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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

#41

Post by laurent123456 »

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…

There's also the fact that there's no more privacy when talking to colleagues. At some point I wanted to speak to my boss privately (to tell him I wanted to quit) but couldn't find a right time since there was always someone within hearing distance. Eventually, I've just sent him an email, so the open office layout definitely didn't help here with with ease of interaction.

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

#42

Post by jokoon »

I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that some people are introverts, and that those people work best when they're nobody around them.

Also programming requires a minimum of focus, I might not consider programming a hard, highly intellectual task, but personally I'm very easily distracted. I also have a very hard time concentrating at something properly if I can sense I'm watched or analyzed.

Maybe it has something to do with how people want team interaction. You could ask teams to meet at least twice a day, and they might prefer having their own office.

The best way, I think, would be to always workers if they either prefer to have their own small office or to work in a open space.

To me, the best is to use my laptop in a empty park, with or without internet access, preferably without. I just download any documentation, some article or tutorial, eventually some wikipedia offline browser, and I'm able to concentrate.

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

#43

Post by enoch_r »

ProAm wrote: post #18
bdhe wrote: post #10

This keeps coming up every so often, so here's a different discussion I'd like to get into. How do we measure something as ambiguous as productivity? And I contest some of the points raised: For companies where people are mostly left to themselves save for meetings and sync ups, is it really about a supervisor's ability to monitor what you're doing? Collaboration is probably the driving force, which again raises the…

I think it's pretty easy. Can you honestly say you get more work done in a day with constant interruptions and distractions? Not only output is affected but the quality of the work completed. I might get the same volume of work out the door but if Im distracted I promise there are bit and pieces that have careless errors in it, which leads to re-work. This is something that you can easily ask your employees if they'd…

Even if people got more and better work done in private offices, maybe the increased communication in open offices is causing people to work on more important things, which could be worth the tradeoff. (I don't think it is, but such an effect is not something you'd notice with introspection.)

Plus, are private offices really the alternative for most people working in open offices? I think the cubicle is a much more likely replacement than the private office.

Amusingly, Wikipedia's page on cubicles has a photo captioned "before cubicles: open office with desks arranged in rows, 1937."[0]

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubicle

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

#44

Post by trose »

kyleashipley wrote: post #24

I'll play contrarian for a moment: the most productive office I've ever worked in was an open office layout. What worked for us: * Separate clusters by function / noise level -- We didn't put sales people and developers next to one another. People who spent all day on the phone were near other people who spent all day on the phone. * Keep clusters small -- We had 4 person "pods" of desks for most of our early lifecyc…

This needs to be said more. I absolutely love being in an open office layout because it allows for easy collaboration as well as the occasional spontaneous fun interruption. People seem to get hung up on the interruptions as if they lose tons and tons of productivity. I just haven't experienced issues like that personally. I find that the interruptions are a welcome break to the monotony of staring at code for 8 hours a day.

The privacy issue also needs to be addressed on a cultural level as well. My first job was open layout but I had one of those nosey managers that wants to know what you're doing every 15 minutes. I got talked to for being on Facebook during my lunch break. In order to really have a successful open office layout you need to have everyone on board and prepared to "let go" a little. Yeah people goof off during the day. We aren't robots that can sit down at 8:30 and constantly type for the next 8 to 9 hours. At my current job no one really cares if they walk up to you to ask a question and you happen to be taking a couple minutes to clear your head and look at cat gifs. I think that's the way it should be.

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

#45

Post by mwsherman »

Why must editors title articles this way?

The article says: there are many ways in which open offices are not great.

The headline says: they are destroying the workplace.

The article doesn’t come close to making that claim, even if “destroy the workplace” were a meaningful idea.

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

#46

Post by at-fates-hands »

My best friend works for Cargill and they're going to an open floor plan for all of their offices. She said her and few of her co-workers are germ-a-fobes so they're going to have a ton of Purell around.

I was pretty shocked since I thought the open office had been well debunked over the past 4 years or so.

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

#47

Post by arethuza »

kyleashipley wrote: post #24

I'll play contrarian for a moment: the most productive office I've ever worked in was an open office layout. What worked for us: * Separate clusters by function / noise level -- We didn't put sales people and developers next to one another. People who spent all day on the phone were near other people who spent all day on the phone. * Keep clusters small -- We had 4 person "pods" of desks for most of our early lifecyc…

I changed jobs fairly recently and the new office has "Busylights" on all PCs - which works brilliantly as its linked to IM/calendar/VoIP status.

I can look round and see exactly whether it's OK to approach people....

http://www.busylight.com/

[NB I wouldn't mind one on a hat I could wear at home!].

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

#48

Post by trose »

laurent123456 wrote: post #41
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…

There's also the fact that there's no more privacy when talking to colleagues. At some point I wanted to speak to my boss privately (to tell him I wanted to quit) but couldn't find a right time since there was always someone within hearing distance. Eventually, I've just sent him an email, so the open office layout definitely didn't help here with with ease of interaction.

I think open office layouts need to be paired with easily accessed private rooms. The successful layouts I've seen will have a large area everyone works in with the outer walls lined with small and medium sized meeting rooms. Either for private conversations, personal phone calls, or if a team needs to meet and not disrupt everyone else. I can see how an open layout with literally no private space would be terrible.

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

#49

Post by ixtli »

This is just some writer who could easily do her job in a cave. Collaborative efforts require as few barriers to collaboration as possible. Some of us like to participate in things that are larger than we might be able to facilitate entirely on our own.

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

#50

Post by darkstar999 »

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…

> large insurance agency

> she would talk to her mother for hours in her cube

Hello HR, they would be all over that.

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