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Jan. 8th, 2015 04:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chhotiiJust had to comment on this column that came through LinkedIn recently. It's been hanging out amongst my tabs so I can stare at it in morbid disbelief until I got a chance to sputter about it.
It's about the current fad of open plan offices, and what a productivity-killer that is. Listen to this: After nine years as a senior writer, I was forced to trade in my private office for a seat at a long, shared table. Ack! Horrors! I would be like, why are you demoting me? Why such a slap in the face? She goes on to describe how this worked out: As the new space intended, I’ve formed interesting, unexpected bonds with my cohorts. But my personal performance at work has hit an all-time low. Each day, my associates and I are seated at a table staring at each other, having an ongoing 12-person conversation from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ... As a result, I can only work effectively during times when no one else is around, or if I isolate myself in one of the small, constantly sought-after, glass-windowed meeting rooms around the perimeter. Oh god, what a nightmare: not being able to get anything done most of the time because of being stuck at work where it's impossible to get any real work done. Ack, gag, retch. It gets worse: she has to plea: let’s eliminate the music that blankets our workspaces. Metallica at 3 p.m. isn’t always compatible with meeting a 4 p.m. deadline. Oh, my god, kill me now. Not only requirement that one get thinky work done while crowded in with a bunch of other people, but also with music playing, music she has no control over and would never have chosen. The column writer makes some tepid suggestions about how to improve the situation: If employers want to make the open-office model work, they have to take measures to improve work efficiency. For one, they should create more private areas — ones without fishbowl windows. Also, they should implement rules on when interaction should be limited. For instance, when a colleague has on headphones, it’s a sign that you should come back another time or just send an e-mail. No! No no no!!! How about an office space in which one can actually be productive as one's own default office space??? Also, screw the requirement that one should have to wear headphones to opt out of chit-chat. If I had an eight hour per day job, I would expect to show up and be shown to a place and situation conducive to getting work done and be allowed to stay there for eight hours per day. Being some place where I can actually work should not be an exception from my default work setting.
She also suggests allowing working from home more, to combat the problems of the open office plan. But that has its own problems. I get stir-crazy working from home all day, and also sometimes you do have to interact with people and look at stuff.
Oh god, so is this what would await me if I were to go out and seek another job elsewhere? Currently I work in a shared office, with 1 to 3 other people working in the same room at any one time. We all face away from each other, so chit-chat is sporadic and occasional but spontaneous meetings are frequent. I can veto the music if need be. Often I will find some private place to retreat to to do some serious coding or reading, or do those at home. Fortunately my job does not call for 8 hours per day of serious coding; it requires the occasional bout, which I can fit around having to interact with other people.
If I were successful in my career I would have a private office. Moving up in the ranks, to me, means the right to a private office. Someday I would like to get my shit together enough to advance in a career enough to be entitled to a private office. Once upon a time I had a nice little office all to myself, and it was bliss. And productivity. Productive bliss. So, depressing that this person thought she was doing well in her career, and then was treated like this.
It's about the current fad of open plan offices, and what a productivity-killer that is. Listen to this: After nine years as a senior writer, I was forced to trade in my private office for a seat at a long, shared table. Ack! Horrors! I would be like, why are you demoting me? Why such a slap in the face? She goes on to describe how this worked out: As the new space intended, I’ve formed interesting, unexpected bonds with my cohorts. But my personal performance at work has hit an all-time low. Each day, my associates and I are seated at a table staring at each other, having an ongoing 12-person conversation from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ... As a result, I can only work effectively during times when no one else is around, or if I isolate myself in one of the small, constantly sought-after, glass-windowed meeting rooms around the perimeter. Oh god, what a nightmare: not being able to get anything done most of the time because of being stuck at work where it's impossible to get any real work done. Ack, gag, retch. It gets worse: she has to plea: let’s eliminate the music that blankets our workspaces. Metallica at 3 p.m. isn’t always compatible with meeting a 4 p.m. deadline. Oh, my god, kill me now. Not only requirement that one get thinky work done while crowded in with a bunch of other people, but also with music playing, music she has no control over and would never have chosen. The column writer makes some tepid suggestions about how to improve the situation: If employers want to make the open-office model work, they have to take measures to improve work efficiency. For one, they should create more private areas — ones without fishbowl windows. Also, they should implement rules on when interaction should be limited. For instance, when a colleague has on headphones, it’s a sign that you should come back another time or just send an e-mail. No! No no no!!! How about an office space in which one can actually be productive as one's own default office space??? Also, screw the requirement that one should have to wear headphones to opt out of chit-chat. If I had an eight hour per day job, I would expect to show up and be shown to a place and situation conducive to getting work done and be allowed to stay there for eight hours per day. Being some place where I can actually work should not be an exception from my default work setting.
She also suggests allowing working from home more, to combat the problems of the open office plan. But that has its own problems. I get stir-crazy working from home all day, and also sometimes you do have to interact with people and look at stuff.
Oh god, so is this what would await me if I were to go out and seek another job elsewhere? Currently I work in a shared office, with 1 to 3 other people working in the same room at any one time. We all face away from each other, so chit-chat is sporadic and occasional but spontaneous meetings are frequent. I can veto the music if need be. Often I will find some private place to retreat to to do some serious coding or reading, or do those at home. Fortunately my job does not call for 8 hours per day of serious coding; it requires the occasional bout, which I can fit around having to interact with other people.
If I were successful in my career I would have a private office. Moving up in the ranks, to me, means the right to a private office. Someday I would like to get my shit together enough to advance in a career enough to be entitled to a private office. Once upon a time I had a nice little office all to myself, and it was bliss. And productivity. Productive bliss. So, depressing that this person thought she was doing well in her career, and then was treated like this.
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Date: 2015-01-08 09:14 pm (UTC)Before the University found new space for our lab that actually works for us, there had been plans to move us to the new building on Boston Ave. Fully open office plan. No ability to open windows (that were up high, so couldn't even LOOK out the windows), or adjust the temperature. Neon lights, and no physical light switches that would give us the ability to turn them on or off ourselves.
I actually told my boss that I would probably start looking for another job if we were forced into that space.
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Date: 2015-01-09 05:13 pm (UTC)That right there is the problem. The management who think open offices are so fucking clever always exempt themselves from it and thus never truly experience how much it sucks.