4 ms·

Was just having a discussion on this topic with a friend a couple nights ago. Seems that "management" and "HR" always seem to have traditional desks and office

Was just having a discussion on this topic with a friend a couple nights ago. Seems that "management" and "HR" always seem to have traditional desks and offices with closable doors. Always. For software developers, they often get lumped with the same desk/working environments that people doing call center or phone support work get. It got me thinking why that might be, and I had a thought I hadn't had before. Management types typically have their days broken up in to short 30-60 minute blocks - that's their standard work process - meeting, meeting, meeting, planning, etc. I don't think they can really understand people focusing for 2-3 hours at a stretch, and that there's often a big increase in productivity for some people working under those conditions. Thought-workers are somewhat alone in this, and because the people who make office seating decisions don't work that way, they can not fathom anyone else might need to work that way (except, of course, they still need their doors to be closed for quiet/private work conditions).

tsotha 13y ago
There's more to it than that. Management and HR people need to have conversations that not everyone else is privy to. Having everyone listening to a coworker being asked by her boss to wear more appropriate clothing to the office is just asking for a lawsuit, as is a conversation between HR and an employee discussing leave for an embarrassing medical problem. Of course you can have small conference rooms for those kinds of conversations, but if it's a significant part of the job an office just makes sense.
- YZF 13y ago
  The thing is that I think healthy teams need to have those conversations as well. I.e. ones that not everyone is privy too. Team cohesion requires trust and I found the inability to have private conversations easily is a problem.
- mgkimsal 13y ago
  Yeah, that's another aspect I'm aware of, but I don't buy it as much. The majority of time I've seen mgt in their offices, it's not being used for that. Regardless, I'm not advocating for people to not have private offices - I'm arguing for more people to have private offices, and I think decision makers simply aren't capable of putting themselves in the shoes of people who do 'thought work' as their primary task.
BryantD 13y ago
Actually not always. My current work environment is open floor plan for everyone, up to and including HR, vice presidents, and so on. (Several hundred people in the office, not a startup.)

tsotha 13y ago

There's more to it than that. Management and HR people need to have conversations that not everyone else is privy to. Having everyone listening to a coworker being asked by her boss to wear more appropriate clothing to the office is just asking for a lawsuit, as is a conversation between HR and an employee discussing leave for an embarrassing medical problem. Of course you can have small conference rooms for those kinds of conversations, but if it's a significant part of the job an office just makes sense.

YZF 13y ago
The thing is that I think healthy teams need to have those conversations as well. I.e. ones that not everyone is privy too. Team cohesion requires trust and I found the inability to have private conversations easily is a problem.
mgkimsal 13y ago
Yeah, that's another aspect I'm aware of, but I don't buy it as much. The majority of time I've seen mgt in their offices, it's not being used for that. Regardless, I'm not advocating for people to not have private offices - I'm arguing for more people to have private offices, and I think decision makers simply aren't capable of putting themselves in the shoes of people who do 'thought work' as their primary task.

BryantD 13y ago

Actually not always. My current work environment is open floor plan for everyone, up to and including HR, vice presidents, and so on. (Several hundred people in the office, not a startup.)