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The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

nathanmarz.com

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Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#71

Post by _kfb »

ryanbrunner wrote: post #43
danielweber wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why_not_both.png ? People should have private offices so they can be alone to think when they need, and also have bullpen areas where they can collaborate.

This is really the best answer. Our office is open-plan as a rule, but there's plenty of "individually-sized" meeting rooms where you can work privately if you need to focus on something. It also serves as a good signal that you shouldn't be interrupted if you've taken one of those spots. Obviously you need to have enough of these that there isn't competition for those rooms, but it can definitely work well.

However, there are environments in which there is a social pressure to not take those spots and in fact be present at your desk regardless.

Am I more productive in an isolated room? Absolutely. Do I feel comfortable doing it? No, not necessarily.

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#72

Post by TeMPOraL »

Touche wrote: post #53
TeMPOraL wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because home might be an even worse place to concentrate in than open-space office. I know it is for me, it's the only reason I actually come to work instead of doing it remotely (which costs me additional 2h/day of commute time).

Geez, isn't there anywhere closer to home that you can work to cut down that commute?

Well, if they hire me at local Google office, I could cut it down to ~40min / day ;).

Anyway, as my commute is walk+tram+bus+walk, I do offset this time by reading books and replying to e-mails while in transit. I'd be really, really angry if I had to spend this time driving a car.

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#73

Post by thejosh »

nwatson wrote: post #7

For me, noise isn't the problem. Since moving from the SF bay area to North Carolina, I work at home a lot for my California job. I like to get out for several hours almost every day, though. I head to either Krankies Coffee or Camino Bakery in Winston Salem, and both venues have: a lot of people talking about family, studies, work, business, gossip; the espresso machine; music; and at Krankies the coffee-roasting ma…

I'm willing to bet noise isn't the problem for a fair chunk of developers who complain about open offices because they aren't annoyed by noise, they are annoyed by constant interruptions to work.

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#74

Post by hershel »

Instant messaging has some interesting research[1] as a solution for solving the communication/interruption conflict:

" Analysis of these data indicates that IM use has no influence on overall levels of work communication. However, people who utilize IM at work report being interrupted less frequently than non-users, and they engage in more frequent computer-mediated communication than non-users, including both work-related and personal communication. These results are consistent with claims that employees use IM in ways that help them to manage interruption, such as quickly obtaining task-relevant information and negotiating conversational availability."

[1]http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007....

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#75

Post by mathattack »

I've found that most open floors at software firms actually turn into exactly the opposite of what they're trying to accomplish.

The goal: Sacrifice a little bit of individual productivity to increase communication and team productivity.

The reality: A couple people are very loud, so the rest put on headsets. 80-90% of the office now only communicates online via instant messages and email. Internal communication suffers a little. Customer communication suffers a lot.

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#76

Post by bigdubs »

mh_yam wrote: post #49
abalone wrote: post #10

Suffers from the same flaw as most critiques of open plan: it focuses on individual productivity while failing to understand how it contributes to team productivity. Cornell did a study of open plan awhile back that you should all read. I posted it here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7507404 The misunderstanding here is that it's just about serendipitously "overhearing" other conversations. 1. Open plan makes…

Let me share some perspectives on the 'other side'. 1) I don't want people to be able to see me all the time. It's extremely nerve-racking and I feel like an animal in a zoo. And from my experience, people usually don't care whether I'm deep in some code or doing something less intense - they come over anyway. And people don't care whether their question is important enough to interrupt! As soon as someone taps my sh…

Not only can the majority of a developers work can be done alone, but the majority of intra-team communication can be done over campfire/irc/im. You don't need to do meatspace communication to talk about code.

Unless there is an issue and things get heated, then it helps to sit people down in a room together. But this (should) happen rarely.

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#77

Post by gallamine »

JetSetWilly wrote: post #57

I've noticed lots of programmers make unsupported assertions that a quiet workplace is better than a noisy one. But why? Have there been any studies demonstrating higher productivity if programmers have their own office? I don't think so. We should be suspicious of such claims. Think of von Neumann: At Princeton he received complaints for regularly playing extremely loud German marching music on his gramophone, which…

> If someone taps me on the shoulder I have no problem continuing my train of thought.

This is a huge gift. I, sadly, lack this ability.

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#79

Post by j-b »

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #54
abalone wrote: post #10

Suffers from the same flaw as most critiques of open plan: it focuses on individual productivity while failing to understand how it contributes to team productivity. Cornell did a study of open plan awhile back that you should all read. I posted it here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7507404 The misunderstanding here is that it's just about serendipitously "overhearing" other conversations. 1. Open plan makes…

This is pure hell for people who actually do work, and often repeated by managers who don't "get it." Silly questions are not the genesis of good ideas, they're a denial of service attack on good work. Read Peopleware.

Agreed. Also, trying not to listen to others conversations about the latest TV shows, etc. whilst trying to code negatively affects productivity and can generate some hostility towards the chattier folks in the office. Good, closed-ear headphones are a must.

Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies

#80

Post by mh_yam »

crusso wrote: post #20
abalone wrote: post #10

Suffers from the same flaw as most critiques of open plan: it focuses on individual productivity while failing to understand how it contributes to team productivity. Cornell did a study of open plan awhile back that you should all read. I posted it here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7507404 The misunderstanding here is that it's just about serendipitously "overhearing" other conversations. 1. Open plan makes…

it focuses on individual productivity This is one of those "beat the drum" issues on HN where we keep seeing article after article trying to drive the same one-sided point home. When I see this as the top article on HN, I just have to wonder if many of the people who come to HN are looking to disrupt the startup community. I've worked in environments that run the gamut from individual offices, to cubes, to small work…

"Maybe one or two in ten people have trouble working in that environment because they're too distracted."

How do you know? Did you actually ask everyone "Do you have trouble working in this environment because of the distractions?" People are afraid of being seen as "anti-team" and "anti-open plan", and they won't tell you the truth. And others fake it, even if they really hate working in such an environment (I'm one of them) because it seems like a necessary evil these days. So the reality is, maybe that number is higher than you think.

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