The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies
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Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies
#2In the late 90s, my downtown SF software employer proposed cubicles for the developers in the new office nearby. The team revolted, with good reason, and offices were installed in the new space.
Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies
#3offices are for professionals and academia, cubicles are for technical staff and open [factory] floor is for blue collars and low level clerical (i.e. easily replaceable commodity). That basically reflects the evolution of status of programmers in the society during the last 60 years.
Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies
#4[deleted]
Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies
#5The most common justification I hear about the open floor plan is that it "encourages collaboration".
In my experience, the sort of people who talk about open floor plans for "collaboration" tend to be incompetent managers. Instead of managing, leading, and making decisions, they believe that by manipulating some imaginary rate of collaboration, workers will "collaborate" their way to generating value and wealth. It's a managerial form of cargo cult behavior.
Personally, my best years have been in a shared office with someone whose presence I genuinely enjoyed. It was less about collaboration and more about keeping the mood up throughout the inevitable daily slog through painful work that, truthfully, nobody wants to do.
Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies
#6This is an interesting rant on open offices. The 'inexplicable' part is rationalized as a cost savings thing.
Open offices are different. They have been very common in Europe for years. I remember being astonished visiting offices in Switzerland back in the 90's with folks sitting at desks just out in the open. And while I found it abhorrent (I had an office back at HQ, with a window no less), these people did seem to get things done.
It is possible Tech companies in the US are "catching up" to the rest of the world with regard to this stuff. I thought quad cubes at Google were a bit much, (and being that close to three other people can be uncomfortable) but no one was arguing that Google was unproductive or 'bad.'
Headphones are great for shutting out the noise if you want that.
Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies
#7So does anyone have the answer? Low cubes? High cubes? Share cubes? Shared offices? Individual offices? Why so little experimentation and innovation in the tech world on what is perhaps the most important aspect of the company?
Does Fog Creek still give developers individual offices? Microsoft? Joel Spolsky wrote about an office design where the walls were slanted and interior windows were present so each office had windows on 3 sides (but you couldn't really see each other). http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/BionicOffice.html
I'm also a fan of flexible furniture that can be moved around easily but have never really seen it used effectively. And I'd like to see better incorporation of stand-up positioning (I'm convinced sales people are more effective when standing; feels more powerful).
Surely the open plan is not the answer but who's searching these days? Do any YC (or equivalent) startups have individual offices?
Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies
#8[deleted]
Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies
#9This is an interesting rant on open offices. The 'inexplicable' part is rationalized as a cost savings thing. Open offices are different. They have been very common in Europe for years. I remember being astonished visiting offices in Switzerland back in the 90's with folks sitting at desks just out in the open. And while I found it abhorrent (I had an office back at HQ, with a window no less), these people did seem t…
Headphones are a lousy answer considering that many/most people would prefer not to work with them on or listen to music while working.
Re: The inexplicable rise of open floor plans in tech companies
#10I personally dislike open office spaces, mainly because people always come up to me, even with headphones on, asking me stuff or just wanting my attention. My productivity soars when I'm isolated in an office or room with a door.