking at me.

* I check gmail - someone's looking at me

* redit break - someone's looking at me

* I scrape off dry snot caused by the super-dry office air - someone's looking at me.

* I'm working - someone's looking at me

I just can't be in my own head when I'm so surrounded by people... always there... always right. behind. me.

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#292

Post by trhway »

drewg123 wrote: post #246
JohnBooty wrote: post #160

I would literally switch jobs (and perhaps careers, if every company was like this) if forced to work in an open office like this. I cannot work that way; I can't focus. I realize that I'm adding nothing constructive to this thread; I don't care. Maybe some manager somewhere will see this and a hundred other anecdotal opinions and think twice about open offices. I am the opposite of a prima donna. I just want to work…

I work as a fairly senior SWE at Google, coming off 20+ years with private offices (some of that time full-time remote), and I agree with everything you said. I knew it would be hard going into the job. I actually get up at 5am so I can have a few quiet hours at my desk before the rest of the folks show up & it turns into a total zoo.

Having the top of the cream, Google/FB can allow themselves to have their engineers' performance be half of what these engineers can potentially produce. Too bad for the rest of us as our employers look at Google/FB and say "we want that success too" and make open floor offices too...

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#293

Post by nilkn »

kamaal wrote: post #265
guptaneil wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, last time I visited Facebook HQ, Zuck's desk was in the open space just like everybody else. I was quite surprised.

I don't know about Mark Zuckerberg, In general these show and tell offices are generally a sham. Even if they have a desk in the open work space I'm pretty darn sure its there just as a small time gossip catch up area with other colleagues. Their actual office work, meetings, decision making and nearly everything else will be happening from a 'meeting room'. So in essence they will have a private office in which they…

A great quote from Joel Spolsky:

> There’s a strong culture in Silicon Valley that requires you to jam a lot of programmers into a big open space, despite a preponderance of evidence that private offices are far more productive, something which I’ve covered repeatedly on this site. I’m not really getting through to people, I don’t think, because programmers kind of like being social, even if it means they are unproductive, so it’s an uphill battle.

I’ve even heard programmers say things like, “Yeah, we all work in cubicles, but everyone works in a cubicle—up to and including the CEO!”

“The CEO? Does the CEO really work in a cubicle?”

“Well, he has a cubicle, but actually now that you mention it there’s this one conference room that he goes to for all his important meetings…”

Mmmm hmmm. A fairly common Silicon Valley phenomenon is the CEO who makes a big show of working from a cubicle just like the hoi polloi, although somehow there’s this one conference room that he tends to make his own (“Only when there’s something private to be discussed,” he’ll claim, but half the time when you walk by that conference room there’s your CEO, all by himself, talking on the phone to his golf buddy, with his Cole Haans up on the conference table).

(From http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FieldGuidetoDeveloper...)

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#294

Post by lrvick »

lightblade wrote: post #279
sytelus wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having spent almost equal amount of time in open office and private office, my own anecdote is that productivity wasn't dramatically better with private offices. In open offices, I just used to put head phones on, listen to non-vocal music and be super focused for many hours. In fact that was much better than private office because others would see you wearing headphone and they don't want to bother you. In private o…

What? Of course private office is better. In an open office, I always have to worry about if my fart is too loud for the person next to me to hear. It's like every time I have to pass gas, it interrupts my train of thought so I get to let out a silent one. Or even better, some times I have headphones on, and totally forgot that I'm in an open office. In a private office, I wouldn't have to worry about this.

I prefer open offices because I have no problem taking ownership and accountability with what I do. This especially includes farts.

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#295

Post by thezilch »

benihana wrote: post #195
logicallee wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Why don't you take a nice walk to clear your mind. Might I suggest our 9-acre roof which is a park?"

The thought of going for a walk and only seeing my coworkers sounds horrible and not very clearing.

You might try better co-workers? Seems odd you'll spend as much time as you will with your partner (and kids) as with co-workers and not develop a meaningful or similar relationships. Sounds horrible.

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#296

Post by underwater »

slyall wrote: post #163
moe wrote: post #81

a single room that fits thousands of people. What a nightmare. These "glass palace" offices may work for bankers or marketing teams. For programmers you could just as well plant their desks into the middle of a mall.

This room looks huge but the facebook one must be several times the size.. http://www.radialsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/UBS-tr...

Facebook's new office is much bigger than that. However the space is broken up by meeting rooms, walls, stairwells, etc. From what I've seen the noise and distractions are probably better than many other open plan office I've worked in.

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#297

Post by [deleted] »

ryanSrich wrote: post #266
JohnBooty wrote: post #160

I would literally switch jobs (and perhaps careers, if every company was like this) if forced to work in an open office like this. I cannot work that way; I can't focus. I realize that I'm adding nothing constructive to this thread; I don't care. Maybe some manager somewhere will see this and a hundred other anecdotal opinions and think twice about open offices. I am the opposite of a prima donna. I just want to work…

This is why I only work remotely. Too many tech companies are up their own asses with how hip and cool their offices are. I just want to work when I want, how I want, and in an environment of my own choosing. I 100% understand that collaboration needs to take place at certain times and I really do enjoy the collaboration of remote work with other employees. However the "collaboration" that takes place in these types…

[deleted]

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#298

Post by richardw »

JohnBooty wrote: post #160

I would literally switch jobs (and perhaps careers, if every company was like this) if forced to work in an open office like this. I cannot work that way; I can't focus. I realize that I'm adding nothing constructive to this thread; I don't care. Maybe some manager somewhere will see this and a hundred other anecdotal opinions and think twice about open offices. I am the opposite of a prima donna. I just want to work…

My SO bought noise-cancelling in-ear headphones. She turns them on without music sometimes, just for the (relative) silence. Easier than changing jobs and she seems happy with it?

She enjoys the team vibe but also needs to block out people around her fairly often. The 'phones allow a lot more freedom to sit anywhere and still be able to work.

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#299

Post by [deleted] »

JohnBooty wrote: post #227
encoderer wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most individual engineers are more productive coders in a private room. And here, many of us retire often to a comfy chair or a quiet corner when we need uninterrupted focus. But my team is far more productive across non-coding tasks by being adjacent to each other. And anybody who felt very strongly about not sitting with the team would, in my opinion, not fit in as well here. My point is: the feeling would…

I could never do my work in a vacuum: the time I spent collaborating with the rest of the team (and with other teams) is huge. I'm actually pretty extroverted. One key factor in switching jobs last year was the chance to work with a team of talented coders, instead of simply being the sole software engineer at my old company. What I (and others, I think) react strongly to is the concept of workplaces where there are…

[deleted]

Re: “Today we moved into our new Facebook building”

#300

Post by qq66 »

pyrophane wrote: post #263
JohnBooty wrote: post #160

I would literally switch jobs (and perhaps careers, if every company was like this) if forced to work in an open office like this. I cannot work that way; I can't focus. I realize that I'm adding nothing constructive to this thread; I don't care. Maybe some manager somewhere will see this and a hundred other anecdotal opinions and think twice about open offices. I am the opposite of a prima donna. I just want to work…

I have worked in both a private office and an open floor plan. I do really enjoy working around other people in an open office, and it makes impromptu planning more accessible, which I believe aids productivity for self organizing teams. The downside is, as you mentioned, that it can be really difficult to get focused work done. This is especially true if there are other teams sharing the same open space (project man…

I know of people who wear headphones at work not playing any music, just as a signal to other people not to disturb them.
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