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(I moved into a "private" fishbowl office after I raised a fuss about this) I've worked in an open floorplan with 3,15 and 20 people. Each one brings its own s
by jrgifford 11y ago
(I moved into a "private" fishbowl office after I raised a fuss about this)
I've worked in an open floorplan with 3,15 and 20 people. Each one brings its own set of challenges. Team 3-person was easy. We were all introverts, didn't talk to each other (Yay Hipchat). Team 20 was easy. There were actually several different subgroups in there, so we didn't really talk past our small (2-3 in my case) team, and it was a large enough space that conversations carried, but weren't annoying (Most days).
It wasn't until I worked with the 15 that I legitimately wanted a private office. What changed? The new place plays music in the entire office. Even with the door closed, and my laptop playing some extremely loud white noise (I can't stand headphones for more than 2-3 hours), I can still hear the music that is playing outside my door. Also, phones. Desk phones. Everyone has one. Constantly ringing. So annoying.
In my experience of 3 companies, the types of companies that are going to go and have an open floorplan without talking to their team about it first, are the kind that will play music and distract everyone.
Edit: Added desk phones + commentary on the other 2 companies.
- jrgifford 11y agoThings I've been reprimanded for in this environment include... - leaving my phone on do-not-disturb for days at a time, but still checking voicemail - leaving my phone unplugged. Nobody noticed for a week. Then the CEO called it. Can't do that anymore. - Wearing headphones. - Duct taping headphones to my head in an attempt to tell people to leave me alone. - commandeering the sound system to play white noise. - having signs like this up behind my desk: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BH6waT2CAAIyS2H.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BH6waT2CAAIyS2H.jpg most of my coworkers thought it was hilarious. Some others did not, and now I can't do these things. :(
- deelowe 11y agoMaybe the issue is with the tactfulness of the communication as opposed to the message itself?
- jrgifford 11y agoThis was after an extended discussion (about an hour) about why this environment sucked for programmers. Got told I was imagining things. Talking with my other technical coworkers, we decided that we would carry on with this. As of when I left, still hadn't changed.