5 ms·
Lately I've been thinking about this and I feel that it's a prime example of a situation where it's better to measure than assume. I get the impression that the
by JanisL 8y ago
Lately I've been thinking about this and I feel that it's a prime example of a situation where it's better to measure than assume. I get the impression that there's a particularly compelling assumption to be made that getting people into closer proximity will lead to more social interactions, this tends to be unquestioned however. It has always seemed to me that more interactions doesn't imply a higher quality of interactions, but the underlying assumption that it leads to more interactions might not even be true.
The other day I was in the city and I noticed that there's large crowds of people and that people not interacting as much unless they already know the other people. And this is in absolute terms not just percentage terms for some people. In regional areas there's fewer people but the times you bump into people you tend to have much higher quality interactions, even if the people you bump into are strangers you tend to say hello at the least. I wonder if open plan offices have some of this sort of effect going on.
- Cthulhu_ 8y agoMore social interactions can be a goal itself - in making e.g. a workplace a fun place to work. However, that comes at the cost of productivity. If there is a pressure on the employees to perform, they'll get grumpy because the open workspace stifles productivity.
- senozhatsky 8y agoRight. I'm one of those always-grumpy guys. I totally dislike (um... hate actually) the idea of open workspace.
- AmericanChopper 8y agoI work in a high pressure, open plan office, and I quite like it. I think stopping a few times a day to have a chat with someone is good for my productivity. You don’t work at full capacity for every minute of the day, and breaking work up with a distraction every so often seems to work for me. I think the biggest difference between where I am now, and other places I’ve worked is that all my colleagues like and respect each other. I like talking to the people I sit near, because I like them.
- watwut 8y agoOccasional chat is great and everyone needs break. However, when everyone's break is interrupting me because it is too close and loud, then it sums up to too many breaks and situation in which it is hard to concentrate. No matter how I like the people - it might be even more interrupting when I like them and I am interested in what they say.
- AmericanChopper 8y agoI’m not bothered by the background noise in my office. The sales floor is a different story, but the engineers I work with speak at a reasonable volume.
- thekingofh 8y agoYou sound nice.
- JanisL 8y agoWhat sort of work do you do? I find that the role I have will greatly impact how distractions and conversations will impact my overall productivity.
- AmericanChopper 8y agoI’m an engineer.