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High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

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Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#121

Post by Arizhel »

NamTaf wrote: post #107

My current office has 475mm high dividers. Next year they plan to relocate us to the 'workplace of the future' with barriers that in some instances are sub-300mm. They have 3 setups - a 4x desk each getting a 90 degree partition, a 3x each getting 120 and a 6x flat rectangular thing with no dividers. We will all be expected to hotdesk (what happens to my desktop workstation is anyone's guess?) and will get a single u…

>My current office has 475mm high dividers. Next year they plan to relocate us to the 'workplace of the future' with barriers that in some instances are sub-300mm.

>I'm already polishing my CV in anticipation of bailing because of it.

Crap, it looks like this infection has spread to Europe too. :-(

I really wish Europe would stop copying all the stupidest ideas and trends from America.

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#122

Post by pklausler »

Arizhel wrote: post #112
pklausler wrote: post #15

I guess that I fall into this characterization. Over my 36-year career, I've sat in solo offices with doors, shared offices, cubicles with progressively shorter walls, and wall-less high-density desk arrays. I've easily been twice as productive with a door as I am in a noisy environment -- all the other arrangements suck if there is even one inconsiderate human in the space making a phone call, moving a pound of mucu…

>in the space making a phone call, moving a pound of mucus from one sinus cavity to another, playing desk bongos along with their headphones, or any of the thousand other ways that normal humans can be distracting. Most of this stuff is not "inconsiderate"; it's just how humans are. People need to make or take phone calls sometimes; how else are you supposed to schedule doctors' appointments and do other life tasks,…

Responsible adults can go use a phone room, blow their noses, and not tap their fingers on their desktops. It's not that hard to be considerate.

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#123

Post by Arizhel »

pklausler wrote: post #122
Arizhel wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>in the space making a phone call, moving a pound of mucus from one sinus cavity to another, playing desk bongos along with their headphones, or any of the thousand other ways that normal humans can be distracting. Most of this stuff is not "inconsiderate"; it's just how humans are. People need to make or take phone calls sometimes; how else are you supposed to schedule doctors' appointments and do other life tasks,…

Responsible adults can go use a phone room, blow their noses, and not tap their fingers on their desktops. It's not that hard to be considerate.

Phone rooms don't work. I can't predict the future, so I have no way of knowing exactly what time an incoming phone call will occur. Maybe you can do that, but most of us can't.

Blowing noses? Isn't that what you're complaining about? Or just sniffling? If someone's sick with a cold, they're going to be doing a lot of both. It's not like you can blow your nose once and be good for the rest of the day; if it was like that, then you wouldn't have coworkers sniffling all day long. People get sick. Deal with it.

As for tapping fingers, how's that any more annoying that key clicks, foot tapping, or constant movement? People do all those things too. The fact is, people move. They cannot sit perfectly still and use the minimum necessary motion. Deal with it.

You're asking for people to be super-human. That isn't reasonable or possible. People are what they are, so you need an environment which accounts for that. If you don't have that, then it's management's fault, not the peoples' fault for just being what they are.

Honestly, you sound like someone complaining about cats licking their butts and dogs drooling.

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#124

Post by MR4D »

organsnyder wrote: post #13
solaris_7 wrote: post #8

The obsession for open plan offices continues to amaze me. Companies that invest huge amounts in staffing and other strategic programmes don't seem to spend much time challenging the default suggestion that 'openness = collaboration'. This article mentions high performance employees - but most knowledge workers (designers, programmers etc.) that I know all struggle with open plan office environments irrespective of t…

The collaborative nature of my open office environment helps me to generate tons of great ideas that I'll never have the focus to implement.

You should put that on a bumper sticker and sell them for ten bucks each.

You'd be rich before the end of the day just from the revenue off of HN readers alone!

:)

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#125

Post by jaredsohn »

Arizhel wrote: post #123
pklausler wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Responsible adults can go use a phone room, blow their noses, and not tap their fingers on their desktops. It's not that hard to be considerate.

Phone rooms don't work. I can't predict the future, so I have no way of knowing exactly what time an incoming phone call will occur. Maybe you can do that, but most of us can't. Blowing noses? Isn't that what you're complaining about? Or just sniffling? If someone's sick with a cold, they're going to be doing a lot of both. It's not like you can blow your nose once and be good for the rest of the day; if it was like…

>Phone rooms don't work. I can't predict the future, so I have no way of knowing exactly what time an incoming phone call will occur. Maybe you can do that, but most of us can't.

