{"items": [{"author": "Paul", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805108748492", "anchor": "fb-805108748492", "service": "fb", "text": "I would be pretty happy with something inbetween, such as if the dividers in my cubicle went up high and were effective at blocking noise.", "timestamp": "1471061502"}, {"author": "Alice", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805108828332", "anchor": "fb-805108828332", "service": "fb", "text": "I really like my open plan office! I like it for the same reason that you do.", "timestamp": "1471061550"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805108943102", "anchor": "fb-805108943102", "service": "fb", "text": "A former boss wrote a thesis at MIT about open-plan engineering offices. He found that open-plan engineering offices were more productive. Having worked in both my experience is that he was right.", "timestamp": "1471061610"}, {"author": "Ruthan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805109182622", "anchor": "fb-805109182622", "service": "fb", "text": "I like mine also, most of the time. Probably the biggest benefit for me (never had an office so I'm guessing) is that it's harder to avoid asking for help when I don't even have to get up to do it. Sometimes there are too many distractions, and then I go hide in a call room or something, but in general I think my coworkers are my job's biggest perk, and I'd be substantially less satisfied at work if I didn't see much of them.", "timestamp": "1471061722"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805113484002", "anchor": "fb-805113484002", "service": "fb", "text": "Having said what I said I will note that a lot of people had headphones with streaming internet music. This gave them their privacy and isolation they required for deep internal thinking. But when communication was needed it was instantly available.", "timestamp": "1471061878"}, {"author": "Dan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805114482002", "anchor": "fb-805114482002", "service": "fb", "text": "The open office plan they instituted at Cogo (before I finally limped out of there) was actually pretty peaceful. I got a lot of work done in the space, in spite of thinking I'd hate it.", "timestamp": "1471062123"}, {"author": "Dan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805114482002&reply_comment_id=805115390182", "anchor": "fb-805114482002_805115390182", "service": "fb", "text": "→ It was library-like. Monochromatic and quiet.", "timestamp": "1471062408"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805114482002&reply_comment_id=805115694572", "anchor": "fb-805114482002_805115694572", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Hmm; the low cubes we had when I was there felt pretty similar to the somewhat more open desks I've been at more recently. Both felt like they had the pluses and minuses of an open environment.", "timestamp": "1471062633"}, {"author": "Miranda", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805114971022", "anchor": "fb-805114971022", "service": "fb", "text": "I liked working in an open office bc it \"felt more like nursing\" and provided slightly more stimulation, although not nearly enough. It was generally quiet \u2013 there was music playing but I don't find that very distracting. A number of people did use headphones and white-noise tracks.", "timestamp": "1471062237"}, {"author": "Anna", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805117870212", "anchor": "fb-805117870212", "service": "fb", "text": "I've reached that age where a nearby conversation makes it very difficult for me to concentrate. It is actually painful. I can read through noise, but I can't write or try to carry on a conversation myself.", "timestamp": "1471063881"}, {"author": "Ryan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805122156622", "anchor": "fb-805122156622", "service": "fb", "text": "I am glad that someone finds open office plans useful; you and some of your compatriots here are some of the first people I've met who actually like them. At my last job, we had a period of time where we were all (about a dozen people) at long table with 1.5-ft. dividers and another period of time where the boss had a door and the rest of us were in cubes (walls were <6ft. tall, as we discovered when the 6'4\" scheduler decided he liked using a standing desk). The client or the boss could -- and did -- come summon us at will and there was no socially acceptable way to politely say \"in a moment, be right there\" and finish the current task, because we were right there and were being talked to or at by a real live human being. Our trains of thought were constantly interrupted because we were so \"accessible.\"
At this job, I have a door. This is the first time I have ever had a door, and I seriously almost cried in happiness when they showed it to me. I am so so so so so so so so so so so much happier with the door and better yet, the ability to shut said door, which tends to send more requests to asynchronous communication methods, where I can finish my current train of thought before I break to see what has been asked of me and address it. I do not close my door very often (maybe 20-30% of the time, on a week where I have several conference calls?), but the fact that I *can* shut the door and that this fact will be respected has done so much for my mental health and job satisfaction.
