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Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

thewalrus.ca

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Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#31

Post by MrBuddyCasino »

LandR wrote: post #27

I work in a shared office / coworking space. We have 3 desks in a large open plan office with a kitchen area. It's about 10 feet from my desk. Most of the time it's just me from our company as the other devs work from home or work out the main office. My experience of working in this shared space: * It's noisy. I mean really noisy, noise cancelling headphones are a must. Like I said the kitchen area is near my desk,…

> No one talks to anyone from other companies, to the point of awkwardness

Haha yeah. It helps to have a few women around, but especially when there are lots of male IT coworkers present this is definitely a thing.

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#33

Post by matte_black »

cle wrote: post #14
dwc wrote: post #6

That's not a shared office, it's a coworking space or something. I've shared an office with a teammate before, and it was very productive. It was a great mix of heads-down work and the ability to discuss issues/design as needed. OTOH, someone I know started a coworking space a few miles away from my home. I popped in there a couple of times to check it out and decided it was very much not for me. Too much "collaborat…

It's more like a narcissistic frat than a co-working space. Or maybe more of a "co-space", since actually getting work done in a WeWork can be a challenge. (Note: I've actually spent a good deal of time in a WeWork.)

WeWorks are hell, ironically I would only work there if I wanted to do some “casual work” – writing a few lines of code, play some ping pong, drink a beer, living the startup life, chat with some people. When I actually needed to do some serious business I got the hell out and went to my real office.

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#34

Post by reificator »

rxhernandez wrote: post #12
reificator wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If this is the future of tech work, then I guess I'd better find another career--perhaps gardening or wood-working? Exactly. I can't imagine working in an environment like that. You don't want to hear me playing Smooth by Neil Cicierega[1], and I don't want to hear you playing rap. A work environment is not the place to be playing music for everyone around you. Constant generic music is the worst part of retail, an…

I would like to hear both but not at work(I feel like saying you only like one genre is saying you only like one style of food). I would like absolute dead silence at work because that's when I do my best work; hence why I like to work from home 90% of the time.

> (I feel like saying you only like one genre is saying you only like one style of food)

Is the implication that I said that?

Otherwise agreed, silence is great. I find my concentration varies throughout the day, and when I'm most focused I prefer silence. When I'm least focused, music helps bump me up to a productive level. And in the middle, it can go either way.

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#35

Post by matte_black »

nathanaldensr wrote: post #2

They want an office that matches their personality. And apparently, that means beer on tap and lots of it. The office looked like the lobby of a hipster hotel. Over the next few weeks, we showed up each day and tapped away on MacBook Airs to the sounds of Portuguese house music and old-school hip hop piped in through speakers. (“Rap is urban, and so is WeWork,” the company explains online. “But more profoundly, the c…

I know you may have meant it sarcastically, but woodworking has a lot of traits that appeal to a software developer. I do it as a hobby and if I wasn’t a software engineer I would probably have a woodworking business of some sort.

Better to be a programmer in a woodworking shop than woodworker in a WeWork.

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#36

Post by ramphastidae »

ryandrake wrote: post #19
reificator wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If this is the future of tech work, then I guess I'd better find another career--perhaps gardening or wood-working? Exactly. I can't imagine working in an environment like that. You don't want to hear me playing Smooth by Neil Cicierega[1], and I don't want to hear you playing rap. A work environment is not the place to be playing music for everyone around you. Constant generic music is the worst part of retail, an…

Also alcohol flowing at work? I’m no teetotaler but isn’t that a recipe for trouble? Assuming we’re not just talking about sharing a few beers after hours. I’ve worked with people who drank on the job to the point where they were working totally shitfaced, and it’s not pretty. If they’re meeting with other teams or customers, they’re going to be an embarrassment, and if they’re checking in code... let’s not even go t…

Drinking at work is one of the absolutely worst traits of tech. Not only is it totally unprofessional, but things like ‘Friday beers’ are actually presented by companies as a benefit, and you face major social and professional consequences for not participating. It’s obscene.

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#37

Post by dorian-graph »

LandR wrote: post #13
gnclmorais wrote: post #3

> WeWork offers freelancers a chic workspace and beer on tap—but are people productive? Not really. That was my experience at a WeWork space in London. It was not quiet (glass walls), it was hard to focus, social events starting at 4pm (who finishes work at that time?), and if you end up being close to the common spaces, near the kitchen… well, I suggest you get a good pair of sound cancelling headphones.

I finish at 4... But everything else you say is correct. Headphones are a must in a shared office.

From my experience, finishing at 4pm in London is not common.

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#38

Post by sputknick »

LandR wrote: post #27

I work in a shared office / coworking space. We have 3 desks in a large open plan office with a kitchen area. It's about 10 feet from my desk. Most of the time it's just me from our company as the other devs work from home or work out the main office. My experience of working in this shared space: * It's noisy. I mean really noisy, noise cancelling headphones are a must. Like I said the kitchen area is near my desk,…

> No one talks to anyone from other companies, to the point of awkwardness.

Can you share what part of the US/world you are in? I'm curious if this is cultural.

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#39

Post by btbuildem »

LandR wrote: post #27

I work in a shared office / coworking space. We have 3 desks in a large open plan office with a kitchen area. It's about 10 feet from my desk. Most of the time it's just me from our company as the other devs work from home or work out the main office. My experience of working in this shared space: * It's noisy. I mean really noisy, noise cancelling headphones are a must. Like I said the kitchen area is near my desk,…

> The kitchen area, despite being an office staffed with supposed professionals, is always a mess. How does this happen?

It's a common space, so it's nobody's. Especially in an environment like that, a collection of separated individuals

Re: Why It’s So Hard to Actually Work in Shared Offices

#40

Post by collyw »

nathanaldensr wrote: post #2

They want an office that matches their personality. And apparently, that means beer on tap and lots of it. The office looked like the lobby of a hipster hotel. Over the next few weeks, we showed up each day and tapped away on MacBook Airs to the sounds of Portuguese house music and old-school hip hop piped in through speakers. (“Rap is urban, and so is WeWork,” the company explains online. “But more profoundly, the c…

I always wonder what Apple Mac coffee shop workers are actually working on. The closest I got to seeing someone working, it looked like cutting some parts out of a photo using something like photoshop. (Not exactly rocket science.)
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