Ending the open office epidemic
wildbit.com
Ending the open office epidemic
1–10 of 148 posts
Re: Ending the open office epidemic
#2[deleted]
Re: Ending the open office epidemic
#3Open office "advantage" is the story owners who can't afford to pay for a better location tell the developers.
Sort of like the guy whose car broke so he is taking his tractor to work. He would tell the world how tractors are so much better and have all these great advantages compared to regular cars.
Re: Ending the open office epidemic
#4A chap in our office runs to work each day, changes and leaves his damp sweaty clothes around his desk to dry. This means people give him lots of space, and practically his own office.
Re: Ending the open office epidemic
#5"As a company grows, the cost of restructuring an office to accommodate more people in different layouts is time consuming and expensive. By having desks in an open plan and telephone rooms for quiet time, the idea is that you can solve the cost and flexibility problems while still offering a quiet place to retreat if needed. From a growth perspective this is smart. If I planned to add 30 employees to our office in the next 12 months I might not have a choice otherwise."
Well said. Some people like to blame it on founders too cheap to buy decent furniture, but rearranging people every few months is time consuming and disruptive (It can also kill morale when someone loses a window or gets stuck under a vent.)
Re: Ending the open office epidemic
#6A chap in our office runs to work each day, changes and leaves his damp sweaty clothes around his desk to dry. This means people give him lots of space, and practically his own office.
In my opinion, a good office should have (a) shower(s) -- unless it's right next to a gym, a spot to take naps, and a spot to take private calls. In addition of a layout fit for the way teams are organized.
Re: Ending the open office epidemic
#7I want some of whatever their investors are smoking.
Edit: Is it the smoke from all those dollar bills going up in those flames?
Re: Ending the open office epidemic
#8I remember the library at my university being excellent at getting me in the "flow". It's not so much about "open office vs private office" as it is the expectation in those places.
I'm toying with the idea of recreating a library-like environment that is super quiet and zen-like, but not limited in number of people. Go there for flow-type work. On the flip side, have a cafe-like environment for animated collaborations. Of course, there needs to be a great insulation between the 2, perhaps have them on a different floor.
Re: Ending the open office epidemic
#9Open office "advantage" is the story owners who can't afford to pay for a better location tell the developers. Sort of like the guy whose car broke so he is taking his tractor to work. He would tell the world how tractors are so much better and have all these great advantages compared to regular cars.
I think that is a bit unfair or cynical. I loathe open offices, but plenty of people who have no financial ties to the layout advocate for them (such as my immediate boss).
For some reason people believe the "collaboration" argument without evidence, but dismiss the evidence that productivity is lower in open offices. I suspect they are extraverts or high stimulation people that cannot grok introverts or low stimulation folks. When I was in school I could never study with music, for example; others require it at loud volume to even settle down.
Re: Ending the open office epidemic
#10I remember the library at my university being excellent at getting me in the "flow". It's not so much about "open office vs private office" as it is the expectation in those places. I'm toying with the idea of recreating a library-like environment that is super quiet and zen-like, but not limited in number of people. Go there for flow-type work. On the flip side, have a cafe-like environment for animated collaboratio…
You also need private 1-2 person conf rooms for folks who simply can't work in an open environment even if it's quiet.
Also some people need privacy lots of the times (i.e., HR, senior management) as they discuss sensitive topics. Unless your organization is structured to be completely open, some folks are going to need a near-permanent office.