About the only thing I miss about the other two setups was that it was easier to have random off-task conversations between the handful of us that remained after hours/before hours if we worked late or early (but they didn't happen when the majority of us were in during core hours). As a result, my team was more cohesive as people than pretty much any other team I have ever worked in, and I still miss them even after leaving them 9ish months ago. We made heavy use of headphones and streaming music to maintain our personal \"bubbles,\" and tried not to listen to each others' phone calls; sometimes this was harder than others, and I still despise speaker phones and the people who abuse them. We all looked forward to days we could work from home and chat over the IMers and actually get stuff done that required more long-term concentration.
I should probably mention as a data point that I worked and work as an editor, where a decent chunk of my day is spent reading, proofing, writing, and project managing remote folks. I am also very much an introvert, although I am well aware that introversion is not a license to be an antisocial jerk. :) I suspect that my feelings might differ slightly if my job did not require frequent sustained bouts of concentration to be done well.", "timestamp": "1471064291"}, {"author": "Perry", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805140430002", "anchor": "fb-805140430002", "service": "fb", "text": "There are some good things about being in a cube rather than an office, and some of the things are those that you mention. That said, since I am a strong introvert, there are times when I would love to have a door that would close and have that quiet isolation. There are many times where I just do not want to talk to people. I understand that often I am in an office and that is part and parcel of working in an office with other people supposedly sharing the same goals. But still there are times I wish to have my privacy. The things about cubes that are annoying is that people like to have conversations in the aisles and they stand right outside (sometimes practically in it) and talk, and I hate to be rude and say talk somewhere else. Just as I need not be an antisocial jerk when people visit me, others need to have some respect for one's cube space too.", "timestamp": "1471082711"}, {"author": "Nathaniel", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805145185472", "anchor": "fb-805145185472", "service": "fb", "text": "I like them too.", "timestamp": "1471087634"}, {"author": "Hollis", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805153174462", "anchor": "fb-805153174462", "service": "fb", "text": "I find them utterly exhausting because it is not possible, even with headphones, for me to escape constant multi-sensory \"touch\" with lots of other people--which is something that, as an introvert (or at least ambivert), I have to moderate my exposure to.
Open-plan offices also make it harder to get reasonable accommodations as a person with a disability related to fragrance allergy because the airspaces are all connected and everyone is in such close proximity.
I'm glad you like them, though! My experience is that whether they make people productive or not depends really strongly on sample group composition.", "timestamp": "1471088456"}, {"author": "Perry", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805153174462&reply_comment_id=805189077512", "anchor": "fb-805153174462_805189077512", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Definitely true about fragrances. I am not allergic, but one person in my office really doused herself with perfume that was strong. Thankfully she retired. Also people make stinky meals in the microwave that you can't get away from.", "timestamp": "1471108241"}, {"author": "Sam", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805154821162", "anchor": "fb-805154821162", "service": "fb", "text": "My office is *really* open plan, (there are no private offices, everyone's desk is the same, there are no dividers between desks, etc.) and all of the things that I thought I would find irritating about it, I don't: I focus fine, I'm able to tune out distractions quite well despite being generally distraction prone, I don't find the experience to be overstimulating, despite being prone to over-stimulation. I'm not sure I *like* it, but I certainly don't complain about it much/at all.", "timestamp": "1471090035"}, {"author": "Anna", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805154821162&reply_comment_id=805156647502", "anchor": "fb-805154821162_805156647502", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I wonder if you will have the same experience with ability to tune out others when you are my age? There really is this phenomenon