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For me, the perfect solution was a cubicle with high walls. It was open enough to encourage collaboration when needed, but closed off enough to allow for privac

For me, the perfect solution was a cubicle with high walls. It was open enough to encourage collaboration when needed, but closed off enough to allow for privacy when needed. It was perfect because I was able to get into deep concentration modes and I learned and accomplished so much in those years. Now, I work in an open office area and I am really getting fed up with the distractions. Constant cross-talk and interruptions, especially by the coworker sitting right next to me who just won't shut the fuck up. He's one of those people that mumble any thought that comes to his head and expects you to respond to or acknowledge him in some way. He also constantly wants me to see something on his screen or has questions, requiring me to turn and face him to talk, breaking my concentration. Other coworkers just mosy on up to my desk to say hi or casually ask me for my input on various issues. Add to that several useless standup and status meetings, and my productivity basically becomes 0% until about 2 pm when everyone is finally quiet from food comas. The din starts back up in an hour or so and dors not die down again until most everyone leaves for the day. I stay until about 6pm and I get more done in those 2 hours than I do in the other 6-7 hours of the day. Open offices are not just a bad or failed idea, they're a fucking disaster.

52-6F-62 9y ago
I have a similar situation. While it provides me plenty of space to concentrate, I don't find I mix very often, or run into people very often. I still don't know most of the people in my relevant departments. Most of my communiques occur via Slack, HipChat, Skype, email, and JIRA. I rarely meet face-to-face with people anymore. I'll have the odd chat with some of my coworkers, but we tend to work outward from our group rather than together so the calls to discuss work are limited. I still prefer the semi-private or private workstation but would love if there were more thought put into mixing or socializing employees without going overboard. However, much of that is probably more due to the structure of some departments in my office than the space itself.

52-6F-62 9y ago

I have a similar situation. While it provides me plenty of space to concentrate, I don't find I mix very often, or run into people very often. I still don't know most of the people in my relevant departments. Most of my communiques occur via Slack, HipChat, Skype, email, and JIRA. I rarely meet face-to-face with people anymore. I'll have the odd chat with some of my coworkers, but we tend to work outward from our group rather than together so the calls to discuss work are limited. I still prefer the semi-private or private workstation but would love if there were more thought put into mixing or socializing employees without going overboard. However, much of that is probably more due to the structure of some departments in my office than the space itself.