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Individual contributors want private offices. Companies want "openness and collaboration". As I've been at WeWorks lately, I've noticed that they have all glas

Individual contributors want private offices. Companies want "openness and collaboration". As I've been at WeWorks lately, I've noticed that they have all glass walls on the offices. This means that everybody has natural light and a sense of openness, but with a locking door and quiet. A more general question to people in such all-glass private offices - is it the best of both worlds? Or, is more privacy needed than all-glass walls?

tlrobinson 9y ago
They make glass that can be turned opaque electronically. That's probably ideal (albeit more expensive) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_glass https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_glass
- yawgmoth 9y ago
  They also make blinds :-)
  - metaphorm 9y ago
    or as we like to call it these days "smart curtains".
valuearb 9y ago
The "downside" of private offices is that management doesn't know what you are doing in there. Lots of glass is an attempt to keep people connected and restrict the net surfing, game playing and time wasting that management fears will happen with private offices. I think it's a reasonable trade-off. It attempts to give the best of both worlds, incorporating one advantage of open office spaces is there is more team motivation because it's more obvious if you are slacking.
- mindcrime 9y ago
  I think it's a reasonable trade-off. Meh, I completely disagree. Management doesn't know what you're doing if they're standing behind you the entire work day. That's why they're managers. And more to the point, net-surfing, playing 2048, chatting, etc. are not things that need to be restricted. The reality is, no developer (or probably any creative person) is going to be productive for 8 solid hours a day, straight through. We need idle time to separate the bursts of productivity and give the brain time to reset. is more team motivation because it's more obvious if you are slacking. There are much easier ways to tell if someone is slacking. You don't even really need to do anything special. The team will know who is carrying their weight and who isn't.
gdulli 9y ago
Personally, I care about privacy more than I care about keeping out noise. I like the feel of an enclosed space and glass walls don't give me that.

tlrobinson 9y ago

They make glass that can be turned opaque electronically. That's probably ideal (albeit more expensive) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_glass https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_glass

yawgmoth 9y ago
They also make blinds :-)
- metaphorm 9y ago
  or as we like to call it these days "smart curtains".

valuearb 9y ago

The "downside" of private offices is that management doesn't know what you are doing in there. Lots of glass is an attempt to keep people connected and restrict the net surfing, game playing and time wasting that management fears will happen with private offices. I think it's a reasonable trade-off. It attempts to give the best of both worlds, incorporating one advantage of open office spaces is there is more team motivation because it's more obvious if you are slacking.

mindcrime 9y ago
I think it's a reasonable trade-off. Meh, I completely disagree. Management doesn't know what you're doing if they're standing behind you the entire work day. That's why they're managers. And more to the point, net-surfing, playing 2048, chatting, etc. are not things that need to be restricted. The reality is, no developer (or probably any creative person) is going to be productive for 8 solid hours a day, straight through. We need idle time to separate the bursts of productivity and give the brain time to reset. is more team motivation because it's more obvious if you are slacking. There are much easier ways to tell if someone is slacking. You don't even really need to do anything special. The team will know who is carrying their weight and who isn't.

gdulli 9y ago

Personally, I care about privacy more than I care about keeping out noise. I like the feel of an enclosed space and glass walls don't give me that.