with the brain. I thought I was losing my hearing at first because suddenly, I couldn't make out what someone was saying who was within arm's length from me when in a noisy room. I think it may be called cocktail party effect or something like that. It is so disconcerting.", "timestamp": "1471090945"}, {"author": "Josh", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805154821162&reply_comment_id=805156951892", "anchor": "fb-805154821162_805156951892", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I've experienced that phenomenon; does that (being unable to tune in a conversation you want to listen to) make it harder to tun out conversations you don't want to listen to, or easier? I\"m not sure for myself. :^) In our open-plan office, I put on headphones when I don't want to listen to other people (and pop them off frequently when I do).", "timestamp": "1471091274"}, {"author": "Bronwyn", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805155634532", "anchor": "fb-805155634532", "service": "fb", "text": "I'm a big fan of the intermediate setup of my current office. Many rooms with 2-5 people in each (organized by team), generally with open doors, and lots of common space that people work in when they want to be more social.", "timestamp": "1471090539"}, {"author": "Molly", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805156193412", "anchor": "fb-805156193412", "service": "fb", "text": "We have an open plan office and as a small nonprofit that started out in a basement it's hard to imagine any other way of working. We just rearranged desks though and now I am in the corner entirely hidden by my giant monitor so often if I get a phone call or something my coworkers don't even know I'm there!", "timestamp": "1471090711"}, {"author": "Jack", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805158568652", "anchor": "fb-805158568652", "service": "fb", "text": "Maybe there's pros to both open and private offices and we could try to get some of both?
I do like some things, that you can get a sense of what other people are working on etc. But I wish we could write that down or something, not just rely on word of mouth", "timestamp": "1471092388"}, {"author": "Elizabeth", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805158568652&reply_comment_id=805161827122", "anchor": "fb-805158568652_805161827122", "service": "fb", "text": "→ My company is remote and slack is everything i was promised from open offices", "timestamp": "1471094759"}, {"author": "Holly", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805162510752", "anchor": "fb-805162510752", "service": "fb", "text": "My first office was pod-based - rooms were open to the hallway but we had a huge at the end to act as a sort-of-wall between the pod and the hallway. All the employees had a space at the counter-desk that ran along the outside of the room; meetings and consultants were at the table in the middle of the room. I really enjoyed it and I've had trouble adjusting to a more traditional cubical office. Headphones were the universal sign of \"please don't bother me right now\", and if you needed someone who was wearing headphones you sent them an email and they would turn around and talk to you or not, depending on what they were doing.", "timestamp": "1471095544"}, {"author": "Chris", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805177635442", "anchor": "fb-805177635442", "service": "fb", "text": "I thought I was the only one at our previous employer who went home miserable because of lack of social interaction. I quit after nine months in no small part because of that. (the hour to two hour commute didn't help either)", "timestamp": "1471103326"}, {"author": "Ron", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805182450792", "anchor": "fb-805182450792", "service": "fb", "text": "Some may like open plan, some may hate them.
But when should a company decision for all employees be one where they know some will hate it?
It's no different from the manager who has no concept that people have different personalities, like \"I'm an extravert; everyone must be extraverts.\" Thus, Open Plan is another form of companies treating employees as resources, not individuals.
*Barf*", "timestamp": "1471105132"}, {"author": "Elizabeth", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805182450792&reply_comment_id=805189586492", "anchor": "fb-805182450792_805189586492", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I really like what my company does, where everyone is remote and whether you are doing that from a coworking space or the bottom of a well is up to you. But this relies on doing a lot of written communication. I think if half the team preferred working together it would be difficult-to-impossible to get them to do the writing.
