August 26, 2018 at 9:09 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Limiting the Ability to Concentrate and Collaborate
August 26, 2018 at 11:30 pm
My opinion is both brief and blunt... open office spaces suck.
They're too noisy, have too many distractions, promote water cooler discussions, and at one company, did nothing at all for quick problem resolution as the two idiots on either side of me would PM me instead of just asking me a question over the 36 inch wall that separated us into separate veal-calf pens. Then there's the moronic knuckle crackers, ice chewers, people that each seriously crunch stuff like carrots and chips and then chew with the mouths open or bang their metal spoons on the glass dishes because they afraid of plastic poisoning not to mention some of the females that (still can believe it) that wear bells for jewelry or have those damned shoes that sound like flip flops on steroids when they walk. You'd think people would be more courteous but, since they're not, I'll take tall single-body cubes over open seating with low walls any day!
One place I worked in had individual cubes with 6 foot material covered walls. It's amazing how quiet it was in the cube even though it didn't have a door.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
August 27, 2018 at 12:23 am
I have worked in three open spaces with 20-200 people, team rooms and in single and pair office. I have read a few research reports and agree with all of them. Open office gives a lot of disturbing distractions and makes us less social at the same time.
A big deal with open solutions I have found impacts work with maybe 10-20% but also have a negative impact on personal life. I am sometimes tired in the evenings because of it, not because of work thou that happens as well of course.
For me, team room was the best. But it of course depends on the colleagues.
Single office for me was also good. Conversations then as well as work was more focused.
Funny thing, at one huge open office it was quiet and a culture of it, people would be annoyed if a couple of people were speaking and tell you so. This impacted team work in a different negative manner.
At another big open office where I work right now the acoustics are bad at the same time as a lot of people do not respect others properly. Because of this alone I sometimes want to switch employer but I lead a successful fun team and I enjoy the work.
August 27, 2018 at 2:08 am
I take my hearing aids out when in the office. Our desks are capital I shaped so you can see the guy sitting next to you in the eye and two people if you are at the end of the I.
Strangely I take my hearing aids out when working from home even though I am the only one in the house. Not sure why but even in a home environment silence helps
August 27, 2018 at 2:15 am
I've worked in open-plan offices for the last 25 years.
My first real job was in a school in Japan and the Japanese showed me how open-plan should work. Between classes, it was quiet. You could hear yourself think. Open-plan works when everybody present has regard for everybody else.
My next jobs of note were in small companies where each of the teams had their own room. There was between 6-9 people per room and this also worked well. When there was talking, it was generally worth listening to. We were all working on the same project. We were a unit.
Finally, at my current job there are 50 of us in an old factory that has been converted into an open-plan office. Although there are sound-dampeners hanging from the roof, it can get very loud. To cope with this, I have a pair of ear-muffs [1] when it gets too loud. It seems to be the easiest way to be able to concentrate without having to leave. Home-office is also a possibility, but I regard it as a necessary evil. I miss the interaction with colleagues.
[1] something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Peltor-Sport-Bulls-Hearing-Protector/dp/B0000X6L78/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&qid=1535357327&sr=8-26&keywords=peltor
August 27, 2018 at 3:52 am
For introverts who have to do deep technical work, open offices are the 7th circle of hell. Idle chatter gets so loud you can't hear yourself think. Most of the time, you wear headphones to tune out the noise however there are those coworkers that are just loud in general. And the lighting.....oh the lightning. No natural light, over head florescents, and all controlled by one switch. Then in the winter, you get to listen to every one cough and hack, passing around their germs. The idea that they are are more collaborative is a joke. People stop by and interrupt what you're working on.....which damages the flow state, taking forever to get back there....if you can get back there.
If open offices are so damn great, how come you rarely see managers and executives out there? Personally I believe it's another way to keep costs down and facilitates bad managers keeping an eye on their people.
August 27, 2018 at 5:30 am
Most people have mentioned the noise. I agree, noise is a problem. I often have people lean on my 4 foot wall and talk over my head to someone 2 or 3 cubicles down the row.
But the bigger problem is the culturally dictated personal space that can create discomfort. Walk through your current area. Notice ALL high-wall/doored offices have the desk arranged so they are facing the door, back to the wall. Now look at the cubes and open areas. Everyone is forced to have their back to the room and/or aisle. And the distance between the aisle or room and the person trying to work often invades personal space. At my previous employer we had 2-person cubes. Three walls. Our backs to the open aisle. Mine was on the path to one of the conference rooms. All day was a constant stream of people walking and talking within two feet of my back. My skin now crawls just thinking about it.
The same managers who have their desks facing the door, with ample space between them and anyone approaching them, are the ones who embrace open office concepts.
August 27, 2018 at 5:38 am
This is one of those things that's completely different for different people and depends on what type of work they are doing. I like to be able to go away or work from home where I have no distractions if I know my work and have my tasks laid out.
On the other hand if I have tasks that I'm not completely clear about and need to collaborate I invite open spaces and I definitely come into the office.
