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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

#31

Post by kornakiewicz »

a2tech wrote: post #12

The best office setup I've ever worked in was a narrow building that had smallish offices (big enough for two people) on the outside (each had a small window) and open meeting space in the middle. Everyone had their own space (like to leave junk on your desk? clean freak? everyone is happy) and if you wanted to hang out or hold an impromptu meeting the common area was literally outside your door. Most of the time peo…

The best one from my history was a startup (aprox. 15 people at this time) simply in house which was designed as home for 2+3: 2-3 people in a room, normal kitchen, front-yard and even attic for stuff.

I don't get why we stuck in cookie-cutter office spaces which leads to everything expect producitivty.

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

#33

Post by a2tech »

nobodysfool wrote: post #23
kzrdude wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like the acoustics are pretty bad if small noices are that noticable. Can you get them to install sound dampening?

Whatever you do, don't do what my office did - they installed speakers that play pink noise. It helps with the noise (so much chatter) but it's annoying as hell.

That sounds like the closest thing to work hell that I can imagine

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

#35

Post by a3n »

gortok wrote: post #22

I wrote about this some time ago in a ranty way: http://georgestocker.com/2014/04/15/how-to-destroy-programme... I really believe that the open office floor plan led me to leaving my former job -- I simply could not be as productive as I needed to be in an open floor plan environment. I wouldn't be surprised if Open-Office floor plans cost more in productivity than they save in rent. I don't mean to 'hate' on it so m…

Yeah, but the difference between rent and salary is that they're taxed differently (probably, I assume, I'm ignorant), and while the amount of space you get from a given amount of rent is constant, you can always coerce, shame, or threaten an employee to worker longer hours. For, you know, the crunch.

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

#36

Post by davidgerard »

badmadrad wrote: post #13

Open offices are type A/extroverted personality wet dreams. Everybody they need is within earshot and they can see EVERYTHING so they can properly control everything. However for introverts, people with noise sensitivity, or people with ADD this is an absolute nightmare. I find a lot of engineers tend to be either introverts or have some type of manageable ADD so it doesn't surprise me that many people would be negat…

Type A extrovert here. My open plan office pisses me off unbelievably. If I want to get any bloody work done, I need to work from home.

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

#37

Post by bilbo0s »

mullingitover wrote: post #5

Open plan offices: 30% drop in productivity for a 20% drop in real estate costs.

You're looking at it differently than a business does...

the drop in real estate costs shows up in the ledger...

the drop in productivity... not so much. Even if it did, it would take data that is typically not tracked to prove that the real estate change was the cause of it.

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

#38

Post by cubano »

These new floor plans are ideal for maximizing a company’s space while minimizing costs. Bosses love the ability to keep a closer eye on their employees...

From my limited experience working in these areas, I do believe this is the crucial insight and the real reason behind the movement...Occam's razor and all that.

Where I last worked in an open-office environment, we had a fairly strict "no talking" policy, and were expected to use IM to communicate to the people next to us.

I always thought, "well, isn't this defeating the purpose of the open floorplan?", and of course it does, unless you factor in the above insight.

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

#39

Post by lettergram »

I still firmly believe I work better from my house. Companies such as automattic seem to work fine in that setting. I know peraonally I block off 10am - 2pm for meetings in the office (early lunch at 10am, or late a 2pm).

I then work from 3pm-5pm and 10pm-12pm at home. Im usually one of the most productive and it keeps me fresh. Fyi I have done this at several companies and my bosses always seem happy with it

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

#40

Post by hamitron »

virmundi wrote: post #11

I wouldn't attribute the movement to Google, strictly speaking. I worked at a large insurance agency for a few year. They had partially open cubes (low walls). I don't presume they've ever been influenced by what Google does. The low walls were a blessing and a bane. My team worked well like that. None of us are particularly loud people. We all had headphones and quiet music. The flow of the pen allowed easy communic…

I used to have to work in an office with 2 industrial printers, a large cooling fan, and at least ten mailroom employees with no respect for indoor voices. My solution was I purchased professional musician custom fitted earplugs. They were a godsend.
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