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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

#141

Post by wahsd »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #127
wahsd wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Group spaces are quite prevalent in Germany from what I can tell. It makes total sense, in Germany. There is a bit of a difference in the USA though, where employers think you get productivity out of surveillance. We are not a very deeply thinking society, so it makes sense on the face of it that if you can see people working they are being productive. What we miss though, is that all the surveillance and lack of pro…

> The site's already kind of embarrassingly styled That's kinda subjective; it looks fine to me, although I do miss contextual linking and collapsible comments (a la reddit) - although, this is something they're working on.

I'm referring to the fact that it's not responsive and does not scale without zooming.

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

#142

Post by analog31 »

fridek wrote: post #58
analog31 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Closed private offices enable people to slack at work and pretend to work 80h week while actually dozing off most of the day. I'm not saying everybody does that, but it's certainly a possibility and something I have observed few times. I observe this often. My workplace has closed offices for the middle managers, with windows so you can see in, and you can tell from their body language that they're either slacking of…

Well, for this very reason an open space office should have enough conference rooms for everybody. I dread the moment when I will need to "walk through the door" to speak with a manager. That's intimidating and discourages people from communicating with them. While private rooms help them do the job on the same and above level, I don't believe it works well for their teams.

At my workplace, a little conference room was provided for one of the open office spaces... it lasted for a few months, whereupon one of the managers decided that she needed it.

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

#143

Post by PascLeRasc »

artursapek wrote: post #107
PascLeRasc wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I suspect the coworkers brought in their own mechs which makes them at fault here. Mechanical keyboards are loud enough to disturb others in a private office setting, I can't imagine hearing multiple nearby with no walls.

Try working in midtown Manhattan! The street noise will make a swarm of mechanical keyboards sound like a lullaby. I work in an open office of ~20 people and did exactly what you described - I brought my own keyboard to replace the standard issue flat Apple keyboard my company purchased in bulk. It has made a big difference in my typing speed. In fact there's four of us in here with mechanical keyboards and nobody se…

Huh, that's cool that mechanical keyboards are that well-spread. I thought it was a fairly niche internet hobby I stumbled into, because I've had to be the mech evangelist among my friends.

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

#144

Post by greenyoda »

ArkyBeagle wrote: post #72
ams6110 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DeMarco and Lister ( Peopleware ) saw the problems with open offices decades ago. The notion that open offices were a bad idea is not a new discovery. Companies like them because they are initially a lot cheaper than giving people their own offices.

Initially? Not so much. My understanding from when a company I worked for built a building is that bespoke offices would have been cheaper - it's just a few (steel) studs, some sheetrock , wiring and labor. Cubicles can be quite expensive. The appeal appears to be flexibility. Actual open offices - no cubicles, just tables - approximate a continuous meeting.

"it's just a few (steel) studs, some sheetrock , wiring and labor"

It's a bit more than that. For example, individual closed offices require their own ducts/convectors/filters for heating and air conditioning, their own fire sprinklers and smoke detectors, their own overhead lighting fixtures, etc. Also, the walls of offices generally need to be painted (nobody wants bare sheetrock), unlike the walls of cubicles.

Cubicles can indeed be expensive, but the labor to build offices is even more expensive.

(As someone who works in a private office, I think the increased productivity it gives me is well worth the expense.)

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

#145

Post by johnaspden »

georgehotelling wrote: post #126
johnaspden wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is a good suggestion. I've given up on 'contracting' these days, solely because I hate open plan, and just consult freelance. I rent my own office to work in and it's lovely. I get lonely though! I miss the technical and social conversations we used to have in the kitchen or round the coffee machine. What would be ideal is if I were to rent an office inside the company I'm working for. I would actually b…

You could find a coworking space in your area and set up shop there. They exist to provide that kind of atmosphere to freelancers.

I'd love to, but they're all bloody open-plan

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

#147

Post by ArkyBeagle »

greenyoda wrote: post #144
ArkyBeagle wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Initially? Not so much. My understanding from when a company I worked for built a building is that bespoke offices would have been cheaper - it's just a few (steel) studs, some sheetrock , wiring and labor. Cubicles can be quite expensive. The appeal appears to be flexibility. Actual open offices - no cubicles, just tables - approximate a continuous meeting.

"it's just a few (steel) studs, some sheetrock , wiring and labor" It's a bit more than that. For example, individual closed offices require their own ducts/convectors/filters for heating and air conditioning, their own fire sprinklers and smoke detectors, their own overhead lighting fixtures, etc. Also, the walls of offices generally need to be painted (nobody wants bare sheetrock), unlike the walls of cubicles. Cub…

All very true. Still...

The HVAC has to be there anyway. It's just a few more ducts.

The labor to build offices isn't that expensive, and it's not like the boss is gonna have you some in on Saturday to do it :) People who sell cubicles also sell (or contract) the labor to do installations.

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

#148

Post by crazy_geek »

hanspeter wrote: post #23
crazy_geek wrote: post #6

Earlier 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.

Your links to the studies aren't clickable.

Links are not clickable because it's 2015 and I (wrongly) assume you are capable of plunking 'open office plans productivity' into your search engine of choice.

But to be helpful, http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Open+office+plans+productivity

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