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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”

#341

Post by randomsearch »

CrLf wrote: post #328
MCRed wrote: post #45

I will never work in an open office plan. It's one of the items on my "prima donna" list. Despite the name I'm pretty serious, and while some of this list represents things that others might not be able to avoid, or even agree with because they are personal preferences, all of the items are the result of bad experiences or missteps I've experienced directly at a job in the past. I know some may object to these. That'…

I suggest you shorten your list just a bit. Then the interviewer can show you the way out much sooner. Although some of your "requirements" are perfectly reasonable, I would never hire you. Good engineering is all about compromise and working with reality. "where my development machine can't be a Mac"? Seriously?

> "where my development machine can't be a Mac"? Seriously?

I'd actually agree with this. You want to give your employees the best possible machine to work with -- machines are cheap compared to salaries. If he wants a Mac, I'd buy him a Mac.

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

#342

Post by martin-adams »

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.

As a freelancer who works with a variety of teams, it is very hard getting a moment to 'get my own work done'. I also have a young daughter, and while she didn't say the following, I keep thinking about it to give me a slap in the face of perspective.

Child: Daddy, will you play wit me?

Dad: Sorry, I can't I have things to finish off from work.

Child: Why don't you do it when you're at work?

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

#343

Post by CrLf »

randomsearch wrote: post #341
CrLf wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suggest you shorten your list just a bit. Then the interviewer can show you the way out much sooner. Although some of your "requirements" are perfectly reasonable, I would never hire you. Good engineering is all about compromise and working with reality. "where my development machine can't be a Mac"? Seriously?

> "where my development machine can't be a Mac"? Seriously? I'd actually agree with this. You want to give your employees the best possible machine to work with -- machines are cheap compared to salaries. If he wants a Mac, I'd buy him a Mac.

On the face of it, that's true. In reality, it's not...

Your work machine is not your personal computer. The best possible machine is anything that makes you more productive and reduces friction for whatever you happen to do at work. That may very well be a Mac, or may very well be something else. If you company gives you a Mac but everyone else uses Windows and Outlook, that will increase friction and make you less productive, not more.

It's like asking for a red computer, because you like red.

I absolutely hate Linux on the desktop, yet I happily use Linux for work. It works just fine for work and reduces friction in a lot of ways. When I leave work, I switch to my personal Mac. It is actually better this way, I don't feel like I'm working when I'm using my personal machine.

My point is just this: if you impose a hardcoded set of requirements instead of finding our what works best for each particular context, you're probably as fixed-minded when actually working. Nobody wants a fixed-minded employee.

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

#344

Post by neuronic »

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.

My question isn't necessarily specific to Google, but is it frowned upon if you bring noise-cancelling headphones?

I am a weirdly fluctuating person and some days I work best in total seclusion. Others I need to sit in the middle of a cafe and have the noise and people around me.

So my goal is to be as adaptive as possible without harming the day-to-day work life.

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

#345

Post by Symbiote »

JohnBooty wrote: post #275
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…

> When people see their teams working hard around them, they > have little excuse not to follow the suit. > In private offices... ...most people are actually fairly > weak against distractions generated from their own computer I think this is true. When left totally to my own with medium-term or long-term deadlines it's hard to resist the pull of distractions on the web. But that is also fairly easily mitigated with…

A 3-person team in a small office works well for me. The other two people are working on the same project, and since they're also developers they are quiet -- if a phone rings they step outside with it. The room is quiet, so people that walk in tend to be quiet as well.

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

#346

Post by eginhard »

neuronic wrote: post #344
drewg123 wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

My question isn't necessarily specific to Google, but is it frowned upon if you bring noise-cancelling headphones? I am a weirdly fluctuating person and some days I work best in total seclusion. Others I need to sit in the middle of a cafe and have the noise and people around me. So my goal is to be as adaptive as possible without harming the day-to-day work life.

On the contrary, using noise-cancelling headphones is extremely common.

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

#347

Post by S4M »

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.

You made an excellent argument for private offices. There, we don't have to share farts.

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

#348

Post by sfjailbird »

chmullig wrote: post #259
gboudrias wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah this is a bit silly... "Yes Facebook, what I really wanted to see was a helicopter view of the building."

FWIW normally Facebookers aren't permitted to take/post photos of work areas. You're generally encouraged to keep visitors away from them as well.

All parts of Facebook's open and transparent culture.

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

#349

Post by mrweasel »

Redoubts wrote: post #175
slyall wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

That looks horrifying. What are the benefits of such a layout?

It's really cheap to build and run.

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

#350

Post by Cthulhu_ »

neuronic wrote: post #344
drewg123 wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

My question isn't necessarily specific to Google, but is it frowned upon if you bring noise-cancelling headphones? I am a weirdly fluctuating person and some days I work best in total seclusion. Others I need to sit in the middle of a cafe and have the noise and people around me. So my goal is to be as adaptive as possible without harming the day-to-day work life.

I've tried one of those in the store once, they only work for constant background noise - fan hums, that kinda thing. For conversations they're ineffective, and regular in-ear things work better.
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