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CEOs Want Their Offices Back

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Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#51

Post by varelse »

coffeeski wrote: post #8

Why do CEO's think they're alone in the need for quiet spaces where they can focus? Sure some people can work in the noisy space where interruptions abound. The only thing in my office that works well with interruptions is my CPU. I'd rather have a Cube farm, but better yet, a small tiny phone booth as an office.

Just like the cargo cult Agile pandemic peaked a few years ago, I suspect we're reaching peak open floor plans right now. The overall negative effects of an open floor plan for a significant fraction of engineers (though not all) is self-evident and backed up by reams of data stretching back nearly 40 years:

http://iansommerville.com/software-engineering-book/web/work...

TLDR: 100 square feet of personal space is optimal. The highest I've ever had in tech was 81. I miss those days and I end up working from home a lot because of the current open floor plan. But square feet cost $$$ and switching to an open floor plan is an immediate cost cutter. Never mind what it's doing to overall productivity and future earnings, the analysts love $h!+ like this.

Fortunately, executives are not all idiots, so once the more insightful of them realize how much more they get done in private spaces, one or more of them will push back on this. And if employers start treating cubes and offices as a perk, I suspect they'll see lots of converts.

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#52

Post by chii »

rayiner wrote: post #26

> The lofty building Jordan Hamad moved his tech-advisory firm into four years ago had the trappings of a startup idyll: open floor plan, polished concrete floors , custom-built communal tables. Decisions like this make me seriously question the whole idea that our economy is populated by rational actors. Obviously polished concrete floors are a terrible idea in an office. Even if you believe that open plan works, th…

but it fits the decor so well! When investors come, they wow at the decor, and that makes them feel we are worth investing in!

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#53

Post by softawre »

maxxxxx wrote: post #36
ronnier wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The mechanical keyboard people in open offices bother me.

I recently got one and I admit it's really loud. But this shouldn't be an issue in a decent workplace. I have several guys near me who have loud voices and talk a lot. That's worse than a loud keyboard. Open office plans are the problem, not keyboards or loud people.

This is true. But, if you're in an open office, don't you think the decent thing to do is to not speak loudly (and therefore not use a loud mechanical keyboard)?

There are mech keyboards with more quiet switches. At least use one of those.

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#54

Post by jlebrech »

strictnein wrote: post #43
solnyshok wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

careful what you wish for. I also like silence. But I'd rather use noise cancelling headphones than work in the booth among thousands other booths.

I want a cube because it's not the noise that bothers me but the constant motion on the periphery of my vision. Cubes can be setup properly. They don't need to be row after row after row of cubes. We have them setup in pods that hold 6-8 people, one pod for each dev team. Only one way in or out, so there's no traffic moving through, with a small table in the middle that's mainly used to eat lunch or store treats that…

maybe you need a cube-aware voice chat system. or just a contact list inside of noise cancelling headphones.

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#55

Post by stupidcar »

andrewingram wrote: post #5

Curiously, in my experience it's been senior management (including CEOs) who've fought for open plan offices in the first place. Cost benefits aside, they do wax lyrical about all the reason why open plan is great.

Elites of any description are usually in favour of measures that cut costs and increase surveillance and control, until those same measures are applied to them. At that point, they don't reverse the measures in question, they use special pleading to justify carving out an exemption for themselves.

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#56

Post by Neliquat »

rayiner wrote: post #26

> The lofty building Jordan Hamad moved his tech-advisory firm into four years ago had the trappings of a startup idyll: open floor plan, polished concrete floors , custom-built communal tables. Decisions like this make me seriously question the whole idea that our economy is populated by rational actors. Obviously polished concrete floors are a terrible idea in an office. Even if you believe that open plan works, th…

Depends on the other surfaces. If the ceiling is hang tiles, rough wood, or fabric panels, there is such thing as too well damped. Most rooms have a happy zone of about 30-60% reflectivity. More sounds like a bathroom, but less can be equally unnerving to people. Also, polished concrete is ubiq due to it being cheap, easy, and looking decent for a long time. That 4x4 carpet is not much better, and is the similarly priced, equally soulless, alternative.

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#58

Post by varelse »

ronnier wrote: post #18
coffeeski wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would take a 10% paycut to have a small office that fits 2 monitors, a filing cabinet and some pictures, rather then dealing with constant clattering of the guy behind me that decided converting a type writer into a digital keyboard was a good idea.

The mechanical keyboard people in open offices bother me.

So you would prefer your coworkers develop RSI symptoms from straining to use a laptop keyboard? Not all of us can use laptops for extended periods of time. Now if I could type with my brain (and I don't mean by smashing my head repeatedly on the keyboard), that's Sam Altman status quo shattering next-level stuff, but I don't think we're there yet.

As others have replied, the problem isn't my typing, it's <40 square feet of personal space and no noise partitioning whatsoever.

Re: CEOs Want Their Offices Back

#59

Post by trcollinson »

coffeeski wrote: post #15
coffeeski wrote: post #8

Why do CEO's think they're alone in the need for quiet spaces where they can focus? Sure some people can work in the noisy space where interruptions abound. The only thing in my office that works well with interruptions is my CPU. I'd rather have a Cube farm, but better yet, a small tiny phone booth as an office.

I would take a 10% paycut to have a small office that fits 2 monitors, a filing cabinet and some pictures, rather then dealing with constant clattering of the guy behind me that decided converting a type writer into a digital keyboard was a good idea.

I understand your sentiment entirely. I have thought the same way. However, I have to ask, why would you, or I, or any other person creating substantial value for a company, ever in their right mind take a 10% pay cut (or any other level of pay cut or reduction) in order to be MORE efficient? Our attitude in this industry drives me crazy lately. And really it has been my own attitude for a long time. We ask to be more efficient, to produce better and more valuable assets for our employer, we believe in their vision, and in return we have to beg and plead to help ourselves become more efficient, often to our own financial detriment. It's rather disheartening.
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