This article has been discussed several times, mostly https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9404006 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8815065.
Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace
11–20 of 148 posts
Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace
#12I truly dislike open offices. The constant sound of mechanical keyboards clacking really gets to me, and I'm not sure why. I wear headphones listening to loud music to cancel out the sounds of these damn keyboards.
Maybe you could sneakily suggest that they try an ergonomic keyboard. I haven't seen an ergonomic keyboard which is noisy and mechanical yet, at least.. :-)
Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace
#13The author's argument is basically "I don't like open offices, so they're bad." Yawn. I would have liked to see some studies on actual productivity level fluctuations based on these moves. Otherwise, it's simply another variation of "I'm not used to it, so it's bad."
As pointed out: "Peopleware" by Tom DeMarco. I would like to see the studies that show ANY positive benefit from open office plans, other than: "They are cheaper to built and run".
https://hbr.org/2014/10/workspaces-that-move-people
"data suggest that creating collisions—chance encounters and unplanned interactions between knowledge workers, both inside and outside the organization—improves performance"
Just one of many notable quotes from the article.
It isn't a formal study but it is pragmatic i.e. "Managers might be tempted to simply build big social spaces and expect great results, but it’s not that simple. Companies must have an understanding of what they’re trying to achieve (higher productivity? more creativity?) before changing a space"
Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace
#14The author's argument is basically "I don't like open offices, so they're bad." Yawn. I would have liked to see some studies on actual productivity level fluctuations based on these moves. Otherwise, it's simply another variation of "I'm not used to it, so it's bad."
As pointed out: "Peopleware" by Tom DeMarco. I would like to see the studies that show ANY positive benefit from open office plans, other than: "They are cheaper to built and run".
I'd be interested in reading that. However, it still doesn't take away from my point that this article wasn't much more than an opinion piece extrapolated to a massive overgeneralization.
Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace
#15Everybody needs a balance between productive alone time and creative brainstorming time. Most companies I've seen achieve this with an open space and plenty of WFH for all employees. Basically we meet 2-3 times a week to organize and share ideas, and spend there rest of the week heads down at home, coding in whatever pace and setting we like. Closed private offices enable people to slack at work and pretend to work 8…
I would argue that if you cannot restrain yourself to be productive in a closed office, why would you be it from home?
That said, I agree, evaluating on time at the office is the wrong metric, but for the vast majority of managers, they have no idea how to evaluate it otherwise because they do not understand the tasks at hand.
Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace
#16The author's argument is basically "I don't like open offices, so they're bad." Yawn. I would have liked to see some studies on actual productivity level fluctuations based on these moves. Otherwise, it's simply another variation of "I'm not used to it, so it's bad."
Study after study show that open distraction office plans are bad for productivity, and increase stress and sick days -- even among those who like open office plans.
That wasn't my point (I don't have a side here).
I'm mostly asking to see those studies & have a nuanced breakdown of them (rather than simply saying they exist or (as the author did in their piece) saying they had a bad experience)).
Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Study after study show that open distraction office plans are bad for productivity, and increase stress and sick days -- even among those who like open office plans.
Sure. It is intuitive that this would be the case. However those aren't the only important factors in a workplace. Team cohesion, collaboration, minimising politics etc. It also seems intuitive to me at least that these would be improved by an open plan office. Personally I have seen private and public ways of working succeed for different styles of projects which seems to be the newest trend i.e. having mix use spac…
My experience tells me that the open office plan, enables poor work ethics to ruin it collectively. I've been in open officies that worked just fine, because everybody had enough deciplin to make it work, and it was okay to tell people to move to a meeting room if they got too noisy.
The best model I've heard about is "work rooms" for everyone, with facilities to move to when you're collaborating.
Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace
#18They should switch to libreoffice. Fixed everything for me.
Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace
#19I truly dislike open offices. The constant sound of mechanical keyboards clacking really gets to me, and I'm not sure why. I wear headphones listening to loud music to cancel out the sounds of these damn keyboards.
Maybe you could sneakily suggest that they try an ergonomic keyboard. I haven't seen an ergonomic keyboard which is noisy and mechanical yet, at least.. :-)
ergodox with cherry blues? :)
Re: Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace
#20They should switch to libreoffice. Fixed everything for me.
lol