41–50 of 237 posts
I think open-office is great. It makes it much easier for independent developers to compete with large corporations.
I too think it's great* *Owns shares in headphone company
*Empowering open offices with $300 noise cancelling headphones since 1964.
My office is switching to an open design. And none of the people who work there are happy about it. It was decided by the folks who own the company, several thousand miles away. I think the real allure of open offices is how they look. Open offices look modern . They look like the kind of working area a hip, young, collaborative, industry-disrupting company would favor. But that's all bullshit. It's just a fairy tale…
For one it makes "meta" discussions about the workplace not happen except out of office. I've seen over time there's a lack of office improvements in open office situations compared to places with private spaces. People also treat others with a bit less professionalism.
I seem to be the odd one out in that I actually enjoy an open office setup. I've had both and I feel there's so much more collaboration happening in an open office. I almost see it weekly that there's a LOT of learning through osmosis, listening in to conversations, ... I guess I have a pretty easy time keeping up concentration/flow. So in this case, it "works on my machine" :)
My employer is moving to an open office. Truly open, one giant space for 100+ developers, plus managers.
Half my team is remote, as are about half of the teams I work with. So, we are all on the phone/Skype/something all day long. And not with the same people. It's going to be like the Tower of Babel in the new space. I'm not looking forward to it.
I think archaeologists studying us in a few thousand years are going to be so fucking confused by this discussion. Offices? Why? It will seem more bizarre and alien to them than the Salem witch trials seem to us.
Then again, I don't see the Salem Witch Trials as that alien either.
Despite what every open office critic says, it's very possible to be productive at work in an environment that is not designed to meet their very exacting needs. You're not painting the Mona Lisa, you're working on some app or spreadsheet. It's called work for a reason. Learn to make do.
Companies that treat their office as a selling point for employees should expect to be criticised when that selling point falls short in the most important area of all - where the people they are trying to attract actually sit and work all day.
My office is switching to an open design. And none of the people who work there are happy about it. It was decided by the folks who own the company, several thousand miles away. I think the real allure of open offices is how they look. Open offices look modern . They look like the kind of working area a hip, young, collaborative, industry-disrupting company would favor. But that's all bullshit. It's just a fairy tale…
That makes no sense. The non open-offices I had were all much better looking.
/cool startup.
I've been in a couple of co-working spaces uses the open-office concept. It's generally pretty good when everyone is a developer, but then there's the occasional sales/customer service person, which is what this article seems to allude to. I think open-office is a great concept that just needs to be refined a little: i.e. stricter enforcement of phone/loudness etiquette.
They have nowhere to isolate because it's a f------- open office.
My office is switching to an open design. And none of the people who work there are happy about it. It was decided by the folks who own the company, several thousand miles away. I think the real allure of open offices is how they look. Open offices look modern . They look like the kind of working area a hip, young, collaborative, industry-disrupting company would favor. But that's all bullshit. It's just a fairy tale…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That makes no sense. The non open-offices I had were all much better looking.
But they don't look like the places cool startups do cool startup things and the company wants to foster a cool startup feel so that everyone acts like it's a cool startup and starts doing cool startup things and attracting all that cool startup talent so that all that cool startup money starts flowing in and cool startup vibe permeates the office. /cool startup.
/coolER startup.
(Ideal is the combination of open space with numerous meeting rooms and smaller pods for phone calls and occasional privacy.)
Productivity is not that important if you are producing the wrong thing in the first place.