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High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

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Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#81

Post by dasmoth »

nunez wrote: post #72
officelineback wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is I like to get my workstation ergonomically perfect for my issues (I have back and shoulder issues) and using a generic table with no extra monitors for my quiet intense work sucks. It should be the other way around...everyone gets a private office, but has an option to join the fray in an open office area.

If everyone had an open office, then very few would use the open space area. Also, providing offices for everyone is expensive, and it's harder to collect people sitting in different offices than it is when everyone's in an open space. I'm personally against everyone getting an office, but we'll agree to disagree :)

If everyone had an open office, then very few would use the open space area.

Assume you mean private office. Isn't that a pretty compelling argument that the majority don't see big advantages to open plan?

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#82

Post by dasmoth »

hosh wrote: post #32
solaris_7 wrote: post #8

The obsession for open plan offices continues to amaze me. Companies that invest huge amounts in staffing and other strategic programmes don't seem to spend much time challenging the default suggestion that 'openness = collaboration'. This article mentions high performance employees - but most knowledge workers (designers, programmers etc.) that I know all struggle with open plan office environments irrespective of t…

I am working my way through some material about "Inclusive Neurodiversity", which does question the open office plan. It works well (very well) for some people, and yet not others. How to get everyone working together well? https://salfreudenberg.wordpress.com/2016/05/12/the-case-for... http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/cucumber-podcast/cucumber/e/...

How to get everyone working together well?

Do we need to? Sure, many projects need multiple people, but few end up needing the whole organisation. So with a little flexibility on project assignments I feel most organisations can accommodate a range of working styles -- if they want to.

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#84

Post by Joeri »

solaris_7 wrote: post #8

The obsession for open plan offices continues to amaze me. Companies that invest huge amounts in staffing and other strategic programmes don't seem to spend much time challenging the default suggestion that 'openness = collaboration'. This article mentions high performance employees - but most knowledge workers (designers, programmers etc.) that I know all struggle with open plan office environments irrespective of t…

The trend towards open plan is a consequence of a bad incentive structure. Most companies put the management of the workplace inside the facilities department, which is viewed as all cost and no benefit. When profit margins are under pressure the facilities department is usually one of the first places senior management goes looking to cut costs. A private office layout averages up to 15 square meters per employee, while open plan moves that down to 9 square meters. This allows facilities to reduce the rented building area by a third, which is a major cost cutting. Of course, the other departments protest against this, but since the senior management sees only the reduction in cost, and does not (want to) see the costs incurred by the move to open plan, they usually approve the move. The big irony is that the facilities department often assigns themselves private offices. They're not idiots after all, and they need to get some real work done.

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#85

Post by gozur88 »

ratsz wrote: post #44
mason240 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our company is currently relocating to new office, and they want an open office plan in the space. We will pack in tight, and our cube walls will all be 3.5 feet high. We have adjustable standing desks that will coming with us, so when standing we will towering over every one and I already know it's going to be awkward for me. The best part is our 5 person IT team will be right next to 25 people who work phones for c…

Be lucky you have cube walls. Many open plans don't even have those!

3.5 feet is barely higher than a desk (a normal one). That's like leaving your waiter a penny tip.

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#86

Post by mason240 »

gozur88 wrote: post #85
ratsz wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be lucky you have cube walls. Many open plans don't even have those!

3.5 feet is barely higher than a desk (a normal one). That's like leaving your waiter a penny tip.

That's exactly what they are going for - desk height.

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#87

Post by foepys »

rdiddly wrote: post #66
mason240 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our company is currently relocating to new office, and they want an open office plan in the space. We will pack in tight, and our cube walls will all be 3.5 feet high. We have adjustable standing desks that will coming with us, so when standing we will towering over every one and I already know it's going to be awkward for me. The best part is our 5 person IT team will be right next to 25 people who work phones for c…

I agree this sounds awful, but if the IT people were properly empowered to solve the problems they overheard being dealt with in customer service (and it wasn't forced on them), you might actually manage to get a nice feedback loop going.

But for every useful information you might overhear, you will listen to 1,000 calls about how Internet Explorer allegedly ate their emails, made their dog sick, and burned their house down.

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#88

Post by aezell »

kafkaesq wrote: post #79

Rubbish. It is exactly through their ability to "soldier on" in spite of intense and sometimes challenging surroundings that high-performing employees distinguish themselves as such. And on top of this, remember that the other way your best performers distinguish themselves is in the fact that they most definitely are not complainers. So if any of your employees start yapping about your proposed move to an open plan…

You got me. I was reading and thinking, "This person just couldn't be more wrong." Nicely done.

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#89

Post by technics256 »

arca_vorago wrote: post #76
technics256 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an American who moved to Germany, that mindset was completely removed here. Not only do people tell you to take your vacation time if you don't, they get worried if you are working too much or too hard. It's a great relief to be here and see a different mindset outside that of the "all work no holiday" cultures you can find in the states.

Honestly I sometimes wonder how much my traveling and experiencing other cultures influenced my perception of this subject. Even in Iraq I feel like the Arab concept of time (flexible guidelines) really rubbed off on me, spent some time in Germany/France as well and loved how slow life could be. In this day and age I feel like all many people want is retired-style life but then they entangle themselves in debt and jo…

Totally agree. Germany has its ups and downs as you know, but I like it more since the approach to life and work life balance is much better. Whether it's the generous social systems or not is more of a political debate, but the focus on "living life" is much greater here, and I enjoy it.

Come on over man. :)

Re: High-performance employees need quieter work spaces

#90

Post by greedo »

nunez wrote: post #55
solaris_7 wrote: post #8

The obsession for open plan offices continues to amaze me. Companies that invest huge amounts in staffing and other strategic programmes don't seem to spend much time challenging the default suggestion that 'openness = collaboration'. This article mentions high performance employees - but most knowledge workers (designers, programmers etc.) that I know all struggle with open plan office environments irrespective of t…

I personally love open floor plans. It is so easy to talk to people and get answers and ideas about projects and the like. I don't see how free flowing collaborating through cubes is possible. The best permutation of open spaces and privacy that I've seen is a wide open space with quiet rooms and sharable offices. Work in the open space when you want, or work in the quiet room when you need some privacy. I wish that…

I personally do not love hearing every personal detail from my neighbors when I'm trying to troubleshoot an issue. Nor do I enjoy having a coworker trim his fingernails on a weekly basis in my open are. The idea the open floor plans are good is only for people whom rarely need to deeply concentrate.

Quiet rooms don't help, not everyone has a laptop, nor wants one. You end up with a crappy, un-ergonomic desktop environments. And there are only so many quiet rooms possible. If you use one continually, you get marked as the social deviant.

Shareable offices? How is that any different than the old "hoteling" concept? Sharing an office is going to be first come first served, same as your quiet rooms. No diff.

If managers, directors, and VPs are willing to use this type of setup, I'd be more tolerant. But in our latest update, they all have dedicated offices. They can't mingle with the hoi polloi, having an office is a signal of their power and prestige.

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