I'd much rather see companies or teams pick a format, optimize for it, and create an interview process that selects for people who will thrive in that particular environment. I don't blame my old job for having an env that doesn't work for me, I blame for having an interview process that filtered for exactly people like me and then giving us an incompatible work environment.", "timestamp": "1471108445"}, {"author": "Perry", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805182450792&reply_comment_id=805189736192", "anchor": "fb-805182450792_805189736192", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Cubes don't take a lot of space as an office and thus can offer more jobs. I guess some folks have to adjust. I am an introvert but I have had to adjust to cube lifestyle for nearly 20 years. It is either that or not have a job. In the field of science and/or government (my job is both) good luck finding a position with your own office unless you have a PhD or are a manager. I am grateful that I don't have to share a cube though. It's a good tradeoff from having my own office vs totally open.", "timestamp": "1471108512"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805182450792&reply_comment_id=805253119172", "anchor": "fb-805182450792_805253119172", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Ron, not every company needs to work for every person.", "timestamp": "1471134213"}, {"author": "Ron", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805182450792&reply_comment_id=805290903452", "anchor": "fb-805182450792_805290903452", "service": "fb", "text": "→ David, the ADA might disagree with that notion, but that aside, I'm not talking about every company working for *everyone*. That's a straw man.
I'm talking about it working for more than one type of person.", "timestamp": "1471154661"}, {"author": "Ruthan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805182450792&reply_comment_id=805511331712", "anchor": "fb-805182450792_805511331712", "service": "fb", "text": "→ There's ample evidence in this thread that \"open plan offices only work for one type of person\" is not a supportable assertion.", "timestamp": "1471276125"}, {"author": "J\u00e9rome", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805182450792&reply_comment_id=805530438422", "anchor": "fb-805182450792_805530438422", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Some people hate cubes though.. so companies should do what, exactly?", "timestamp": "1471283462"}, {"author": "Ron", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805182450792&reply_comment_id=805532688912", "anchor": "fb-805182450792_805532688912", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I like Elizabeth's suggestion.
Personally, I like our half-cube setups. Walls inside our rows are about 4' high, so sitting you get mostly privacy, but without the sheer isolation of full-cubes.
In an ideal company building, I'd have lots of available co-working spaces: meeting rooms, lounges, standing tables, and sitting tables.", "timestamp": "1471284432"}, {"author": "Ruthan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805182450792&reply_comment_id=805542614022", "anchor": "fb-805182450792_805542614022", "service": "fb", "text": "→ My experience with \"here's an alternative work space you can use if you want\" is that they never actually gain critical mass. (I'm looking around our totally empty lounge right now.)", "timestamp": "1471285696"}, {"author": "Ron", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805182450792&reply_comment_id=805542818612", "anchor": "fb-805182450792_805542818612", "service": "fb", "text": "→ People follow examples. If the managers don't use the lounge, no one will.", "timestamp": "1471285792"}, {"author": "Ruthan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805182450792&reply_comment_id=805542893462", "anchor": "fb-805182450792_805542893462", "service": "fb", "text": "→ lol k", "timestamp": "1471285873"}, {"author": "Ron", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805182450792&reply_comment_id=805542938372", "anchor": "fb-805182450792_805542938372", "service": "fb", "text": "→ ?", "timestamp": "1471285909"}, {"author": "Ron", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805182450792&reply_comment_id=805545568102", "anchor": "fb-805182450792_805545568102", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Here's my experiences (post-retail, and I'll skip my internships):
1. Control room. No one has personal space. You come in, you sit, you do your job, you go home. No place to have a picture, or a plant, or anything of your own. We needed open space, because it was 24/7 shift work and talking to each other was a constant thing. But dang, I would have liked a little desk space I could've called my own. All neighboring departments, and our managers, got cubes or offices.
2. Work-from-home: lots of discipline needed. Had my space, though. Could get up, walk to the fridge, sit. Worked at my pace. Got lonely. Of course I worked in virtual worlds, so our meetings were in virtual rooms with avatars. That was really important.
3. Tiny home office. My boss bragged how local ordinances only allowed for 2.5 full time employees at a home office, but he was in with people, so no one would care that he had 3. It was a tiny room, just desks, no privacy. I had space for myself, but I didn't feel like I could really leave anything at my boss's house. I had to hear every stupid thing my boss said, every conversation about every unrelated project. Headphones were not permitted. I was so glad to be out of that space.
