I have worked in the environment you describe. It’s still worse than working from home with a team that communicates over written mediums even semi competently.

I have worked in the environment you describe. It’s still worse than working from home with a team that communicates over written mediums even semi competently. The problem with what you describe is it still requires either coordinated interruption of your peers or working effectively remotely anyway. There is an inverse relationship to the people available for arbitrary “free-wheeling discussions” and how busy they are actually working. Getting a bunch of do-nothing flap-jaws to give you quick feedback seems productive but it’s actually worse than no meeting at all.