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Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace

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Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace

#21

Post by toomuchtodo »

a_c_s wrote: post #13
dgreensp wrote: post #3

Open floorplans are worse than cubicles. Not worse than four people crammed into a sweaty two-person cubicle, but worse than 1-2 people in a cubicle. Significantly, obviously worse. We've gone from half-walls to no walls.

Personally, I find cubicles to be the worst of both worlds: too spread out for much collaboration with neighbors, but open enough go have nearly all the noise and distraction of an open office.

I find working from home to be the best out of all three choices. I'd never go back to working in an office, cubicles, open office space, whatever.

If your business structure is so terrible that you can't manage a remote team, you're probably not that great at managing folks onsite either.

Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace

#22

Post by dillon »

I think this has been a discussion going on for a long time now. What I believe to be true is it really depends on the person. If you're someone who is self-conscious then yes you'll feel like everyone is judging you all the time. If you have the ability to stay focused on your work without being around colleagues then you should be allowed to work from home.

I've worked in open offices, offices with high partitions and from home. When I work from home what's stopping me from opening up news or playing video games? When I work in a partition and I need to talk to another engineer face-to-face I can't just glance over to see if they are available. Open offices lets me be around my colleagues and inspires me to focus on my work and get access to help promptly when I need it. I don't give a damn if they see me in a snuggie or sleeping under my desk.

I believe the real problem is the lack of choices. You should be able to choose the kind of environment you want to work in and not feel like you're forced in a situation you don't like. I think it's wrong to say "open offices are destroying the workplace".

Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace

#23

Post by manigandham »

michaelochurch wrote: post #15
manigandham wrote: post #4

Absolutely agree, especially for think-intensive things like software development where "flow" is so important. Closed offices are marginally more expensive but the productivity improvements massively outweigh the investment. The lack of privacy is just uncomfortable. It always feels like you're being watched, even if you're not.

If the purpose of open-plan offices is to intimidate people into working, they backfire. I fuck around way more in an open-plan office than when I have privacy. There are many reasons for it. The first is that I have a fixed amount of "goofing off" (which is just giving my mind some rest) that I'll do per day. In a private office, it might take 20 minutes and I'm done and back to work. In an open-plan office where I…

Yep. Open-plan benefits are few and far between and to me just feels like forced teamwork and socialization. It certainly depends on the industry/team but most of the time, people don't need to chat with each other all day and instead need to just get shit done.

I remember getting interrupted by jokes or background chatter or just physical movement from people walking around but the worst is how easy it becomes for people to ask minor questions that were far better suited for email/chat. Lots of communication can be async but this setup actively encourages interruptions so we can all "collaborate".

Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace

#24

Post by jkire »

It all depends on the culture and dynamics of the workplace I think. If everyone keeps their voices low (I don't mean whispering, just not booming), and are concious that when people have their headphones and have a look of deep concentration they shouldn't be disturbed, then it really is not that bad. Then again, I'm the sort of person that prefers to work with a bit of background noise rather than in deathly silence where each tiny sounds causes me to jump.

It also sounds like the writer works in a place that doesn't really need much inter-person communication on an hour by hour basis. As a software develop I find being able to quickly ask those 5 second questions invaluable, questions I wouldn't necessarily have bothered to ask if I had get up or send an email.

> Each day, my associates and I are seated at a table staring at each other, having an ongoing 12-person conversation from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

It takes a certain amount of self control to avoid this; just as it takes self control not to spend your entire day browsing HN...

Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace

#25

Post by dba7dba »

I have said it before here, but the best office layout I saw was at Autodesk HQ in mid 1990's.

EVERY single engineer (or was it every employee) got an enclosed small office. One office per employee. Full height glass wall between the hallway and the office. Big enough for a desk, chair, 2 chairs for visitors.

Oh and one more thing. Maybe because I work in IT but what is it with installing AC related machinery ABOVE/NEAR the server room (like ceiling)? The machinery makes SO much noise in the office.

Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace

#27

Post by Ironlink »

I currently work in an office made of small-ish rooms, each with 5 to 10 persons in an open floor plan. The people sharing a room are in the same team. I don't think I could go from this to having a private office, the cold and quiet loneliness would be depressing. I love the banter that comes up while waiting for a test suite to complete, and the ability to quickly do some pair programming or have an impromptu team meeting. At any time, we can simply turn around to face each other instead of the desk.

Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace

#28

Post by mirkules »

a_c_s wrote: post #13
dgreensp wrote: post #3

Open floorplans are worse than cubicles. Not worse than four people crammed into a sweaty two-person cubicle, but worse than 1-2 people in a cubicle. Significantly, obviously worse. We've gone from half-walls to no walls.

Personally, I find cubicles to be the worst of both worlds: too spread out for much collaboration with neighbors, but open enough go have nearly all the noise and distraction of an open office.

Can you explain what collaborative benefits an open office plan brings when trying to concentrate on fixing code? Currently I work in a place with 66" high walls and I find that true collaboration happens regardless of the wall height, via instant messaging, email and walking into someone's cube. I've worked in places with low cube walls and I've absolutely hated it - I felt so uncomfortable I couldn't wait to leave by the end of the day. In the end, I feel low cube walls hurt privacy-minded people more than they help "collaborative" types.

Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace

#29

Post by chipotle_coyote »

dgreensp wrote: post #3

Open floorplans are worse than cubicles. Not worse than four people crammed into a sweaty two-person cubicle, but worse than 1-2 people in a cubicle. Significantly, obviously worse. We've gone from half-walls to no walls.

I've recently entertained the heretical thought that cubicles, as much as everyone seems to love to hate them, represent a good compromise between private offices and open floor plans. Particularly when you talk about cubicles with "medium height" walls (around 53", from a little Googling), there's some acoustic and visual privacy from your neighbors, but there's still a good sense of openness.

Also, a cubicle provides many more places to store stuff: reference books, office supplies, all the papers your supposedly paperless office still finds a way to generate, and whatever you've personally done to make your workspace your workspace.

My cynical suspicion is that the biggest benefit open floorplans provide to employers is that they're much cheaper. Even if you buy everyone motorized sit/stand desks, floor mats and Herman Miller chairs, you're not only spending less per employee than you would on a cubicle (a standard setup with a generic chair, shelving and even a single file cabinet easily hits $2K), you're fitting more employees into the same space.

Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace

#30

Post by ianstallings »

It's about noise and distractions. Programming takes concentration and in an open office layout all you see is people trying their best to not be distracted. Why not let good architecture solve that problem instead? Let the experts, architects, do their job and stop second-guessing them.
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