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The open-plan office is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea

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Re: The open-plan office is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea

#431

Post by thirdsun »

jamaicahest wrote: post #429
BoysenberryPi wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I slack and email co-workers who are within spitting distance of me. More often than not they are busy and I don't want to interrupt their flow with something that does not require immediate attention. So I'll shoot a Slack or email their way and let them get to it when they get to it.

That's a nice sentiment, however a lot of people have notifications turned on in both their email client and in Slack, so you end up interrupting them anyway. There was a study done on the interruption effect of e-mail https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/1328726018000...

While true, there's a significant difference: It's very easy to ignore a notification - the same can't be said about a verbal/face to face interruption.

Re: The open-plan office is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea

#432

Post by Marazan »

loco5niner wrote: post #403
Marazan wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like open plan offices. The increased collaboration is a plain and albviius benefit for me as a developer. A site crushing issue was solved in 30 seconds due to me overhearing a conversation in ouropen plan office. Without that it would have been at least 3 hours of pass the parcel to work out what incredibly obscure thing with timezones had happened.

... and the issue was probably initially caused by a programmer being distracted in their open office.

It really wasn't. It was a perfect storm intersection of seemingly disparate unrelated changes (and lack of changes).

Re: The open-plan office is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea

#433

Post by BigJono »

themaninthedark wrote: post #345
forgottenpass wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dogs are fun to have around. I love to give them scratches and bellyrubs when I need a distraction from frustration. I'm allergic and my arms will get itchy but it's worth it. This thread of Hacker News kvetching has really lost focus on the case against open offices. This reads like a contest of who can be the most uptight in the office.

I like cats, dog and my son. Do I think added any of them to my office would be a good idea? No. I go to work to well, work. I like my co-workers, don't mind talking with them a bit and am even friends with some of them. That doesn't mean I want them to bring all their distractions and things that bring them joy to the office. I want us all to get everything done quickly and correctly so that we can all go home and e…

If you spend well over 50% of your day in a certain place you should damn well enjoy being there.

This sort of outlook might work for those of us that are workaholics, but for everyone else it's a major mental health hazard. Not everyone has wives or children or partners or scores of friends to spend their nights with. I wouldn't be so blase about taking all enjoyment out of the rest of the time those people are spending on this earth.

Re: The open-plan office is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea

#434

Post by gaius »

jrs235 wrote: post #328
mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “If we got tight for space, it would absolutely make sense to give away my space to someone who would use it more and have me just grab an open chair for those times I have meetings or other reasons to be in the office.” Why would this make more sense than moving to a bigger office or building more space for the new employee to have a desk without taking yours? Cost is absolutely not an answer.

Because moving to a bigger office has a whole bunch of costs beyond rent. Costs which negatively affect revenue!

Costs which negatively affect revenue!

Costs do not affect revenue. Perhaps you mean profit?

Re: The open-plan office is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea

#435

Post by skgoa »

BoysenberryPi wrote: post #65
0x445442 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah and what kills me is how ubiquitous tellocomms are for multi-site corps. I can't tell you how many meetings I've been in where everyone was at their desk, headphones on and each was playing the mute/unmute game in order to not blast everyone else on the meeting with the surrounding noise. Then, given all that, you get the coworker two seats down Slacking you. If you're Slacking folks within 10 seconds walking di…

I slack and email co-workers who are within spitting distance of me. More often than not they are busy and I don't want to interrupt their flow with something that does not require immediate attention. So I'll shoot a Slack or email their way and let them get to it when they get to it.

You are a saint. I have a near retirement age coworker in the same office who mutters a lot while working and from time to time will just start talking loudly to people across the room. It's one of the main reasons why I got a noise-canceling headset.

Re: The open-plan office is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea

#436

Post by dazc »

sushid wrote: post #388
dazc wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had it 'mild' for years. After ignoring the warning signs and also having an ear infection which I never bothered getting medical help for it got much worse. It's settled down to a manageable level for me now but heed the warnings, you may save yourself a lot of misery in the long run.

Are you suggesting that I get checked for an ear infection or saying that I should stop using ear plugs? I have pretty much done the latter, only wearing them for the occasional nap once every other week.

I'm suggesting if you ever do get an ear infection to seek medical attention asap.

I had a random infection a few years ago and just waited for it to pass. Which it did, eventually, but my tinnitus became much worse afterwards. I'm guessing, because the infection did further damage which could maybe have been avoided?

I can't say whether you should stop wearing earplugs because you may sometimes be in a situation where they protect your hearing. But, for blocking out background noise in an office, they're probably not a good idea? [based purely on my own experience]

Re: The open-plan office is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea

#437

Post by BerislavLopac »

ohnoesmyscv wrote: post #370
darth_mastah wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry, what criterion other than the commute time do you use to determine who "needs to" work from home? Increased productivity while working from home does not simply stem from lack of commute. It's all in the article.

Why bother with offices at all then? Why are companies paying tons of money for office space on prime real estate in SF, or dishing out free lunches and dinners, if people are more productive working from home? Google and Facebook should just mandate that people work from home.

Covered here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17506044

Re: The open-plan office is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea

#438

Post by Graham24 »

ThrustVectoring wrote: post #276
cimmanom wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Finding over-ear gear that works well with glasses can be problematic, tho

Laser eye surgery is a fantastic choice as well, tbh.

I pity the poor fool who tries to point a laser at my eye.

Re: The open-plan office is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea

#439

Post by mnky9800n »

BoysenberryPi wrote: post #65
0x445442 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah and what kills me is how ubiquitous tellocomms are for multi-site corps. I can't tell you how many meetings I've been in where everyone was at their desk, headphones on and each was playing the mute/unmute game in order to not blast everyone else on the meeting with the surrounding noise. Then, given all that, you get the coworker two seats down Slacking you. If you're Slacking folks within 10 seconds walking di…

I slack and email co-workers who are within spitting distance of me. More often than not they are busy and I don't want to interrupt their flow with something that does not require immediate attention. So I'll shoot a Slack or email their way and let them get to it when they get to it.

I do this as well. Mostly I want a record of what was discussed because how will I remember otherwise.

Re: The open-plan office is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea

#440

Post by sjapkee »

hw wrote: post #378
Pica_soO wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have heard that argument before, mostly its by people for whom the office is some sort of social life replacement/ bro club experience. Also there are sun-king-middle-managers who only get that power feeling when a huge crowd of admirers tours the hallways with them. All of it is completely unrelated with work. And sort of sad, although its a good thing, that no matter what happens, humans will needs humans.

I've worked with teams big and small, mostly as an individual contributor, and the issue with not having a good team culture is you get churn. You can't have good team culture when half of your teammates are just at home most of the time, or if you're at home and the rest of your team is in the office. People jump around companies too often because they get jaded, bored, enticed by better offers elsewhere, and withou…

>You can't have good team culture

There is no need in this.

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