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I just do not get it, I guess. Colocation is one of the biggest things that make teams work. Putting any kind of barrier creates nearly-instant havoc. For exa

I just do not get it, I guess. Colocation is one of the biggest things that make teams work. Putting any kind of barrier creates nearly-instant havoc. For example, my current team was working on a particular platform (web) until we needed to start an iOS app. We split the team and the iOS team went to the next room over (we were too big for the room we were in anyway). The web team was, in part, developing the API that the mobile team was consuming (bad idea, but speed to market was of utmost importance). There were arguments between the teams. An Us v. Them attitude started. It became very agitated. And most of it can be attributed to the fact that they sat 5 more feet away from us and were not in our line of sight. Crazy. I love open space environments. There are challenges (picking the music, for example). But, we get over them because we really do need to be able to yell "Hey <Business Person>, can you clarify this feature a little for me?" and be heard without having to track that person down from across the office. So, personally, I am very confused. I guess I'm trained to ignore the noise around me [1]? Maybe I'm just one of the "noise makers" mentioned. But it is incredibly intriguing to me that I find comfort and productivity in open spaces while others are ready to damn it. [1] There was a blog post recently from a pair programming coach (can't find it, sorry). But one of the things that he taught was actually how to ignore the noises and be production. Your mind beings to hear things but you aren't actively thinking about it. It's slowly processing in the back of your mind until you hear something that clicks. E.g. I'm writing code. Dorothy says to Mike, "...API was" ==> you brain hears this Then your mind rewinds. "Joe said that the update part of the API was broken this morning. Do you know what's up?" You pipe up, "Hey! Dorothy, we changed the format of the json going into the API. You should check the docs for the updated format." Back to writing code. Some other links from coworkers: http://bizvalu.blogspot.com/2007/10/open-space-configuration-dawn-of-new.html http://bizvalu.blogspot.com/2007/10/open-space-configuration... http://martinfowler.com/bliki/TeamRoom.html http://martinfowler.com/bliki/TeamRoom.html

grannyg00se 14y ago
"we really do need to be able to yell "Hey <Business Person>, can you clarify this feature a little for me?" and be heard without having to track that person down from across the office" Rather than yelling and disturbing the entire work area, what about some kind of instant messaging for those cases? ................. "I'm writing code. Dorothy says to Mike, "...API was" ==> you brain hears this Then your mind rewinds. "Joe said that the update part of the API was broken this morning. Do you know what's up?" You pipe up, "Hey! Dorothy, we changed the format of the json going into the API. You should check the docs for the updated format." Back to writing code." Except then Dorothy comes over and asks you about the updated format instead of checking the docs because you decided to pipe up. Now she's in your face, and you are talking to her about something completely different than what you were focused on 20s ago. The consequences of losing focus and time to fully regain momentum are well known and the disadvantage to you typically don't warrant the advantage that Dorothy received by your presence.
- hammerdr 14y ago
  That's very pessimistic and doesn't happen in practice. Basic politeness is key to interacting with other humans. If Dorothy happens to do this, give that person feedback and address it on a human level rather than putting walls between people (figuratively and literally). Edit: And, sorry, just reread and saw your first comment. And, apologies because I laughed at the comment. You're talking about replacing a high bandwidth, instant communication channel with a low bandwidth, asynchronous communication channel? There are instances when firing off an email to the person next to you is better than the alternative and you should be making those decisions. Also, I don't think anyone on our team would call it "disturbing the entire workplace". It's how we work. I'm not trying to pick a fight, really. I think people in these two camps just cannot empathize with each other for some reason.
  - grannyg00se 14y ago
    "You're talking about replacing a high bandwidth, instant communication channel with a low bandwidth, asynchronous communication channel?" No, actually I'm talking about replacing yelling a question across an entire office space with simply sending them an IM. The IM method also doesn't require tracking them down, and as you mentioned basic politeness, I think yelling for somebody when you have no idea where they are or what they may be doing is rather impolite. You could be disrupting a conversation they may be involved in elsewhere for example.

grannyg00se 14y ago

"we really do need to be able to yell "Hey <Business Person>, can you clarify this feature a little for me?" and be heard without having to track that person down from across the office" Rather than yelling and disturbing the entire work area, what about some kind of instant messaging for those cases? ................. "I'm writing code. Dorothy says to Mike, "...API was" ==> you brain hears this Then your mind rewinds. "Joe said that the update part of the API was broken this morning. Do you know what's up?" You pipe up, "Hey! Dorothy, we changed the format of the json going into the API. You should check the docs for the updated format." Back to writing code." Except then Dorothy comes over and asks you about the updated format instead of checking the docs because you decided to pipe up. Now she's in your face, and you are talking to her about something completely different than what you were focused on 20s ago. The consequences of losing focus and time to fully regain momentum are well known and the disadvantage to you typically don't warrant the advantage that Dorothy received by your presence.

hammerdr 14y ago
That's very pessimistic and doesn't happen in practice. Basic politeness is key to interacting with other humans. If Dorothy happens to do this, give that person feedback and address it on a human level rather than putting walls between people (figuratively and literally). Edit: And, sorry, just reread and saw your first comment. And, apologies because I laughed at the comment. You're talking about replacing a high bandwidth, instant communication channel with a low bandwidth, asynchronous communication channel? There are instances when firing off an email to the person next to you is better than the alternative and you should be making those decisions. Also, I don't think anyone on our team would call it "disturbing the entire workplace". It's how we work. I'm not trying to pick a fight, really. I think people in these two camps just cannot empathize with each other for some reason.
- grannyg00se 14y ago
  "You're talking about replacing a high bandwidth, instant communication channel with a low bandwidth, asynchronous communication channel?" No, actually I'm talking about replacing yelling a question across an entire office space with simply sending them an IM. The IM method also doesn't require tracking them down, and as you mentioned basic politeness, I think yelling for somebody when you have no idea where they are or what they may be doing is rather impolite. You could be disrupting a conversation they may be involved in elsewhere for example.