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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”

#431

Post by JohnBooty »

calinet6 wrote: post #359
JohnBooty wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

It's difficult for people to recognize that open offices exist for a reason, but they absolutely do. They are a systemic solution to communication, collaboration, and motivation problems. All three need different systemic solutions in a private office context, but those solutions would be more forced and less natural. The open floor plan is also a huge cultural boon for that reason. The types of systems that enable c…

  [open offices] are a systemic solution to communication, collaboration, 
  and motivation problems. All three need different systemic solutions 
  in a private office context, but those solutions would be more forced 
  and less natural.
I don't understand how those three things require "systemic solutions" in an office environment. When I need to collaborate with a coworker I just travel ten feet to their office or click their name in HipChat.

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

#432

Post by calinet6 »

JohnBooty wrote: post #431
calinet6 wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's difficult for people to recognize that open offices exist for a reason, but they absolutely do. They are a systemic solution to communication, collaboration, and motivation problems. All three need different systemic solutions in a private office context, but those solutions would be more forced and less natural. The open floor plan is also a huge cultural boon for that reason. The types of systems that enable c…

[open offices] are a systemic solution to communication, collaboration, and motivation problems. All three need different systemic solutions in a private office context, but those solutions would be more forced and less natural. I don't understand how those three things require "systemic solutions" in an office environment. When I need to collaborate with a coworker I just travel ten feet to their office or click the…

Those are systemic solutions.

The question is if the tradeoff in the reduction/change of collaboration is worth the increased productivity from the better layout. That's not an obvious question to answer, in fact—that's what I'm saying. You need to prove which system is actually superior, with data.

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

#433

Post by calinet6 »

sukilot wrote: post #409
calinet6 wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's difficult for people to recognize that open offices exist for a reason, but they absolutely do. They are a systemic solution to communication, collaboration, and motivation problems. All three need different systemic solutions in a private office context, but those solutions would be more forced and less natural. The open floor plan is also a huge cultural boon for that reason. The types of systems that enable c…

How is the simplest cheapest emptiest thing a systematic solution to anything. It's starting to design a workspace, drawing the interior/exterior border, then getting an interruption and coming back an hour later and thinking you are done. It would be excellent parody of the the hula hoop circle "you know, for kids" gag from that old movie.

Often the simplest, cheapest, emptiest things make pretty good systems. They reduce waste, and have certain advantages.

Your joke is funny, but I promise you that's not the reason for open floor plans.

The key is that even an open plan is a system—it's just a less constrained system, with fewer rules. You still have to view it as a system and study the effects and interactions involved.

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

#434

Post by calinet6 »

sukilot wrote: post #419
calinet6 wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep! Gotta watch those darn words I learned to juggle for comedic effect. Definitely haven't taken the MBTI assessment multiple times in my life or anything. Or read Jung's books on personality that underpinned them. Nope, just heard those words used once in this article I read and people keep saying I done used them good so I keep doing it.

MBTI and Jung(!) aren't crowning achievements in science.

Then why the heck are we talking about introversion and extroversion with a straight face?

Seriously, they're antiquated descriptors. I was only pointing out how ridiculous it is to assume someone's lack of knowledge of terms.

They only persist because they provide a considerable amount of validation to behaviors of self-described introverts who desire permission for their personality. Most humans don't fall into either category absolutely.

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

#435

Post by strangetimes »

michaelochurch wrote: post #360
JohnBooty wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

But that is also fairly easily mitigated with methodologies like Scrum where you are frequently touching base with other team members. Seriously, FUCK THAT SCRUM SHIT . A daily status meeting isn't that bad, but "you can only work on it if it's in the backlog" and "sprints" and backlog grooming meetings and this brand of aggressive micromanagement that has revived itself in the name of "Agile"... all of that nonsense…

I actually believe that Scrum is a way to avoid micromanagement. There's no way of getting around the fact that the people who pay you want to see steady progress toward the thing they're paying you to do. One 15-minute meeting each morning to assuage that concern is a reasonable solution to me.

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

#436

Post by JohnBooty »

michaelochurch wrote: post #360
JohnBooty wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

But that is also fairly easily mitigated with methodologies like Scrum where you are frequently touching base with other team members. Seriously, FUCK THAT SCRUM SHIT . A daily status meeting isn't that bad, but "you can only work on it if it's in the backlog" and "sprints" and backlog grooming meetings and this brand of aggressive micromanagement that has revived itself in the name of "Agile"... all of that nonsense…

We do a pretty relaxed version of it; it's fun. It doesn't feel like micromanagement to me.

If I need to do something that doesn't have a task in the backlog, I just add one and then click "start" in Sprintly. No big deal. It's basically a shared to-do list, and I'm a to-do list kind of guy.

I like the daily stand up meetings. Specifically the emphasis on the fact that it shouldn't be more than 15 minutes in length.

You have my sympathies though. I can certainly see how some companies would implement Scrum in a way that is really anal-retentive and gets in the way.

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

#438

Post by wutbrodo »

michaelochurch wrote: post #361
onewaystreet wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't the notion that private offices are better than open floor plans disproven by reality? Tech companies predominantly use open floor plans and these same companies are some of the most successful in the world. What companies would proponents of private offices point to as counterexamples?

There are a number of reasons to use open-plan offices, not all disreputable, as I explained here: https://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/open-plan-of... That said, a common reason for it is back-door age discrimination. Plenty of companies use open-plan offices without such an intent (they "look" busy, which pays off in marketing, and they're cheap) but the open-plan fetishism is all about "culture fit", me…

> There are a number of reasons to use open-plan offices, not all disreputable, as I explained here: https://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/open-plan-of.... That said, a common reason for it is back-door age discrimination.

Wait, what? How do open office plans put women, older folks, and lower-income folks at a disadvantage?

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

#439

Post by 27182818284 »

marssaxman wrote: post #429
27182818284 wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A two bedroom in Nebraska runs you $500 per month. Timezone is off by 2 hours. Internet is 30 down 5 up for $60 per month. There is a reason why companies like http://www.hudl.com/ are killing it here. You can fight for years, or have a ranch with basement when you're a 26-year-old developer.

And then you finish up your work day only to find yourself stuck in Nebraska, with nothing but cornfields for hundreds of miles in every direction... so that'd better be one hell of an awesome ranch house.

If you wanted to, sure! A lot of people dig the peace and quiet, lakes they have a boat for, etc. Most young tech people I know though gravitate toward the cities, though. http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/03/12/392136...

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

#440

Post by michaelochurch »

ToastyMallows wrote: post #427
michaelochurch wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that is also fairly easily mitigated with methodologies like Scrum where you are frequently touching base with other team members. Seriously, FUCK THAT SCRUM SHIT . A daily status meeting isn't that bad, but "you can only work on it if it's in the backlog" and "sprints" and backlog grooming meetings and this brand of aggressive micromanagement that has revived itself in the name of "Agile"... all of that nonsense…

What would you prefer?

What would you prefer?

A culture of trust where engineers are treated as professionals and adults, not as children who have to justify weeks and days of their own working time. Open allocation as far as is possible within the confines of the needs of the business.

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