4 ms·

> What if a worker needs personalized space, like certain lighting, ergonomic chair & keyboard, works on a special desktop station not with a portable laptop, e

> What if a worker needs personalized space, like certain lighting, ergonomic chair & keyboard, works on a special desktop station not with a portable laptop, etc.? They would set their stuff up in the space that best fit their needs or even work from home.

mlthoughts2018 8y ago
What do you mean? The nature of needing to customize your space is fundamentally incompatible with sitting in a large open plan space. How could you “set [your] stuff up” in an open plan area? For example, suppose there is harsh overhead fluorescent lighting above your desk. But you require soft lighting from a desk lamp for eye comfort. In a private office, you can bring in a lamp. If you bring in a lamp to your open-plan desk, it’s futile, because the harsh communal lighting is enforced on you, not customizable.
- RandallBrown 8y ago
  Lighting is certainly trickier, but if it's that big of a deal, work with the people around you and/or your manager to move to a darker part of the office where you can set up your own lighting. I have worked in multiple open offices where people didn't want harsh fluorescent light and they worked with the team/facilities/whoever to get the lights dimmed/removed/changed to be more compatible with what people wanted.
  - mlthoughts2018 8y ago
    > “I have worked in multiple open offices where people didn't want harsh fluorescent light and they worked with the team/facilities/whoever to get the lights dimmed/removed/changed to be more compatible with what people wanted.” I’ve never seen an open-plan office where this would be possible, do you have any links? In the open plan offices I’ve worked in, the overhead lighting could not be dimmed, and it would not be possible to only dim lights for part of the floor and not others, because there was no barrier, wall, corner, etc., separating one group of people from another. If you dim the lights directly overhead, it’s still way too harshly bright from the lights 3 or 4 rows over from you anyway.
    - RandallBrown 8y ago
      I don't have any links, but most office buildings I've encountered let you turn off sections of lights. For more granular control we've simply removed the lightbulbs. (Sometimes to the chagrin of the facilities people) If lights from far away are a problem I don't have a very good solution beyond hanging a flag or something from the ceiling to try and block the light.
      - mlthoughts2018 8y ago
        Removing individual lightbulbs or hanging flags as light barriers ... I hope you are seeing that your original suggestion is deeply unrealistic.
  - loco5niner 8y ago
    I've only worked in a couple of open offices, and management was not willing or able to make those adjustments in either case. Wish it was different. I believe your comment is overly optimistic in most cases.

mlthoughts2018 8y ago

What do you mean? The nature of needing to customize your space is fundamentally incompatible with sitting in a large open plan space. How could you “set [your] stuff up” in an open plan area? For example, suppose there is harsh overhead fluorescent lighting above your desk. But you require soft lighting from a desk lamp for eye comfort. In a private office, you can bring in a lamp. If you bring in a lamp to your open-plan desk, it’s futile, because the harsh communal lighting is enforced on you, not customizable.

RandallBrown 8y ago
Lighting is certainly trickier, but if it's that big of a deal, work with the people around you and/or your manager to move to a darker part of the office where you can set up your own lighting. I have worked in multiple open offices where people didn't want harsh fluorescent light and they worked with the team/facilities/whoever to get the lights dimmed/removed/changed to be more compatible with what people wanted.
- mlthoughts2018 8y ago
  > “I have worked in multiple open offices where people didn't want harsh fluorescent light and they worked with the team/facilities/whoever to get the lights dimmed/removed/changed to be more compatible with what people wanted.” I’ve never seen an open-plan office where this would be possible, do you have any links? In the open plan offices I’ve worked in, the overhead lighting could not be dimmed, and it would not be possible to only dim lights for part of the floor and not others, because there was no barrier, wall, corner, etc., separating one group of people from another. If you dim the lights directly overhead, it’s still way too harshly bright from the lights 3 or 4 rows over from you anyway.
  - RandallBrown 8y ago
    I don't have any links, but most office buildings I've encountered let you turn off sections of lights. For more granular control we've simply removed the lightbulbs. (Sometimes to the chagrin of the facilities people) If lights from far away are a problem I don't have a very good solution beyond hanging a flag or something from the ceiling to try and block the light.
    - mlthoughts2018 8y ago
      Removing individual lightbulbs or hanging flags as light barriers ... I hope you are seeing that your original suggestion is deeply unrealistic.
- loco5niner 8y ago
  I've only worked in a couple of open offices, and management was not willing or able to make those adjustments in either case. Wish it was different. I believe your comment is overly optimistic in most cases.