Open offices are great if you have a bunch of weird computer people who don't know how to talk to each other. It's easier to reach over and physically walk int

Open offices are great if you have a bunch of weird computer people who don't know how to talk to each other. It's easier to reach over and physically walk into someone's space to make them acknowledge you than it is to just walk into a closed office (or, worse, schedule a "meeting" to talk to someone). Open offices also require trust on all levels. Management layers must recognize the reality of an 8 hour work day involves many breaks of non-work browsing. If you have an open office plan with management demanding you be on-task for 8 hours a day, that's a recipe for nervous breakdowns (or a recipe for people fighting over desks where monitors face windows instead of the open hallway areas). Another endless plus for open offices: If you sit with your team, you have open-air information sharing. "Oh, X is walking over to talk to al of us about problem Y. We can collectively address their problem in 5 minutes instead of three days of emails back and forth." You're probably not as important as you think you are. You only need an office if you're dealing with sensitive HR materials. (Or: if you have an annoying laugh. Or if you have flatulence problems. Or if you talk on the phone all day and have an annoying voice. Or if you bring your loud kids to work. Or if you video chat over speakerphone all day long.)