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Something about this doesn't feel right, I want to call it "passive aggressive" but that doesn't feel right either. In an open office I've always felt that hea

Something about this doesn't feel right, I want to call it "passive aggressive" but that doesn't feel right either. In an open office I've always felt that headphones were the best solution to the need for peace. I feel like spontaneous dialog would be cut short by this solution more often than being moved. I guess what works for one may not work for another, and the frequency and varying views on this topic reminds me of the "tabs vs spaces" discussions. p.s. tabs

driverdan 9y ago
I think you missed the point. It's not about headphones, it's about needing headphones to block disruption. If you need something like that then it's a poor office design. > I feel like spontaneous dialog would be cut short by this solution more often than being moved. Good. Spontaneous dialog is far more often disruptive to productivity than it is helpful.
- gfodor 9y ago
  > Spontaneous dialog is far more often disruptive to productivity than it is helpful. I think this is the crux of where most of these threads end up. Not everyone agrees with both the explicit and implicit premise of this point: - Not everyone agrees that productivity should be the exclusive focus of office design decisions - Not everyone agrees that spontaneous discussions should not be embraced as a core mechanism of enhancing team-wide productivity
  - pseudalopex 9y ago
    These discussions focus on productivity because the main arguments in favor of open floor plans are that they're cheaper and supposedly improve team productivity. Studies show that more people prefer offices, and above all people prefer having a choice.
  - sotojuan 9y ago
    The problem with the argument for/against "serendipity" is that 95% of these spontaneous conversations are useless and created solely to kill boredom, but the remaining 5% do end up helping out. My dream scenario would be private rooms surrounding a common working area. But the CEOs/MBAs see Facebook brag about their largest open office ever and tell themselves "I wanna be like that!!!" and follow suit.
  - valuearb 9y ago
    People who work in open floor plans or individual office plans can have spontaneous discussions. The floor plan doesn't limit that, the open floor plan just makes it easier. But it's impossible to be as productive in an open floor plan as it is in individual offices. So isn't the better choice to have the more productive environment and teach your employees to organize their "spontaneous" conversations better? If I run into the product manager in the hall, or she comes into my office, and we suddenly have this great conversation the team would benefit from, isn't the better choice not tearing down walls but having us slack the team to meet us in my office or the conference room so we can whiteboard it out with everyone's input?
arkitaip 9y ago
We should all embrace intersectional office space personalities and that no office of the future can belong to the future if it doesn't accommodate different types of people, work, social and personal needs. p.s. tabs
- jaggederest 9y ago
  I've always been confused that people will set up 6-7 different kinds of areas in their house, but expect an office to be wall-to-wall cubicles with a restroom tacked on. Let's see if we can list out some of the things to do in an office: * Focused solo work * Focused small group work * Making phone calls - one person * Making group phone calls and teleconferences * Small group meetings * Large group meetings * Handling documents and records * Food preparation * Eating areas for individuals and small groups ("cafe") * Eating areas for large groups ("cafeteria") * Relaxation * Reference and reading * Loose teamwork e.g. sales and support * Client/vendor meetings - small and large scale * Shipping and receiving * Maintenance * Storage I wish there were names for these kind of spaces beyond agglomerating descriptions onto generic terms. I think if you say "Living room", "Kitchen" or "Bedroom" most people have an idea of what happens in that room. "Medium conference #3" is less descriptive.
- voidwtf 9y ago
  Any good examples of this? Outside of the startup culture where they throw tons of money at renovating a floor/building I've not seen anything very diverse. Typically it's individual offices with conference rooms, open spaces, or cubicles.

driverdan 9y ago

I think you missed the point. It's not about headphones, it's about needing headphones to block disruption. If you need something like that then it's a poor office design. > I feel like spontaneous dialog would be cut short by this solution more often than being moved. Good. Spontaneous dialog is far more often disruptive to productivity than it is helpful.

gfodor 9y ago
> Spontaneous dialog is far more often disruptive to productivity than it is helpful. I think this is the crux of where most of these threads end up. Not everyone agrees with both the explicit and implicit premise of this point: - Not everyone agrees that productivity should be the exclusive focus of office design decisions - Not everyone agrees that spontaneous discussions should not be embraced as a core mechanism of enhancing team-wide productivity
- pseudalopex 9y ago
  These discussions focus on productivity because the main arguments in favor of open floor plans are that they're cheaper and supposedly improve team productivity. Studies show that more people prefer offices, and above all people prefer having a choice.
- sotojuan 9y ago
  The problem with the argument for/against "serendipity" is that 95% of these spontaneous conversations are useless and created solely to kill boredom, but the remaining 5% do end up helping out. My dream scenario would be private rooms surrounding a common working area. But the CEOs/MBAs see Facebook brag about their largest open office ever and tell themselves "I wanna be like that!!!" and follow suit.
- valuearb 9y ago
  People who work in open floor plans or individual office plans can have spontaneous discussions. The floor plan doesn't limit that, the open floor plan just makes it easier. But it's impossible to be as productive in an open floor plan as it is in individual offices. So isn't the better choice to have the more productive environment and teach your employees to organize their "spontaneous" conversations better? If I run into the product manager in the hall, or she comes into my office, and we suddenly have this great conversation the team would benefit from, isn't the better choice not tearing down walls but having us slack the team to meet us in my office or the conference room so we can whiteboard it out with everyone's input?

arkitaip 9y ago

We should all embrace intersectional office space personalities and that no office of the future can belong to the future if it doesn't accommodate different types of people, work, social and personal needs. p.s. tabs

jaggederest 9y ago
I've always been confused that people will set up 6-7 different kinds of areas in their house, but expect an office to be wall-to-wall cubicles with a restroom tacked on. Let's see if we can list out some of the things to do in an office: * Focused solo work * Focused small group work * Making phone calls - one person * Making group phone calls and teleconferences * Small group meetings * Large group meetings * Handling documents and records * Food preparation * Eating areas for individuals and small groups ("cafe") * Eating areas for large groups ("cafeteria") * Relaxation * Reference and reading * Loose teamwork e.g. sales and support * Client/vendor meetings - small and large scale * Shipping and receiving * Maintenance * Storage I wish there were names for these kind of spaces beyond agglomerating descriptions onto generic terms. I think if you say "Living room", "Kitchen" or "Bedroom" most people have an idea of what happens in that room. "Medium conference #3" is less descriptive.
voidwtf 9y ago
Any good examples of this? Outside of the startup culture where they throw tons of money at renovating a floor/building I've not seen anything very diverse. Typically it's individual offices with conference rooms, open spaces, or cubicles.