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I really like the team-room idea mentioned near the end. The noise from my immediate peers doesn't bother me. It really is useful to overhear others' conversati

I really like the team-room idea mentioned near the end. The noise from my immediate peers doesn't bother me. It really is useful to overhear others' conversations sometimes, or pull someone in on a moment's notice, and when there's a high level of social connection people can agree on when to be quiet. What really drives me nuts is constantly hearing the conversations of people two aisles over, talking about something that couldn't possibly be of interest to me. And the people walking through, because not everyone gets to be around the edges. (In one workspace I sometimes occupy, the edge is all taken up by conference rooms so everyone is in the middle with people walking past.) There's a reason that every desk in an open-office layout seems to have at least one pair of headphones on it. That's a poor solution where an obviously better one exists.

Corrado 8y ago
I've actually worked in a small team environment several times and I really love it. At one point we were in an old vault with no windows and concrete walls, and it was great. We all had the same taste in music so we just cranked it up and let the sales guys outside do their thing and they left us alone. In another case I was in a room with 8 people arranged into 2 "pods". We all worked on similar projects and would often turn to each other to get help, show something off, etc. I got sick more often that year (I think the ventilation in that room was bad) but we were very productive and I really enjoyed working there.