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"Most people in Windows have a private office – with a door" At my office we've made an effort to keep our workspace communal to the point of removing the 12"

"Most people in Windows have a private office – with a door" At my office we've made an effort to keep our workspace communal to the point of removing the 12" dividers that were included with our work tables. This, as you might guess, does result in some distraction but in fostering the relationships at the office people are more apt to like being there. I'm curious how other large companies and startups handle this. [UPDATE] Its important to note that we let people work from home whenever they like. So, in the case where they really need to focus, they have the freedom to do so.

kenjackson 16y ago
I've worked in both environments. Honestly, the best environment, IMO, is working from home -- office is second. Shared office spaces are a distant fourth. I'm the type of person who needs a lot of solitude at some times, and at other times, I love to blast music, pace, juggle, and gorge on chips. When I need the solitude, when I'm in the zone, I don't want you taking a call from your gf, or deciding with some other guys in the office where to eat lunch. Likewise, I may need to spend 12 hours doing nothing that looks productive. Just kind of thinking as I listen to music and do something mindless like pay bills. I feel like at even the most liberal of open floor plan offices I've felt inhibited if I spent a day or two doing what looks like screwing around. And don't get me started on pair programming.
- RK 16y ago
  I've done it both ways and had different experiences depending on the job. Right now I work about 85% from home. I enjoy going to my (shared) office, but I tend to spend way to much time helping my officemates on their problems when I'm there (can be good or bad). At the startup where I used to work, we had a shared open space. I was doing some coding, but mostly running long simulations, so I had a lot of down time. In that case, distractions were not an issue. My job before that I had my own office, name on the door, view, etc. BUT my project members were on a different floor, which I couldn't actually go to (defense company). That was the main instance when I wish I had a shared office.
- X-Istence 16y ago
  I guess I am lucky, I can spend some time looking like I am screwing around or doing mundane tasks so long as I get my work done on time.
  - geedee77 16y ago
    This is the exact opposite to me. I spend my full day working, hit (or better) all deadlines, come in about 2 hours early and I still get grief from the big boss for leaving on-time!
tzs 16y ago
Do your developers have to do any creative work, requiring deep thought, or are they just code monkeys? If the former, do you provide a way for them to get away from the distraction when they need to think deeply?
- johnbender 16y ago
  We allow them to work from home whenever they like, hence the desire to provide a place they want to show up at.
  - kenjackson 16y ago
    I think this is key. This is what we did in grad school and it worked great. You worked at home most of the time and came to the office to chalk talk or do work where you don't mind interruptions. That tends to work great when everyone is a five minute bike ride to the office/lab. It's a tougher proposition when a non-trivial number of members of the team are 30 minute auto commutes from the office.
    - robryan 16y ago
      This is what my and my cofounder do with coworking, spend a fair bit of time working from home but it is good to get into a communal space every now and then. Even if the productivity is lower, being around those your working with leads to things that wouldn't have been thought up or noticed otherwise. The same with others not working on the same thing as you, even now and then things come up and tend to kickstart something or give new insights.
- brodie 16y ago
  I work in an open space. The office has some secluded spots with couches that people can go to with their laptops to work without distraction. They can also attempt to steal an unused meeting room if they need complete isolation.

kenjackson 16y ago

I've worked in both environments. Honestly, the best environment, IMO, is working from home -- office is second. Shared office spaces are a distant fourth. I'm the type of person who needs a lot of solitude at some times, and at other times, I love to blast music, pace, juggle, and gorge on chips. When I need the solitude, when I'm in the zone, I don't want you taking a call from your gf, or deciding with some other guys in the office where to eat lunch. Likewise, I may need to spend 12 hours doing nothing that looks productive. Just kind of thinking as I listen to music and do something mindless like pay bills. I feel like at even the most liberal of open floor plan offices I've felt inhibited if I spent a day or two doing what looks like screwing around. And don't get me started on pair programming.

RK 16y ago
I've done it both ways and had different experiences depending on the job. Right now I work about 85% from home. I enjoy going to my (shared) office, but I tend to spend way to much time helping my officemates on their problems when I'm there (can be good or bad). At the startup where I used to work, we had a shared open space. I was doing some coding, but mostly running long simulations, so I had a lot of down time. In that case, distractions were not an issue. My job before that I had my own office, name on the door, view, etc. BUT my project members were on a different floor, which I couldn't actually go to (defense company). That was the main instance when I wish I had a shared office.
X-Istence 16y ago
I guess I am lucky, I can spend some time looking like I am screwing around or doing mundane tasks so long as I get my work done on time.
- geedee77 16y ago
  This is the exact opposite to me. I spend my full day working, hit (or better) all deadlines, come in about 2 hours early and I still get grief from the big boss for leaving on-time!

tzs 16y ago

Do your developers have to do any creative work, requiring deep thought, or are they just code monkeys? If the former, do you provide a way for them to get away from the distraction when they need to think deeply?

johnbender 16y ago
We allow them to work from home whenever they like, hence the desire to provide a place they want to show up at.
- kenjackson 16y ago
  I think this is key. This is what we did in grad school and it worked great. You worked at home most of the time and came to the office to chalk talk or do work where you don't mind interruptions. That tends to work great when everyone is a five minute bike ride to the office/lab. It's a tougher proposition when a non-trivial number of members of the team are 30 minute auto commutes from the office.
  - robryan 16y ago
    This is what my and my cofounder do with coworking, spend a fair bit of time working from home but it is good to get into a communal space every now and then. Even if the productivity is lower, being around those your working with leads to things that wouldn't have been thought up or noticed otherwise. The same with others not working on the same thing as you, even now and then things come up and tend to kickstart something or give new insights.
brodie 16y ago
I work in an open space. The office has some secluded spots with couches that people can go to with their laptops to work without distraction. They can also attempt to steal an unused meeting room if they need complete isolation.