I think offices should have both: an area where maybe they all are in an open environment such as lowcut cubes or desks aligned for open collaboration, AND also an area where there are closed off spaces where concentration is elevated.
This is rare though that I've seen in my 30 year career. It's typically one or the other unfortunately.
August 27, 2018 at 8:04 am
I've been in an open office area, shared an office multiple times, and have had a cube just once. I don't mind sharing an office with one other person--depending on the person. When I first started my current job, there were 6 cubes in a closed-off office space. I didn't mind that at all--until we hired more people and a coffee slurper was on the other side of one of my walls. We moved space and I've had my own office for the past 10 years. I have sat out in the area with the cubes for brief periods of time and it's far too noisy for me and the developers I manage have complained as well. I've tried to get them a closed-off office space but haven't had any luck.
I used to keep my door open just a crack because it was distracting to have people walk by and gawk in at me (some actually wave. . .) Of course, despite having it like that for years, it suddenly became a "problem" with an HR person who has nothing else better to do than to make people's lives miserable. My boss' solution? Purchasing 3 large monitors for me and setting them up so I'm not distracted by people walking by and gawking in. The monitor solution works like a charm but I can still hear the noise when it gets loud out in the cube area so that's where noise-cancelling headphones come in handy.
August 27, 2018 at 8:06 am
Victor Kirkpatrick - Monday, August 27, 2018 5:38 AMThis is one of those things that's completely different for different people and depends on what type of work they are doing. I like to be able to go away or work from home where I have no distractions if I know my work and have my tasks laid out.
On the other hand if I have tasks that I'm not completely clear about and need to collaborate I invite open spaces and I definitely come into the office.
I think offices should have both: an area where maybe they all are in an open environment such as lowcut cubes or desks aligned for open collaboration, AND also an area where there are closed off spaces where concentration is elevated.
This is rare though that I've seen in my 30 year career. It's typically one or the other unfortunately.
Not disagreeing with your preferences. Just expressing my own. I hate the low cut cubes and open office environment for the reasons previously stated. If I want face2face communications with someone, I'll get out of my chair and walk to their cube. If we need more people than what will fit in a cube, we'll either reserve a conference room for a half hour meeting or we'll go to the cafeteria and sit at a table. During off hours for the cafeteria, there are few distractions.
In an open office environment, there is no choice for me. The distractions are there and the drive-by-shootings are a lot more than I care for. For example, I'm sitting in deep concentration on a problem and the Dev manager walks by and says "Hey there Mr. Moden, how are you"? Then tinker-bell walks by with her bloody bell jewelry and another walks by with flip-flop noises, the idiot next to me starts chewing ice, and the idiot across from me starts banging his silverware on his glass plate because he doesn't actually have any table manners.
If I want to collaborate with someone, I'll take the option to get out of my chair but, when I'm concentrating, I'd also like the option to be able to do so. Open office environments just don't lend themselves well to the latter.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
August 27, 2018 at 8:40 am
SQLMac - Monday, August 27, 2018 3:52 AMIf open offices are so damn great, how come you rarely see managers and executives out there? Personally I believe it's another way to keep costs down and facilitates bad managers keeping an eye on their people.
FWIW, everyone, including the boss, at Redgate works in an open space. We have lots of conference rooms and some small cubes/pods for quiet work.
August 27, 2018 at 8:55 am
Personally I have a great dislike of people walking around behind me, as such I utterly detest open office design and most cubicle set ups.
August 27, 2018 at 8:55 am
Gotta agree with Jeff.
Open office plans SUCK.
I've worked with tall walls, small walls, offices with doors and offices without.
Give me an office where I can close the damn door when I need flow state. Otherwise my concentration gets shattered by noise, traffic, etc.
I'm an introvert (shrug) so sudden noise or motion is a red-alert alarm and brings me out of flow like an air-raid siren next to my ear. 🙂
Besides, if I need interaction I go knock on somebody's door. Get THEM out of flow state.
August 27, 2018 at 9:31 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor - Monday, August 27, 2018 8:40 AMFWIW, everyone, including the boss, at Redgate works in an open space. We have lots of conference rooms and some small cubes/pods for quiet work.
Heh.... sucks to be you. 😀
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
August 27, 2018 at 9:34 am
roger.plowman - Monday, August 27, 2018 8:55 AMGotta agree with Jeff.Open office plans SUCK.
I've worked with tall walls, small walls, offices with doors and offices without.
Give me an office where I can close the damn door when I need flow state. Otherwise my concentration gets shattered by noise, traffic, etc.
I'm an introvert (shrug) so sudden noise or motion is a red-alert alarm and brings me out of flow like an air-raid siren next to my ear. 🙂
Besides, if I need interaction I go knock on somebody's door. Get THEM out of flow state.
Turning off PMs and Emails is another thing that I like to do. If you want it really bad, get your butt up and come see me. Otherwise, I'll check both when I have the right minute.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
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