4 ms·

Bring Back Private Offices, Part II

27 points by AlbertCory 3y ago

readthenotes1 3y ago
It's funny (as in tragic) how "caves and common" team room got consultantized into "no walls for you".
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
j45 3y ago
Individual Private offices are superior in almost every way for makers. Additionally, open concept war rooms for a small startup team can be useful to maintain for everyone to sit together in escalated times. In addition to this, remote can work better as hybrid with the above two satisfied. Some employers seem to require remote employees to have a dedicated office. Seems understandable as there can be different distractions at home to go with the benefits.
AlbertCory 3y ago
Ted Gioia (on Substack) bemoaned the AI clones of his writing. Some scumbags will scrape all the facts and repackage them, taking his name off the product. This inspired me to search "Bring Back Private Offices." There were several republishings, but they all had links to the real thing. I guess I'm not important enough to rip off.
jitl 3y ago
Private offices are nice. But real estate costs a lot of money. The company I work at would need 4x or more square footage in both San Francisco and New York to give people shoebox offices. In SF, we’d need to find like 3 more empty office buildings near our current one, and I know there are no such buildings available. Until someone can make personal offices as dense as open offices, it’s going to be a very hard sell to Management. As long as we’re pining after real estate, I’d love (to have the money for) a 2400sqft apartment instead of a 430sqft one, that would probably improve my life more than a private office. Also, why can’t I buy a starter home for $60,000 these days?
- shiroiushi 3y ago
  >Until someone can make personal offices as dense as open offices, They had decades ago: they're called "cubicles". The open office I sit in now is no more dense than the compact cubicle I had to sit in about 20 years ago. It was a lot quieter too.
  - jitl 3y ago
    Cubicles are not as dense as the open office plan we use. Our desks are about 1.8 office chairs wide, never seen a cubicle that small.
    - shiroiushi 3y ago
      That just sounds like hell. The densest cubicles I used (just before the open office fad took over) were, IIRC, 6 by 9 feet. The company previous had 9x9 cubicles but shrunk them to pack more people in. The 9x9 cubicles were actually quite nice as long as you didn't have a building column in the middle of yours.
    - j45 3y ago
      Depth of desk is a consideration too
- AlbertCory 3y ago
  Your cost figures are highly questionable and probably exaggerated. In the first article I quoted a couple people who would deny them. Private office systems (all but universal before the advent of cubes everywhere) had open office-style areas in the middle of the floor, with offices around the perimeter. Please redo your calculations in light of that.
  - jitl 3y ago
    I mean to give an office to everyone, not just to some amount of people who fit on the perimeter
mynameisnoone 3y ago
If you want high performance people who do work that requires a lack of interruptions, open office ass-in-seat mentality with lots of pointless meetings is the worst. Open offices promote interruptions and make them socially "acceptable". "Collaboration" is an urban legend. Work gets done when people aren't bothered. Give workers doors and headphones.
xnx 3y ago
The form factor that everyone seems to be overlooking for private offices is that of the After Burner Deluxe arcade cabinet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVMmFD9mzCI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVMmFD9mzCI Give me a dim space with a big monitor and a seat that can recline while keeping my screen in view. Privacy and focus without taking up much space.

27 points by AlbertCory 3y ago

readthenotes1 3y ago

It's funny (as in tragic) how "caves and common" team room got consultantized into "no walls for you".

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

j45 3y ago

Individual Private offices are superior in almost every way for makers. Additionally, open concept war rooms for a small startup team can be useful to maintain for everyone to sit together in escalated times. In addition to this, remote can work better as hybrid with the above two satisfied. Some employers seem to require remote employees to have a dedicated office. Seems understandable as there can be different distractions at home to go with the benefits.

AlbertCory 3y ago

Ted Gioia (on Substack) bemoaned the AI clones of his writing. Some scumbags will scrape all the facts and repackage them, taking his name off the product. This inspired me to search "Bring Back Private Offices." There were several republishings, but they all had links to the real thing. I guess I'm not important enough to rip off.

jitl 3y ago

Private offices are nice. But real estate costs a lot of money. The company I work at would need 4x or more square footage in both San Francisco and New York to give people shoebox offices. In SF, we’d need to find like 3 more empty office buildings near our current one, and I know there are no such buildings available. Until someone can make personal offices as dense as open offices, it’s going to be a very hard sell to Management. As long as we’re pining after real estate, I’d love (to have the money for) a 2400sqft apartment instead of a 430sqft one, that would probably improve my life more than a private office. Also, why can’t I buy a starter home for $60,000 these days?

shiroiushi 3y ago
>Until someone can make personal offices as dense as open offices, They had decades ago: they're called "cubicles". The open office I sit in now is no more dense than the compact cubicle I had to sit in about 20 years ago. It was a lot quieter too.
- jitl 3y ago
  Cubicles are not as dense as the open office plan we use. Our desks are about 1.8 office chairs wide, never seen a cubicle that small.
  - shiroiushi 3y ago
    That just sounds like hell. The densest cubicles I used (just before the open office fad took over) were, IIRC, 6 by 9 feet. The company previous had 9x9 cubicles but shrunk them to pack more people in. The 9x9 cubicles were actually quite nice as long as you didn't have a building column in the middle of yours.
  - j45 3y ago
    Depth of desk is a consideration too
AlbertCory 3y ago
Your cost figures are highly questionable and probably exaggerated. In the first article I quoted a couple people who would deny them. Private office systems (all but universal before the advent of cubes everywhere) had open office-style areas in the middle of the floor, with offices around the perimeter. Please redo your calculations in light of that.
- jitl 3y ago
  I mean to give an office to everyone, not just to some amount of people who fit on the perimeter

mynameisnoone 3y ago

If you want high performance people who do work that requires a lack of interruptions, open office ass-in-seat mentality with lots of pointless meetings is the worst. Open offices promote interruptions and make them socially "acceptable". "Collaboration" is an urban legend. Work gets done when people aren't bothered. Give workers doors and headphones.

xnx 3y ago

The form factor that everyone seems to be overlooking for private offices is that of the After Burner Deluxe arcade cabinet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVMmFD9mzCI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVMmFD9mzCI Give me a dim space with a big monitor and a seat that can recline while keeping my screen in view. Privacy and focus without taking up much space.