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CEOs Want Their Offices Back

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Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#331

Post by petters »

darioush wrote: post #297
khazhoux wrote: post #227

We have an open floor plan, and it works like this: * Desk area is for getting work done. Everyone agrees on this. * We have "phone rooms" for small discussions. But we limit those usually to 1:1s or discussing office politics. * Try to limit all discussions at the desk area to 5 people or less. * If someone sighs loudly as they put on their headphones when you're having a discussion right behind them, then that is t…

"Engineers tend to be extroverted" Where did you get your statistics on that one?

The parent comment is of course sarcasm, but I wonder… Are there any studies that significantly concludes that engineers are more extrovert of more introvert than the general population?

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#332

Post by flippyhead »

baursak wrote: post #257
khazhoux wrote: post #227

We have an open floor plan, and it works like this: * Desk area is for getting work done. Everyone agrees on this. * We have "phone rooms" for small discussions. But we limit those usually to 1:1s or discussing office politics. * Try to limit all discussions at the desk area to 5 people or less. * If someone sighs loudly as they put on their headphones when you're having a discussion right behind them, then that is t…

Forgot one more item: CEO has the same desk as everybody else. But we also know to never book a certain conference room where he hangs out all day.

HAHA

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#333

Post by abritinthebay »

noarchy wrote: post #222
abritinthebay wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because it works. There's a reason it's popular. That said: a lot of places don't do it correctly and really do deserve being called cargo cults. Still, some process is better than no process.

>That's because it works. There's a reason it's popular. Versus: >That said: a lot of places don't do it correctly and really do deserve being called cargo cults. That's how it always goes, right? Company after company implements some kind of Scrum process, and when it doesn't work the problem is never Scrum itself. I'd contend that the reason things like Scrum are popular is that it gives non-technical managers thin…

Devs were always measured by velocity. It was just called "deadlines" or milestones in classical waterfall methods.

With Scrum (for example) that turns into a much more sane, smaller, easier to predict and adapt with metric. Which is due to smaller units of work and shorter turnaround times.

Scrum (and agile in general) isn't magic. It's just sane process improvements.

It's also not an all-in-one philosophy. You can take parts from it and still get benefits (usually ends up showing why you should be more agile however).

Simple daily standups, short sprints, and grooming+planning meetings each sprint will help most software companies a lot, even if they don't go full scrum/kaban/etc

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#334

Post by atemerev »

Paul-ish wrote: post #218
atemerev wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the academia, where good communication and idea sharing are essential, there are no open offices. Said communication happens where it ought to be: in rec room or cafeteria.

I'm a PhD student, and I am in an open office floor plan at the moment. Albeit smaller than I have seen at tech companies, offices in my program have 8-10 people in them.

Well shit :( We were 3, and it was possible to work from anywhere in the building.

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#335

Post by 33W »

jesseryoung wrote: post #50

It seems like when "Open Office" articles come out there seem to be quite a few people talking ill of them. I recently switched jobs and with it switched from an open concept (large room with whiteboards separating teams) to an office (shared with one other coworker.) Maybe I was conditioned to like it (I certainly didn't like it at first) but I really did prefer the open concept when working on a team of 8 or 9 peop…

I'd be curious to see what people think of when they say "open office". The description from you and others of < 12 people in a common space doesn't fit my definition. The open offices I've experienced are ~100 people separated by rolling whiteboards at best.

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#336

Post by blablabla123 »

khazhoux wrote: post #227

We have an open floor plan, and it works like this: * Desk area is for getting work done. Everyone agrees on this. * We have "phone rooms" for small discussions. But we limit those usually to 1:1s or discussing office politics. * Try to limit all discussions at the desk area to 5 people or less. * If someone sighs loudly as they put on their headphones when you're having a discussion right behind them, then that is t…

If single offices were the optimum, why aren't we all working from home in single apartments anyway?

I think the more open the place, the better. We are social animals. If people choose solitude, it's likely for wrong reasons. (Not saying that there aren't ever reasons for that, (almost) everybody needs some privacy every now and then.)

But yeah, all people must also think of others, people who don't do that are likely making work a bad experience.

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#337

Post by blazespin »

valuearb wrote: post #71
atemerev wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Markets are efficient, not rational.

I think it's clear they are more rational than efficient, and perfect at neither.

What's good for markets isn't necessarily good for people. eg, Slavery was pretty efficient. Takes awhile for people to rise up and explain to the markets they're not as rational as they think they are.

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#338

Post by seanmcdirmid »

blhack wrote: post #323
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The standard keyboard layout, which every mechanical keyboard I've ever seen (including my beloved model M) is terrible for your wrists. If you type a lot over a prolonged period of time, yes. If you type in short bursts (like most programmers), no, mechanicals are actually useful. > Get a proper ergonomic keyboard like the microsoft sculpt if you actually care about the health of you hands. Again, if you are an ol…

>If you type a lot over a prolonged period of time, yes. If you type in short bursts (like most programmers), no, mechanicals are actually useful. Is this really how most programmers work, though? When I'm learning a new language or tool, sure, but after that it's mostly just the activity of writing the code.

> Is this really how most programmers work, though?

Yes, well, I guess it depends on how mundane the coding is. It is possible that a programmer spends a lot of time typing and not a lot of time thinking, but then it is probably brain dead boilerplate that should have been automated somehow.

> When I'm learning a new language or tool, sure, but after that it's mostly just the activity of writing the code.

I guess it depends on what you mean by "writing code".

See: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2039522

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#339

Post by abalone »

I really want to know how Apple's laying out the new campus. I've read something about different types of "pods".[1] Is the idea you can float among different types of spaces (quiet vs collaborative)? Who gets a door? Does anyone know more details?

[1] https://www.wired.com/2017/05/apple-park-new-silicon-valley-...

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#340

Post by givemefive »

blhack wrote: post #324
givemefive wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love it SO much. I wouldn't be able to be a software engineer without it. The amount of neck, shoulder, elbow, forearm, wrist and hand pain I once had is now gone completely. Not to mention I am a much faster and more accurate typist.

Data point added! Thank you. I've definitely been on a bit of a kick lately trying to make my work setup as healthy as possible.

I re-bought everything, chair, monitor stand, electronically raising desk, keyboard, two vertical mice - for left hand and right hand. I didn't find it that hard to use a left handed mouse as a right handed person but your mileage may vary. I swap between the two throughout the day.

I think out of all of those, having the monitor at the right height, vertical mouse, kinesis advantage and then using a pomodoro timer are the best bang for buck. The standing desk is nice but not really essential in my opinion. Just getting up and walking after a 25-30m pomodoro session is good enough.

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