You can predict that you will be talking on the phone if you are making a call (such as scheduling a doctor appointment). You can walk to a phone room when you receive a call.

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#126

Post by MR4D »

oxryly1 wrote: post #101
technics256 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an American who moved to Germany, that mindset was completely removed here. Not only do people tell you to take your vacation time if you don't, they get worried if you are working too much or too hard. It's a great relief to be here and see a different mindset outside that of the "all work no holiday" cultures you can find in the states.

Which is why world dominating tech companies like Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, etc were naturally founded in Germany. I kid, I kiiid... no really that was both sarcastic and joking. Is the "all work no holiday" necessary for successful tech startups on the order of those?

I hope not. I prefer this approach:

1 - have a plan 2 - FOCUS for 8 hours during the workday 3 - go home and play/rest

Seems to me that doing this would create a good company, but it's damned hard to find any examples.

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#127

Post by Arizhel »

jaredsohn wrote: post #125
Arizhel wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Phone rooms don't work. I can't predict the future, so I have no way of knowing exactly what time an incoming phone call will occur. Maybe you can do that, but most of us can't. Blowing noses? Isn't that what you're complaining about? Or just sniffling? If someone's sick with a cold, they're going to be doing a lot of both. It's not like you can blow your nose once and be good for the rest of the day; if it was like…

>Phone rooms don't work. I can't predict the future, so I have no way of knowing exactly what time an incoming phone call will occur. Maybe you can do that, but most of us can't. You can predict that you will be talking on the phone if you are making a call (such as scheduling a doctor appointment). You can walk to a phone room when you receive a call.

>You can walk to a phone room when you receive a call.

By then, it's too late: you're now disrupted by the noisy phone ringer, and the start of the conversation.

And what if the phone room is occupied? If the company is really cheap with space, they probably didn't put enough private rooms in to satisfy demand.

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#128

Post by NamTaf »

Arizhel wrote: post #121
NamTaf wrote: post #107

My current office has 475mm high dividers. Next year they plan to relocate us to the 'workplace of the future' with barriers that in some instances are sub-300mm. They have 3 setups - a 4x desk each getting a 90 degree partition, a 3x each getting 120 and a 6x flat rectangular thing with no dividers. We will all be expected to hotdesk (what happens to my desktop workstation is anyone's guess?) and will get a single u…

>My current office has 475mm high dividers. Next year they plan to relocate us to the 'workplace of the future' with barriers that in some instances are sub- 300mm . >I'm already polishing my CV in anticipation of bailing because of it. Crap, it looks like this infection has spread to Europe too. :-( I really wish Europe would stop copying all the stupidest ideas and trends from America.

Don't worry, I'm in Australia.

Also not sure how my original post got downvoted since it's just recollecting my opinions on open-plan offices. Maybe the Open Plan Cabal hates me speaking ill of their utopia. Go figure.

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#129

Post by Arizhel »

NamTaf wrote: post #128
Arizhel wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>My current office has 475mm high dividers. Next year they plan to relocate us to the 'workplace of the future' with barriers that in some instances are sub- 300mm . >I'm already polishing my CV in anticipation of bailing because of it. Crap, it looks like this infection has spread to Europe too. :-( I really wish Europe would stop copying all the stupidest ideas and trends from America.

Don't worry, I'm in Australia. Also not sure how my original post got downvoted since it's just recollecting my opinions on open-plan offices. Maybe the Open Plan Cabal hates me speaking ill of their utopia. Go figure.

Oh, I saw the millimeters and CV and assumed you were European; sorry!

Anyone from Europe care to comment on whether this plague has spread over there too? From what little I've read, it has.

I think, unfortunately, open-plan offices are just now the reality world-wide. Some cultures always had them (Asia), and now the cultures that had closed offices have moved that way. The US has led the world for a long time with software development, which does coincide with closed offices and then cubicles, so I think we can look forward to being a has-been and other countries becoming the leaders in software due to us adopting open-plan offices. In a couple of decades it'll probably cause a complete economic collapse and probably breakup of the US.

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