561–570 of 593 posts
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Cancelling sound distractions with NC headsets isn't that bad. Cubicles will most likely help with visual distraction i have in an open floor plan.
I never saw headphones mask voice adequately without playing music or other sound. Or wearable all day without discomfort.
I have no issues with NC headphones could even sleep with them, it has pretty much become a part of me.
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So you're an active participant to the company's office politics instead of economic output. At least you openly admit it.
... is precisely the sort of aggressive, cynical and unpleasant response I'm talking about.
Not everyone is like you. Some just want to go to work and finish their own tickets because the company's culture actively disincentivizes collaboration. Some have ADHD and lose their focus to every little movement in the room. Some are introverts who become much more mentally exhausted from such an environment than their extroverted colleagues. Some have a life besides work that sufficiently fulfills their social needs. Some are utterly disinterested in hearing about Bob's ongoing kitchen renovation or Netflix preferences. Some are employed at a place with poor camaraderie. Some have a position that makes the supposed collaborative benefits of open offices a moot point (work in a distributed team? On a single person project?). But always, they have a people-person manager who thinks everyone should work in-office because water cooler conversations are just so creative and open offices are so dynamic and vibrant. The office is dominated by extroverted people who love these ideas, and they tend to be the ones having their voices heard. Meanwhile, the little man or woman who just wants to work in peace resorts to Hacker News or a personal blog.
And you effectively propose that these people should be filtered out because a few have grown tired of it to such a degree that they misdirect their frustration at colleagues or use toxic language.
The west, especially the US, is so obsessed with diversity but only of the superficial skin color kind. Not diversity of the mind. Imagine if someone had grown cynical and tired of the lack of inclusivity for and someone suggested the lack of inclusivity is good because the people with bad attitudes would be filtered out.
Have a good day.
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> Sorry for the negative take here but how it's written it feels like you don't necessarily realize that some people do need deep work, and prioritize your quick satisfaction to other's focus. I'm always confused by people who struggle so much with being able to quickly answer a question and get back to what they were doing. Also, here you're prioritising your work over someone else's. > I simply can't stand incessan…
If you make me think about some technical problem other than the one I have halfway solved in my head, anything I didn’t write in code is gone and I need to reinvent it almost from scratch. When management evaluates my performance, delivering my projects carries much more weight than helping yours (which they might not even be able to measure).
1. Your project is generally the same as those you work with. 2. Management often care about how you work with others. If you have someone who is helping everyone else, they're a lot more important than the person who just focuses on their task. Not just on team work but overall their knowledge is generally better than others.
Just want to add that I only became (at least in my opinion) a good programmer by sitting next to a very good and passionate one that I was able to question from time to time and may have interrupted his work some days. I also probably helped him brainstorm ideas with me and debugging, since he would just say what's on his mind while doing it, and I'd do the same, and sometimes this kind of ping pong debugging/brains…
You're confusing collaboration with physicality. Too many people make the mistake of thinking that they need to be sitting next to somebody in order to ask them questions, or have a quick chat, or get them to teach you about a project. Those are all things you should be doing in remote work as well.
Equally, sometimes it's better to be quiet. Sometimes, quiet can be at home but sometimes homes are not quiet or uninterrupted.
Flexibility would be great, but I think a private office will always be seen as more prestigious, so those with that facility are unlikely go give it up so sit in a cube / open plan with the team, even where that would actually be beneficial.
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> And I (and most other people in this thread) am fed up with them and trying to actively remove them from my life. And OP does that too, but suddenly, when OP does that, they are a toddler, but when you do it, it's fine. > There are people who put their soda cans on the ground, there are people who ... and there are people who will call "toddler" people who have just a different way of working and are not imposing n…
> Again, we are talking about tapping someone on the shoulder _once_, and not doing it again if you explain you don't like it. I don't think I should be touched in the first place. I have put a clear signal that I am deeply working: headphones. The accepted social norm is NOT to bother somebody when they have indicated they don't want to be bothered. I am, of course, going to answer the questions, but can't you simpl…
…right, but the world doesn't revolve around you either though. You should be willing to sacrifice your time to help your coworker and value their time as well.
Headphones, in my experience, tend to indicate a person is listening to audio, not that they don't want to be bothered by anyone. Maybe your expectations do not line up with societal norms? Just something to think about.
You could consider adding a visual indicator to your workspace that says "focused on something, please do not interrupt" or "available for questions". Our offices have little stoplight things by the door that can be used to tell someone whether or not it's a good time for an interruption. Having something easily visible like that can communicate more clearly to your coworkers that you're trying to focus without interrupting your focus.
Just want to add that I only became (at least in my opinion) a good programmer by sitting next to a very good and passionate one that I was able to question from time to time and may have interrupted his work some days. I also probably helped him brainstorm ideas with me and debugging, since he would just say what's on his mind while doing it, and I'd do the same, and sometimes this kind of ping pong debugging/brains…
> I am convinced that you get more in a collaborative environment having a few devs sitting next to each other in pairs/small groups that they enjoy being with than anything else. You're confusing collaboration with physicality. Too many people make the mistake of thinking that they need to be sitting next to somebody in order to ask them questions, or have a quick chat, or get them to teach you about a project. Thos…
Just want to add that I only became (at least in my opinion) a good programmer by sitting next to a very good and passionate one that I was able to question from time to time and may have interrupted his work some days. I also probably helped him brainstorm ideas with me and debugging, since he would just say what's on his mind while doing it, and I'd do the same, and sometimes this kind of ping pong debugging/brains…
> I am convinced that you get more in a collaborative environment having a few devs sitting next to each other in pairs/small groups that they enjoy being with than anything else. You're confusing collaboration with physicality. Too many people make the mistake of thinking that they need to be sitting next to somebody in order to ask them questions, or have a quick chat, or get them to teach you about a project. Thos…
They consistently happen at greater frequency with proximity.
Three years of wfh with terrible results before we started returning to the office one day a week, has shown me that proximity is a deal breaker for anyone who wants to progress into roles that require mentorship of others.
That said, I have enjoyed the offices where I had an office with a door I could shut the best, as long as there were enough common areas so people could meet without a lot of hassle. I have found office arranged like that a lot less frequently because office space is a cost to be minimized so any space that isn't over used immediately is a waste.
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Bugs and unintentional design deficiencies get zero story points at my job. It's actually something I fought for because it's faux-progress - it's work that's actually a part of the original (likely underestimated) story someone already earned points for.
Doesn't that make it impossible to use story points for estimating effort and ensuring people aren't overcommitted?