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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

#91

Post by jschwartzi »

krschultz wrote: post #59

The ultimate irony of open plan offices is that if you are considerate of your neighbors, you can't actually collaborate in the open part of the office. Every single time I want to talk to someone for an in depth period of time, we almost immediately move to a conference room so we don't disturb the people around us. If everyone had offices, I would walk into their office and we would not need to move after starting…

It's distressing to me that I have the strong urge to move to a private area to talk to a coworker about their day because the guy next door immediately jumps in and has Opinions about Stuff, so the conversation immediately becomes about him.

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

#92

Post by curun1r »

michaelochurch wrote: post #37
stevesearer wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the purpose of open-plan offices ever to intimidate people into working? If so, I'd love to read a case study on it. From everything I've read they are mostly built because of the lower costs, better flexibility, and associated collaboration benefits.

So, part of it is certainly that they're the cheap 'n' shitty option. However, when you weigh the money saved against the loss of productivity, they're not worth it. Open-plan offices aren't collaborative. Open-Plan Syndrome actually makes people more selfish and misanthropic. When people don't feel in control of their space (and what makes open-plan so bad isn't just the awfulness of the environment, but how fucking…

There are different kinds of collaboration and you're taking a very narrow view of it. Open offices might suck for explicit collaboration, like pairing, but for the type of collaboration that happens somewhat randomly, they're basically the only option. What I'm talking about mostly manifests itself in overheard conversations where someone who wasn't initially part of the conversation realizes they can add valuable context and joins in. It's really hard to quantify the benefits of something like this but, especially in software development, it can be very useful in leveraging past experiences of the entire team to avoid going down too many wrong paths. It also means that you don't have to put nearly as much effort into communicating context around your organization because employees pick it up naturally from conversations around them.

I'm generally in favor of a somewhat hybrid approach, where small teams have their own cubicle or office and everything is open inside because I've seen what happens when that sort of organic communication doesn't happen either because people work in individual offices or because too many people work remotely.

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

#93

Post by icebraining »

nextos wrote: post #2

Things are getting so insane that even some top universities have open-plan offices. Am I supposed to prove theorems or to write Lisp in such an environment? Seriously?

Is that a new development? I thought open-plan study halls were common in universities and libraries.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/proimos/5914733818/

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

#94

Post by brandon »

icebraining wrote: post #84
stevesearer wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I run an office design website and I hardly ever see team rooms, which is very surprising and they seem like a good balance between collaborative space and privacy. One of the offices I like to show as an example is Ubiquiti Networks, particularly images 3 and 4 (pardon the link to my own website): http://officesnapshots.com/2014/03/12/ubiquiti-networks-san-...

Is that an anechoic chamber? Why would they need that?

Ubiquiti makes wireless equipment, so this is not the traditional sort of anechoic chamber: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anechoic_chamber#Radio-frequenc...

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

#95

Post by icebraining »

rewqfdsa wrote: post #32
LoSboccacc wrote: post #6

google is also aiming at recreating the frat environment for their 20-something workforce. apples and oranges. I'd lean more on private space for every team working on a single deliverable, but that's just my preference.

"Deliverable" is one of words that provokes a "nope" reaction from me. I am not a resource that produces deliverables. I am a human being.

Why can't you be a human that produces deliverables? Seems like a weird hung up to have.

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

#96

Post by sheepmullet »

dillon wrote: post #22

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…

"When I work from home what's stopping me from opening up news or playing video games?"

It sounds like the low grade anxiety and stress of an open office actually helps keep you on track. Frequent deadlines is a similar kind of pressure that some people excel with.

I'm the same when I get plenty of downtime at work. If I can take a long lunch break and follow it up by going to the gym and nobody at work minds because I am overall very productive then the low grade stress etc actually helps me focus.

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

#97

Post by sheepmullet »

dillon wrote: post #22

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…

"I think it's wrong to say "open offices are destroying the workplace"."

Id estimate maybe 25% of open office workers are seriously negatively impacted by an open office.

To put that in perspective if 25% of workers at a company were subject to bullying or sexual harassment we would certainly label the work environment extremely toxic... Even if another 25% were happy and productive in it.

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

#98

Post by geon »

fsloth wrote: post #36
dillon wrote: post #22

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…

"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. " Actually any co-location scheme allows this, walls or no walls. It's a matter of culture, not of vertical dividers. But I concur, it's a bit over the top to say that "everyone" hates open offices since clearly some people don't. Personally, to me it feels like a quarter suffers, of which…

> Team rooms

That explains why I don't recognize the horrors of open offices I read about.

I work for a small company with only 10 people spread over 2 rooms.

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

#99

Post by sheepmullet »

magicalist wrote: post #52
gnaritas wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When I work from home what's stopping me from opening up news or playing video games? Being an adult. Really, do you require a baby sitter to keep you busy?

Given the popularity of site-blocking apps like SelfControl, Freedom etc, yes, many people do need help with this. I don't use them, but I go through quite wide swings between ignoring many distractions to get work done to having trouble getting work done because of all the distractions (just plotting my HN comments alone would probably yield a nice sinusoidal wave). And I absolutely use a choice of work space to hel…

"Given the popularity of site-blocking apps like SelfControl, Freedom etc, yes, many people do need help with this."

The great thing about a computer is I am the master of it. That means if I have trouble focusing I can easily use these tools you mentioned in order to focus.

I can't do anything about my coworker eating a big bag of chips really loudly; or the sales staff laughing and joking around on the phone with clients all day long.

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

#100

Post by gnaritas »

Apocryphon wrote: post #76
gnaritas wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're projecting, no one said anything about busy-work. Busy does not mean doing unproductive work. Busy != busy-work.

But it's inevitable that any job will involve some amount of busy-work. Such is the nature of work. Busy-work isn't unproductive work- at least, not to the organization. Busy-work is work that the organization needs to have done, but the individual does not find interesting or satisfying to do. Any company is going to require busy-work.

> Busy-work isn't unproductive work

That's exactly what it is.

> Busy-work is work that the organization needs to have done, but the individual does not find interesting or satisfying to do.

That is not what the term means. Busy work: work that keeps a person busy but has little value in itself. What you're describing is simply boring work. If the work is useful, it is by definition not busy work.

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