Open plan offices - love 'em or hate em ?

[wobbegong]

Just started at a new place. Very open plan. No privacy at all. May as well put the screen on a beamer. 14 people in the immediate area plus open busy office pathway directly behind me with clear sight / noise invasion. No walls in the interior.


Not happy.

As the environment/noise/light/etc can seriously hamper productivity, then surely, part of any interview/selection process is to ask to see the working environment ahead of acceptance?

[LegendsWear7]

As the environment/noise/light/etc can seriously hamper productivity, then surely, part of any interview/selection process is to ask to see the working environment ahead of acceptance?

Interviews were in a different location and I was told I would be working there.

Something I omitted: The unannounced part of the work is to replace a major legacy tech with something newer. The new colleagues in said office largely make their whole career / income from the legacy and would actively resist change. That is another reason why I need my emails / phone calls to be conducted with some privacy, aside from the fact that I don't like to broadcast my activity through the day.

[NickFitz]

The other year I was working in an open-plan office in a building that was really two or three buildings that had been nailed to each other over the years. The MD decided our office, which was the only one that managed to straddle all the buildings without lots of odd corners, was the perfect place to gather a load of people from the other four floors to listen to her talking about the monthly RAJAR figures.

About half an hour before she was due to start a bunch of sound engineers turned up with a PA and commenced soundchecking; then the riff-raff from the various stations on the other floors started drifting in and cluttering the place up.

I timed things perfectly: I got up, put my coat on, headed to the door just in time to bump into her coming in, smiled, said "Oh, sorry" and made a sweeping gesture indicating that she had my permission to come through first; and then I headed off to Fuzzy's Grub off Pall Mall.

Returning about twenty minutes later with my nice roast dinner, I found she was still in full flow. My desk was directly in front of her. I asked (sort of) the permy from Classic FM who'd nicked my seat to move, sat down with my back to her, opened up my dinner, and proceeded to eat it whilst catching up on TPD

[Pogle]

I'm currently in a huge open plan office and to be honest, I cant remember ever NOT being in one
Its populated with loads of Europeans - mainly German, so any loud conversations tend to be in a language I don't understand, so that's fine by me, (I'm usually listening to Rammstien on me poddi anyway)
As for aircon, it NEVER bloody works, but most folk round here seem to be quite good on the personal hygiene front.
I have enough space for my desktop, laptop and a couple of sheets of A3 spread out, and I can angle my laptop so prying eyes cannot see what I'm up to, so I'm quite happy

[alreadypacked]

One bite would do that these days.

Oh Zeity we will come and visit you today

[Pondlife]

At current site I share an office with a permie who's only here part time, most of which she's off sick for.

The view is ok when the weather is good. I can sit and watch the container ships getting loaded.

Bored though.

[Spacecadet]

What I find irritating about open plan offices is that they hinder the ability to work at your own pace.
I tend to do 20-30 bursts of work then about 10 minutes of web browsing/relaxing (The Pomodoro method).
Unfortunately, all some people see is the relaxing and not the fact that I'm actually working more efficiently, being more creative and doing a lot more in a lot less time.

[Spacecadet]

Bored though.

Office to yourself?
Bored?
Do they not have pot noodles in Germany?

[rsingh]

I'm currently in a huge open plan office and to be honest, I cant remember ever NOT being in one
Its populated with loads of Europeans - mainly German, so any loud conversations tend to be in a language I don't understand, so that's fine by me,

Are you at RWE? If so, be greatful, they don't send you to Essen.

[alreadypacked]

Are you at RWE? If so, be greatful, they don't send you to Essen.

I was in Dusseldorf, they wanted to send me to Essen. I decided to walk, didn't have another role.

Watched the planes crash into the Twin Towers at Dusseldorf airport waiting for the flight home, didn't work for 9 months. Will not walk without a role again unless I am planning a holiday.