4. Current job, as described above.
5. Bonus: had a bunch of friends work at an open office environment. The bosses all drank the Silicon Valley Kool-Aid (it was San Francisco) Nerf guns adorned desks. Employees reported that people took forever to get things done, things lacked direction. Most people put on headphones. They had cool breakout lounges, but no one used them because people were all overworked. Going against company culture meant rapid death, so innovation was stifled (even though it was an innovation company).", "timestamp": "1471286682"}, {"author": "Elizabeth", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805190235192", "anchor": "fb-805190235192", "service": "fb", "text": "I found it really interesting that my company (entirely remote) has had people turn down offers because they are introverted and want to be forced to go to an office every day or they won't socialize enough. And some extroverts really like it because being in an office had too many temptations.", "timestamp": "1471108706"}, {"author": "Kirsty", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805225674172", "anchor": "fb-805225674172", "service": "fb", "text": "All other things being equal, I would prefer not to be in an open plan office with the Help Desk", "timestamp": "1471119598"}, {"author": "Helen", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=805225674172&reply_comment_id=805302165882", "anchor": "fb-805225674172_805302165882", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Me too", "timestamp": "1471162395"}, {"author": "Antonio", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/114707656177875382272", "anchor": "gp-1473544330605", "service": "gp", "text": "Shared offices with 4-5 people in them seem like a great solution to the isolation you faced. We actually have those at Google but not enough of them.", "timestamp": 1473544330}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=952372435882", "anchor": "fb-952372435882", "service": "fb", "text": "Thinking about things that make an open office work for us:
* Most chatter is via group text chat, so it's quiet most of the time
* We have a dedicated conference room (\"huddle\") that is usually open and you can duck into to spare bystanders a long conversation
* No one takes calls/meetings at their desks; there are conference rooms and phone rooms bookable for meetings
My team recently moved to an area with maybe twenty desks worth of open sweating and eight desks of two person offices. It was hard to find enough people who wanted to be in the offices.", "timestamp": "1532825105"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=952372929892", "anchor": "fb-952372929892", "service": "fb", "text": "Since writing this post I've worked in a few more environments:
* Small office for a start-up with 3-4 employees total. Very quiet office norm; you'd go into another room for any collaboration that didn't include everyone present.
* Working from home on an independent project. Office by myself (really, my daughter's bedroom, but with my desk, external monitors, etc).
The startup was good, though I worked an earlier schedule than the others and they didn't always work from the office. When I was being super productive I didn't get lonely, but most of the time I was a bit lonely. I wouldn't have been willing to keep working for the company if I'd needed to work in a space without any other coworkers. I would have much rather been in an office with the rest of the the programming team, though.
Working from a home office I hated. It would have been better if I'd not been working on a solo project, but i just felt super isolated all the time.", "timestamp": "1532825498"}, {"author": "Holly", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=952372929892&reply_comment_id=952458762882", "anchor": "fb-952372929892_952458762882", "service": "fb", "text": "→ It took me 6 months to adjust to working from home full time, and even then I would go out and do something almost every evening just to get out of there. At that point my office was a combo living room/kitchen/office, so it would probably be better now that I have a separate room for my computer equipment. I can't say I'm sorry to be back in a formal office though.", "timestamp": "1532891659"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=952373503742", "anchor": "fb-952373503742", "service": "fb", "text": "Each person should have their stuff in storage units on wheels. People working from home that day, do not take up any office space, their storage unit is in a closet that day. People who will be at the office that day, request what they need, and when they show up their storage unit is in a private office with door, or is in a conference room with the storage units for the other people they will be collaborating with that day, or whatever their needs are that day that's what they get.", "timestamp": "1532825898"}, {"author": "John", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/805108274442?comment_id=952501996242", "anchor": "fb-952501996242", "service": "fb", "text": "Back in the stone ages of computing our offices were 1 or 2 person, but there was a terminal room with about 15 terminals where people went to access the computer and there was often chatting, sharing of information, etc. in that room. It worked quite well. 40 person office.", "timestamp": "1532908576"}]}