41–50 of 148 posts
We get it, HN is majority introvert, and really likes logical optimization using data. But some things aren't easily measurable. Is it a coincidence that companies who pioneered the open office plan are also some of the most successful in the world? Show me how you'd even begin to disprove that and I'll show you a dozen confounding variables making it silly to even try. What is the true impact of an open office on a…
We get it, HN is majority introvert, and really likes logical optimization using data. But some things aren't easily measurable. Is it a coincidence that companies who pioneered the open office plan are also some of the most successful in the world? Show me how you'd even begin to disprove that and I'll show you a dozen confounding variables making it silly to even try. What is the true impact of an open office on a…
What does it matter if it's successful when it's abusive. And putting introvert geeks in an open office even if it does give you an extra ounce of efficiency until they burn out from the emotional stress is abusive.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your links to the studies aren't clickable.
It's kinda tiresome, on HN there's is this rabid pro-open plan brigade, even though all the studies show otherwise. It's the same as the "I can work 60 hours productivly" brigade. All the studies, for over a century (yes, century, not decades) have shown otherwise. They are studies that show that people delude themselves into thinking they are more productive than they are. And yet, no matter how many articles and pa…
Interesting.
We get it, HN is majority introvert, and really likes logical optimization using data. But some things aren't easily measurable. Is it a coincidence that companies who pioneered the open office plan are also some of the most successful in the world? Show me how you'd even begin to disprove that and I'll show you a dozen confounding variables making it silly to even try. What is the true impact of an open office on a…
I always like the quote at the end of the post, that proves absolutely nothing but is just there for the sake of a cheap punchline.
> s it a coincidence that companies who pioneered the open office plan are also some of the most successful in the world?
I would rather consider the coincidence of younger companies being easily influenced by the last thing that's fashionable because of young CEOs at their head, instead of relying on any particular dataset to make rational decisions on how tom best work between people.
> We get it, HN is majority introvert,
Arent Hackers more likely to be introvert anyway ?
Did someone, anywhere on the floor, open something that produces hazardous vapors? Why contain it to one room when you can expose 1/3 of the building?
The University of Michigan's Biology program currently has a building under construction with the same "feature", and I am sure there are others.
Here it is the other way around, the open office parts of the building are very quite, nobody dears make too much sound. It is much more social to walk into an office for a quick chat, only disturbing 1, 2 or 3 others.
Everybody needs a balance between productive alone time and creative brainstorming time. Most companies I've seen achieve this with an open space and plenty of WFH for all employees. Basically we meet 2-3 times a week to organize and share ideas, and spend there rest of the week heads down at home, coding in whatever pace and setting we like. Closed private offices enable people to slack at work and pretend to work 8…
I observe this often. My workplace has closed offices for the middle managers, with windows so you can see in, and you can tell from their body language that they're either slacking off or socializing.
But like you say, it's not my business, what it takes for them to get their jobs done, and I wouldn't begrudge them a few breaks during the day. It makes me more sympathetic to lower level workers who also seem to waste time.
I also realize that management is a highly collaborative activity, so it is done better in closed offices because you can have substantive conversations without having to think about being in front of an audience. Given that most management decisions are based on social consensus, I want the managers above me to have good relationships with their peers.
When discussing it with managers, I compare the open office plan to multi-tasking: Being within earshot of 5 colleagues is like working on 6 tasks at once. So the open environment is good for workers who multi-task well.
We get it, HN is majority introvert, and really likes logical optimization using data. But some things aren't easily measurable. Is it a coincidence that companies who pioneered the open office plan are also some of the most successful in the world? Show me how you'd even begin to disprove that and I'll show you a dozen confounding variables making it silly to even try. What is the true impact of an open office on a…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Keyboards, random conversations, people getting up etc. so much noise and so many distractions. I also do the earphones thing, but it seems to be contributing to long-term hearing loss.
Most active noise-canceling head-phones work pretty well even if you don't listen to anything.
Or, you know, tell people to be quiet.
Just a different opinion here. I have never worked in a single office space. I honestly can't imagine such a thing. But I do know how incredible good I am at distracting myself at home. Just having someone around, who are working on a different piece of the same puzzle is a major motivator.
But as said elsewhere, that doesn't mean open offices are the answer.