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The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

nathanmarz.com

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Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#161

Post by sutterbomb »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #150
sutterbomb wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think "office with a door" is an obvious alternative, because it's prohibitively expensive to build out a space with individual offices for every single employee. It's like saying a study that compared air travel to high speed rail is comically bad because it didn't even consider teleportation. (Extreme hyperbole, but I think it conveys my point.)

Not that more expensive. Those cubicles cost nearly as much. I've built out spaces before, and offices are absolutely worth the expense, especially if you consider the improved work performance. Its like saying light bulbs are comically bad because the sun is there for free. :)

Haha fair enough re: light bulbs.

I still have a hard time imagining that building individual offices, with the additional wiring, AC/heat, individual lighting etc. would be even close to a cubicle build out. Haven't built a space myself though and don't have hard data, so guess I'll take your word for it.

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#162

Post by JoeAltmaier »

sutterbomb wrote: post #161
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that more expensive. Those cubicles cost nearly as much. I've built out spaces before, and offices are absolutely worth the expense, especially if you consider the improved work performance. Its like saying light bulbs are comically bad because the sun is there for free. :)

Haha fair enough re: light bulbs. I still have a hard time imagining that building individual offices, with the additional wiring, AC/heat, individual lighting etc. would be even close to a cubicle build out. Haven't built a space myself though and don't have hard data, so guess I'll take your word for it.

Cubicles are wicked expensive. Their price rose to almost that of building an office. Free market principle - charge what the market will support.

Now, you can re-use and re-configure cubicles, so that's often used as excuse to buy them. But moving them around is also expensive - rewiring, mechanical work, they're fragile to begin with.

So I call cubicles a dead loss to the bottom line. That's been my experience.

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#163

Post by collyw »

lnanek2 wrote: post #155
abalone wrote: post #10

Suffers from the same flaw as most critiques of open plan: it focuses on individual productivity while failing to understand how it contributes to team productivity. Cornell did a study of open plan awhile back that you should all read. I posted it here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7507404 The misunderstanding here is that it's just about serendipitously "overhearing" other conversations. 1. Open plan makes…

This varies by the individual as well, however. There are some guys at work here who will ask the tech lead how to merge a source code change into the master branch every single time - one guy has done it three times in a row about a week apart each time and needed personal assistance every time. There are other people who just read the internal wiki and do it without needing hand holding every time. If you are one o…

git is a pain in the arse to get started with

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#164

Post by collyw »

zaidf wrote: post #140
abalone wrote: post #10

Suffers from the same flaw as most critiques of open plan: it focuses on individual productivity while failing to understand how it contributes to team productivity. Cornell did a study of open plan awhile back that you should all read. I posted it here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7507404 The misunderstanding here is that it's just about serendipitously "overhearing" other conversations. 1. Open plan makes…

I'm much more likely to ask questions on IM than face to face. The latter not only interrupts the person I am asking the question, but also interrupts my own flow. May be just me.

Email or IM also has the benefit that it is still there half an hour later. "Did he say a or b?" Just scroll back.

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#165

Post by [deleted] »

robinhouston wrote: post #26

“Another trait, it took me a while to notice. I noticed the following facts about people who work with the door open or the door closed. I notice that if you have the door to your office closed, you get more work done today and tomorrow, and you are more productive than most. But 10 years later somehow you don't know quite know what problems are worth working on; all the hard work you do is sort of tangential in impo…

[deleted]

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#166

Post by collyw »

mh_yam wrote: post #99
crusso wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you actually ask everyone Yeah, I did communicate with people about the efficacy of the working environment. Plus, for the past 12 years or so, everyone I've worked with has had a laptop that they could always (and did at times) take to quiet places when they needed alone time. They self-identified as needing quiet. Most others self-identified as liking the more collaborative working spaces. I'm one of them If yo…

Having the ability to retreat to a quiet area is critical. Many people don't have the option of going to a 'quiet room'. It's just one big, chaotic workspace. Personally I have discussed this with coworkers/managers, but the environment is not going to change. Wherever I go next, I'll be on the lookout for quiet&privacy.

I like that idea, but I can see an immediate trade off between the large screen of my desktop and the lack of distractions of taking my laptop somewhere.

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#167

Post by gjm11 »

escape_goat wrote: post #68

I'd like to note that his self-assessment of likely open-floor-plan productivity appears to be an authentic QWANTZ moment. Personally, this is the first time I have seen one in the wild.

> an authentic QWANTZ moment

Would you care to explain what that means?

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#168

Post by nyrulez »

abalone wrote: post #10

Suffers from the same flaw as most critiques of open plan: it focuses on individual productivity while failing to understand how it contributes to team productivity. Cornell did a study of open plan awhile back that you should all read. I posted it here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7507404 The misunderstanding here is that it's just about serendipitously "overhearing" other conversations. 1. Open plan makes…

What if I told you I've experienced both and found your observations to be untrue. Is it possible that it depends on the context, nature of role and the team ?

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#169

Post by Crito »

RyJones wrote: post #141
lawnchair_larry wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is pure hell for people who actually do work, and often repeated by managers who don't "get it." Silly questions are not the genesis of good ideas, they're a denial of service attack on good work. Read Peopleware.

It's amazing all the managers get offices but the ICs get productivity-enhancing cubes.

Stratification. Putting "regulars" into an open floor plan and leaving managers with offices is this concept on steroids (yes, I've actually seen that).

I believe that there is an unplanned unorchestrated ongoing attempt throughout the industry to prevent programmers from being seen as professionals. Reverse dress codes (you'll get odd looks and questions if you aren't dressed casually, but instead throw on a suit or even just a tie), cubicles, and open office space are all ways that this is done.

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#170

Post by zemo »

mabbo wrote: post #14
zemo wrote: post #8

this is why I wear construction earmuffs at work. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009LI4K/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...

You too? I've got the blue pair. Some of my coworkers don't really get just how much sound they block, and get pissed that I'm not responding to them when they're standing behind me talking to me. And half the time, I actually can't hear them.

yeah, at an old job they were given out to every employee as standard workplace equipment. I found them really helpful so I bought a dozen of them and passed them around to other people that wanted them. They're pretty handy.
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