4 ms·

> I don't think you can argue against the fact that a significant portion of the population works well in open offices Can you cite a study which asserts this

> I don't think you can argue against the fact that a significant portion of the population works well in open offices Can you cite a study which asserts this fact?

kerkeslager 7y ago
You've got numerous people on this page saying they work better in open offices. Do you have some reason for disbelieving them?
- nemetroid 7y ago
  You said "significant portion of the population".
  - kerkeslager 7y ago
    Yes, and?
    - nemetroid 7y ago
      The fact that there are people on this thread saying that they work better in open offices does not imply that such people make up a significant portion of the population.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
      - kerkeslager 7y ago
        I suppose "significant" is subjective. Is it good enough for you if I adjust my statement to simply: "some people work better in open offices"? Is there some threshhold of significance where it becomes acceptable to force everyone into an office space that doesn't work for everyone? Or can we just agree that we don't need to force everyone to work the same way, and people should be allowed to work in the office space that works for them?
- no_wave 7y ago
  Yes? It's easy to feel productive in an open office. There's activity and buzz and you can accomplish nothing for four hours and still feel like you did something. You can't do that in a more private setting, what you're actually getting done is staring you in the face.
  - kerkeslager 7y ago
    I've always received performance feedback which roughly matched my experience of my productivity. This comment strikes me as more malicious than is warranted.
- msbarnett 7y ago
  There's a pretty wide gap between "numerous people on this page" and "a significant portion of the population". Given actual productivity studies tend to show a big, big decrease in productivity among workers who have individual or small group offices replaced with open office plans, the "significant portion of the population" claim seems unlikely, since they're apparently not significant enough to move the needle in productivity studies.
  - kerkeslager 7y ago
    > Given actual productivity studies tend to show a big, big decrease in productivity among workers who have individual or small group offices replaced with open office plans, the "significant portion of the population" claim seems unlikely, since they're apparently not significant enough to move the needle in productivity studies. That's not how statistics work. If 60% of people see a 20% decrease in productivity in an open office and 40% see a 20% increase, then: .6 x .8 + .4 x 1.2 = .48 + .48 = .96, so you'd expect to see a 4% decrease in productivity. In fact, people who work in open offices could even be the majority if the effects have different magnitudes. Let's say 70% of people experience a 10% increase in productivity when working in an open office, while the other 30% experience a 50% decrease. .7 x 1.1 + .3 x .5 = .77 + .15 = .92. So you could see an 8% reduction in productivity in an open office, even if 70% saw an increase in productivity. You would, of course, see an increase in productivity in both scenarios if you let people work in the office spaces that are appropriate for their needs.

> I don't think you can argue against the fact that a significant portion of the population works well in open offices Can you cite a study which asserts this fact?

kerkeslager 7y ago

You've got numerous people on this page saying they work better in open offices. Do you have some reason for disbelieving them?

nemetroid 7y ago
You said "significant portion of the population".
- kerkeslager 7y ago
  Yes, and?
  - nemetroid 7y ago
    The fact that there are people on this thread saying that they work better in open offices does not imply that such people make up a significant portion of the population.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - kerkeslager 7y ago
      I suppose "significant" is subjective. Is it good enough for you if I adjust my statement to simply: "some people work better in open offices"? Is there some threshhold of significance where it becomes acceptable to force everyone into an office space that doesn't work for everyone? Or can we just agree that we don't need to force everyone to work the same way, and people should be allowed to work in the office space that works for them?
no_wave 7y ago
Yes? It's easy to feel productive in an open office. There's activity and buzz and you can accomplish nothing for four hours and still feel like you did something. You can't do that in a more private setting, what you're actually getting done is staring you in the face.
- kerkeslager 7y ago
  I've always received performance feedback which roughly matched my experience of my productivity. This comment strikes me as more malicious than is warranted.
msbarnett 7y ago
There's a pretty wide gap between "numerous people on this page" and "a significant portion of the population". Given actual productivity studies tend to show a big, big decrease in productivity among workers who have individual or small group offices replaced with open office plans, the "significant portion of the population" claim seems unlikely, since they're apparently not significant enough to move the needle in productivity studies.
- kerkeslager 7y ago
  > Given actual productivity studies tend to show a big, big decrease in productivity among workers who have individual or small group offices replaced with open office plans, the "significant portion of the population" claim seems unlikely, since they're apparently not significant enough to move the needle in productivity studies. That's not how statistics work. If 60% of people see a 20% decrease in productivity in an open office and 40% see a 20% increase, then: .6 x .8 + .4 x 1.2 = .48 + .48 = .96, so you'd expect to see a 4% decrease in productivity. In fact, people who work in open offices could even be the majority if the effects have different magnitudes. Let's say 70% of people experience a 10% increase in productivity when working in an open office, while the other 30% experience a 50% decrease. .7 x 1.1 + .3 x .5 = .77 + .15 = .92. So you could see an 8% reduction in productivity in an open office, even if 70% saw an increase in productivity. You would, of course, see an increase in productivity in both scenarios if you let people work in the office spaces that are appropriate for their needs.