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I think the open office trend might be accelerating remote working opportunities, which has to be a good thing. I don't mind going to an open office occasional

by cs02rm0 10y ago

I think the open office trend might be accelerating remote working opportunities, which has to be a good thing. I don't mind going to an open office occasionally if 90% of my week is working from my own office with walls, a chair setup for me and some IT equipment that's actually had some investment.

jon-wood 10y ago
+1 to that. I work remotely, with a visit to the office once every two weeks, mostly spent in meetings and catching up with what the rest of the company are doing. For that sort of thing an open office is fine, just don't expect me to get any quality code written while I'm there.
- sshagent 10y ago
  This rings so true, i had to check i hadn't written this last night. Whilst onsite on that once a fortnight visit, i can't do anything that involves real concentration. I detest open offices, but working from home has just made it worse.
  - toomuchtodo 10y ago
    Have been doing DevOps from home for almost three years now; its spoiled me. I'd never work in a traditional office setting again, open office or otherwise.
- douche 10y ago
  I was doing a very similar schedule for about six months a year ago. Come in on Monday, do all the status meetings and email and planning work for the week, all the low-concentration, collaborative stuff, then work from home the other four days. It was probably the most productive I've ever been; unfortunately management likes having butts in seats for some reason, so it couldn't last.
DanielBMarkham 10y ago
Sounds cool. It looks like the core problem here is all-or-nothing thinking. On projects requiring a lot of creative thinking and multiple disciplines I like a small team all in one room working side-by-side. On projects not requiring much creative thinking but a lot of deep programming I like to be left alone. When I'm working on my business, I enjoy being in a coworking environment. Instead what gets implemented is these cafeteria-sized cattle rooms where you can't hear yourself think. Or everybody working in silos by themselves -- which over time destroys productivity, oddly enouh. It's the one-size-fits-all thinking that's the problem here, not the office furniture layout.
pmlnr 10y ago
I'm still stunned how badly companies believe being in an office equals to more interaction and more innovation. How could we show management how is it to use IRC, mailing lists or something like Github to collaborate?
- cs02rm0 10y ago
  > How could we show management how is it to use IRC, mailing lists or something like Github to collaborate? I wish I knew the answer. My gut says to take someone experienced working with remote teams to run a trial, to show them the little tricks that can help make it a success. Quantifying success is often difficult even if we feel we know instinctively if it's working for us, or could be part time or with some changes. However, I've only worked for companies who had a negative attitude towards working remotely even if they half-heartedly tried it occasionally, or companies who were setup as remote-first. Traversing the gap seems to be hard.
- throwanem 10y ago
  Wait twenty years for people who don't know to retire or die, and people who do to move up the ranks. Or find an organization that isn't so set in outdated ways. Sorry. I'd love to have a better answer, but I've been around a while and I'm not seeing one yet.

by cs02rm0 10y ago

jon-wood 10y ago

+1 to that. I work remotely, with a visit to the office once every two weeks, mostly spent in meetings and catching up with what the rest of the company are doing. For that sort of thing an open office is fine, just don't expect me to get any quality code written while I'm there.

sshagent 10y ago
This rings so true, i had to check i hadn't written this last night. Whilst onsite on that once a fortnight visit, i can't do anything that involves real concentration. I detest open offices, but working from home has just made it worse.
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
  Have been doing DevOps from home for almost three years now; its spoiled me. I'd never work in a traditional office setting again, open office or otherwise.
douche 10y ago
I was doing a very similar schedule for about six months a year ago. Come in on Monday, do all the status meetings and email and planning work for the week, all the low-concentration, collaborative stuff, then work from home the other four days. It was probably the most productive I've ever been; unfortunately management likes having butts in seats for some reason, so it couldn't last.

DanielBMarkham 10y ago

Sounds cool. It looks like the core problem here is all-or-nothing thinking. On projects requiring a lot of creative thinking and multiple disciplines I like a small team all in one room working side-by-side. On projects not requiring much creative thinking but a lot of deep programming I like to be left alone. When I'm working on my business, I enjoy being in a coworking environment. Instead what gets implemented is these cafeteria-sized cattle rooms where you can't hear yourself think. Or everybody working in silos by themselves -- which over time destroys productivity, oddly enouh. It's the one-size-fits-all thinking that's the problem here, not the office furniture layout.

pmlnr 10y ago

I'm still stunned how badly companies believe being in an office equals to more interaction and more innovation. How could we show management how is it to use IRC, mailing lists or something like Github to collaborate?

cs02rm0 10y ago
> How could we show management how is it to use IRC, mailing lists or something like Github to collaborate? I wish I knew the answer. My gut says to take someone experienced working with remote teams to run a trial, to show them the little tricks that can help make it a success. Quantifying success is often difficult even if we feel we know instinctively if it's working for us, or could be part time or with some changes. However, I've only worked for companies who had a negative attitude towards working remotely even if they half-heartedly tried it occasionally, or companies who were setup as remote-first. Traversing the gap seems to be hard.
throwanem 10y ago
Wait twenty years for people who don't know to retire or die, and people who do to move up the ranks. Or find an organization that isn't so set in outdated ways. Sorry. I'd love to have a better answer, but I've been around a while and I'm not seeing one yet.