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Haven't considered "open plan offices" a "trend", or certainly not a recent one. They've been a staple of most places I've seen over the past 25 years of profe

Haven't considered "open plan offices" a "trend", or certainly not a recent one. They've been a staple of most places I've seen over the past 25 years of professional tech/dev work. Apparently they're suitable for every situation except management/executive seating. When they want to work together, they'll hit the golf club or go out for long lunches. ;)

irrational 8y ago
My company started adopting open office plans a few years ago. Now they are moving beyond that to what they call freestyle office plans. Each department is allocated enough desks for 70% of their workers. You come in in the morning and, like an open-range animal, wander around until you find a free desk. If you need to go to a meeting you take all of your stuff with you so someone else can claim that desk. This is for a campus of 5000+ employees scattered across dozens of buildings. I can't wait to see what the next trend in office plans will be. Maybe gladiator style combat to see who wins the right to use a desk.
- dragonsky67 8y ago
  I wonder how management would react to you just coming into the office and sitting up office on the floor. A bit of wall to lean against and you could be quite comfortable. Extra points for bringing in a bean bag.
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  Interestingly, the thing you point two isn't new: what you describe, also called “hot desking” (and the similar “hoteling”, which adopts reservations for desks but is otherwise similar) were trends that came to attention—and after it's popularity peaked was widely mocked—in the 1990s.
  - irrational 8y ago
    Well, apparently it's making a comeback. Unfortunately.
amanzi 8y ago
As others have commented, 'open plan' is the wrong term, it's more the flexible working arrangements that seem to be popular with management at the moment. And there are definitely some cases where this arrangement works well, but as with other trends I see companies adopting this without fully considering all angles.

irrational 8y ago

My company started adopting open office plans a few years ago. Now they are moving beyond that to what they call freestyle office plans. Each department is allocated enough desks for 70% of their workers. You come in in the morning and, like an open-range animal, wander around until you find a free desk. If you need to go to a meeting you take all of your stuff with you so someone else can claim that desk. This is for a campus of 5000+ employees scattered across dozens of buildings. I can't wait to see what the next trend in office plans will be. Maybe gladiator style combat to see who wins the right to use a desk.

dragonsky67 8y ago
I wonder how management would react to you just coming into the office and sitting up office on the floor. A bit of wall to lean against and you could be quite comfortable. Extra points for bringing in a bean bag.
dragonwriter 8y ago
Interestingly, the thing you point two isn't new: what you describe, also called “hot desking” (and the similar “hoteling”, which adopts reservations for desks but is otherwise similar) were trends that came to attention—and after it's popularity peaked was widely mocked—in the 1990s.
- irrational 8y ago
  Well, apparently it's making a comeback. Unfortunately.

amanzi 8y ago

As others have commented, 'open plan' is the wrong term, it's more the flexible working arrangements that seem to be popular with management at the moment. And there are definitely some cases where this arrangement works well, but as with other trends I see companies adopting this without fully considering all angles.