4 ms·

The funny thing is that if they invested more and made offices into, you know, offices people would want to work there. Instead we have these open floor plan m

The funny thing is that if they invested more and made offices into, you know, offices people would want to work there. Instead we have these open floor plan monstrosities for the hoi polloi and private offices for the masters of the universe. I have no idea what brain damage causes this but if you can't work efficiently in the space you give to your workers to work in how do you expect them to work? A more or less verbatim conversation between the CEO and myself as CTO shortly before I quite: >The new office is so stuffy. I'm going to work from home. >>We need to get a new office. >No we paid too much to break the lease. >>But you can't work there. >I can work from home most of the time. I'll only come in for the big company meetings.

jldugger 3y ago
> if you can't work efficiently in the space you give to your workers to work in how do you expect them to work? I'm gonna go out on a limb and suggest that most CEOs and COOs use private offices as private, perpetual conference room space. I know my own executive manager has office space he barely uses because he's in conference rooms all day.
- candiddevmike 3y ago
  Privacy for me but none for thee?
  - iraqmtpizza 3y ago
    Code monkeys need conference rooms twice a month
    - ghaff 3y ago
      Even fairly mid-level execs are probably in meetings--whether in their offices, at home, or in conference rooms--maybe 6+ hours a day.
    - maerF0x0 3y ago
      I often have to hide from folks who want to interrupt me doing my work so I can do their work for them. If I turn them down I get a bad peer review and get labelled a "Jerk" (no jerks allowed!). If I help them, I don't get to begin doing my own work till 5PM.
      - rokkitmensch 3y ago
        Surely there's a ticketing system you can abuse to defend your time?
        maerF0x0 3y ago
        Curious what you have in mind, how so?
        rokkitmensch 3y ago
        "That sounds important! As you can see, I have three tickets in flight already. Can you open another one up, and $MANAGER and I can prioritize the work that you need done?"
        maerF0x0 3y ago
        They're already working on the ticket? (assigned to them) This is about people stopping by for help on their assigned work, and at the end of the day I get no credit for the contributions to their work or leeway on my own.
    - IncreasePosts 3y ago
      Code monkey here and I average 3 meetings/day
      - iraqmtpizza 3y ago
        Okay, meeting monkey
cyanydeez 3y ago
Money is what causes Brian damage
makeitdouble 3y ago
In my experience CEOs had a modicum of a private office, but it didn't really matter. They were in hybrid mode from the start, came to the office only for meetings and signing papers and went away the rest of the time, including working from home. Two decades ago we had an hilarious all hands meeting where we scrambled to get to the office at 9AM while the big big boss would appear on screen from the corner of his kitchen table. They just didn't want everyone to do the same.
- maerF0x0 3y ago
  The only way that many people can justify their exceptional success is to assume they themselves are exceptional. It's a nice ego stroking way to look at the world and allows them the rights to create double standards at will.
- catlifeonmars 3y ago
  No one called them out?
QuantumGood 3y ago
The worst of the open office trend was ripe for a backlash. CEOs should have known better in the medium term. Short term, of course it looks attractive. And no one could have predicted Covid and remote work would be a big driver of the backlash.
georgeecollins 3y ago
I would love it if this is the end of the barn (aka open) office. It's such a awful place to work. Companies say they do it to foster collaboration but the truth is its very cheap, and easy to deal with a lot of turnover, which every company I every barn company I ever saw had a lot of. The funny thing always was "everyone has the same space" and the SVP/ CEO reserved this conference room all day, the one with suspiciously nice furniture that is never available.
ghaff 3y ago
You can make an office as palatial as you like. If it's a 1+ hour commute I still don't really want to come in.

jldugger 3y ago

> if you can't work efficiently in the space you give to your workers to work in how do you expect them to work? I'm gonna go out on a limb and suggest that most CEOs and COOs use private offices as private, perpetual conference room space. I know my own executive manager has office space he barely uses because he's in conference rooms all day.

candiddevmike 3y ago
Privacy for me but none for thee?
- iraqmtpizza 3y ago
  Code monkeys need conference rooms twice a month
  - ghaff 3y ago
    Even fairly mid-level execs are probably in meetings--whether in their offices, at home, or in conference rooms--maybe 6+ hours a day.
  - maerF0x0 3y ago
    I often have to hide from folks who want to interrupt me doing my work so I can do their work for them. If I turn them down I get a bad peer review and get labelled a "Jerk" (no jerks allowed!). If I help them, I don't get to begin doing my own work till 5PM.
    - rokkitmensch 3y ago
      Surely there's a ticketing system you can abuse to defend your time?
      - maerF0x0 3y ago
        Curious what you have in mind, how so?
        rokkitmensch 3y ago
        "That sounds important! As you can see, I have three tickets in flight already. Can you open another one up, and $MANAGER and I can prioritize the work that you need done?"
        maerF0x0 3y ago
        They're already working on the ticket? (assigned to them) This is about people stopping by for help on their assigned work, and at the end of the day I get no credit for the contributions to their work or leeway on my own.
  - IncreasePosts 3y ago
    Code monkey here and I average 3 meetings/day
    - iraqmtpizza 3y ago
      Okay, meeting monkey

cyanydeez 3y ago

Money is what causes Brian damage

makeitdouble 3y ago

In my experience CEOs had a modicum of a private office, but it didn't really matter. They were in hybrid mode from the start, came to the office only for meetings and signing papers and went away the rest of the time, including working from home. Two decades ago we had an hilarious all hands meeting where we scrambled to get to the office at 9AM while the big big boss would appear on screen from the corner of his kitchen table. They just didn't want everyone to do the same.

maerF0x0 3y ago
The only way that many people can justify their exceptional success is to assume they themselves are exceptional. It's a nice ego stroking way to look at the world and allows them the rights to create double standards at will.
catlifeonmars 3y ago
No one called them out?

QuantumGood 3y ago

The worst of the open office trend was ripe for a backlash. CEOs should have known better in the medium term. Short term, of course it looks attractive. And no one could have predicted Covid and remote work would be a big driver of the backlash.

georgeecollins 3y ago

I would love it if this is the end of the barn (aka open) office. It's such a awful place to work. Companies say they do it to foster collaboration but the truth is its very cheap, and easy to deal with a lot of turnover, which every company I every barn company I ever saw had a lot of. The funny thing always was "everyone has the same space" and the SVP/ CEO reserved this conference room all day, the one with suspiciously nice furniture that is never available.

ghaff 3y ago

You can make an office as palatial as you like. If it's a 1+ hour commute I still don't really want to come in.