Why are open plans (among software engineers) so common in the industry? Is it really that most software engineers like them?
They're cheaper, faster to set up, and pack more people into less space?
Open-plan offices reduce face-to-face interactions (2018)
31–40 of 79 posts
Re: Open-plan offices reduce face-to-face interactions (2018)
#32I'm probably an outlier, but I love open-office. I've worked in all the different environments over the last 25 years, single office, shared office, cubicle, remote and open office. Open office was weird at first, but I find it much more social. I don't get distracted by noise or movement so that could be a big factor, so I can code without any problems. The least social for me was the single office. I would stay in…
You truly are an outlier. I immediately started assuming that you might be in a more right-brain role, but realized my mistake when I saw your comment about coding. You're clearly better than I am at focusing...
No, that's just the tech echo chamber where the "true" opinion right now is to hate open offices. Normal people have no problem with it.
Re: Open-plan offices reduce face-to-face interactions (2018)
#33I am not surprised. I was working in an open-plan office for a few years, and I also preferred talking to colleagues sitting only a few meters away via mail. It's incredibly stressful to talk to a person face-to-face knowing that everyone on the team listens to the conversation. Not only do you have to constantly weight and evaluate your sentences, you also have the constant feeling that you are disturbing other team…
>It's incredibly stressful to talk to a person face-to-face knowing that everyone on the team listens to the conversation. Not only do you have to constantly weight and evaluate your sentences, you also have the constant feeling that you are disturbing other team members just by talking
Fortunately I don't have this physiological barrier. I don't care if everyone on the team listens to the conversation.
Re: Open-plan offices reduce face-to-face interactions (2018)
#34I'm probably an outlier, but I love open-office. I've worked in all the different environments over the last 25 years, single office, shared office, cubicle, remote and open office. Open office was weird at first, but I find it much more social. I don't get distracted by noise or movement so that could be a big factor, so I can code without any problems. The least social for me was the single office. I would stay in…
Some people can work even though they get interrupted and disturbed all day, others are very averse to being distracted and try to reach deep work or get in the zone. The problem with an open office is the first group.
And some people don't want to work any more than they absolutely have to, and can't understand why anyone would want to be able to concentrate.
Re: Open-plan offices reduce face-to-face interactions (2018)
#35I wish this happened in my office. Instead there are face-to-face conversations at desks all the time, and those looking to do quiet focused work are basically out of luck.
Re: Open-plan offices reduce face-to-face interactions (2018)
#36I'm probably an outlier, but I love open-office. I've worked in all the different environments over the last 25 years, single office, shared office, cubicle, remote and open office. Open office was weird at first, but I find it much more social. I don't get distracted by noise or movement so that could be a big factor, so I can code without any problems. The least social for me was the single office. I would stay in…
The open office format has increased our face-time 10 fold.
Not sure what the point of doing studies on this is? It's incredibly cultural and business/job specific.
Re: Open-plan offices reduce face-to-face interactions (2018)
#37I am not surprised. I was working in an open-plan office for a few years, and I also preferred talking to colleagues sitting only a few meters away via mail. It's incredibly stressful to talk to a person face-to-face knowing that everyone on the team listens to the conversation. Not only do you have to constantly weight and evaluate your sentences, you also have the constant feeling that you are disturbing other team…
Totally. At my last $dayjob, we had a group chat for the room , where we would type stuff instead of saying it out loud. This way, conversation only flowed between people who were willing to participate at the moment. (It didn't work perfectly. Typing is silent, but laughing at what you just read isn't.)
Typing isn't always silent; not everyone has quiet keyboards.
Re: Open-plan offices reduce face-to-face interactions (2018)
#38Why are open plans (among software engineers) so common in the industry? Is it really that most software engineers like them?
People feel more stress when they feel watched.
Stress increases productivity in the short term, before you burn out. But who cares about that right?
Re: Open-plan offices reduce face-to-face interactions (2018)
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
I disagree with the opinions of this comment, but I'm glad you made your opinion and your experience heard. Even when for most people an open office works worse, for some people it is preferable new people: please don't down vote people just because you disagree.
Chiming in to say I also disagree with the opinion and to make the same request to downvotes==disagree button. I would like to ask another question though, how does the community feel about people who talk to themselves when they're focused? I find myself doing that at home a lot when working and I really do perform focused tasks significantly better. "Aha, this is a bit stupid" "So, if I move this here it'll be more…
I feel like if people are bothered by people talking nearby, they're going to be using headphones anyway. Honestly, you do you. Talking to yourself is far less disruptive than say, somebody tapping a pen consistently for extended periods of time or co-workers holding a loud conversation nearby or just even a mechanical keyboard.
On that note, sometimes I do wonder what my colleagues think, since I sometimes do the talking myself through a task as well.
Re: Open-plan offices reduce face-to-face interactions (2018)
#40Honestly this article comes as no surprise. I work for a company that not only has an open plan office, but no assigned seating either. It's honestly the worst, mostly because I like to have my own environment at work. I can't bring in my keyboard or any of my other stuff, and as corny as it is i can't even bring in photos to keep at my desk since there's no assigned seating! As much as i like open spaces, i miss at…
One of my previous employers had an open-plan office, and after a management change introduced mandatory hotdesking. You had to move desks every day -- management checked every morning and wrote people up if they sat at the same desk for two consecutive days.
Then they introduced a mandatory uniform and a complete ban on personal items -- all the Wallace and Gromit coffee mugs, the photos of family disappeared overnight.
It's the most sterile, depersonalising, demotivating work environment I've ever encountered.
Incidentally, BPS covered this in another article... "Why it’s important that employers let staff personalise their workspaces" -- https://digest.bps.org.uk/2015/03/27/why-its-important-that-... . It's well worth a read.