"I'd think open layout designs do not qualify for this question as it's pretty well established that they are bad for productivity."
Are office cubicle layouts largely an American practice? In the UK, I have never seen a cubicle layout in either large or medium offices. Open plan seems to be the default. I've never worked in anything other than open plan offices, so I don't know how I'd adapt to a cubicle, but I wonder just how widespread (or not) the cubicle layout really is outside of North America.
And people get ill more often in open workspaces (versus cubicles).
I'm still going to opt for (at least semi-)open workspaces though. Despite the downsides, they encourage communication a lot and it also feels more relaxed. I think most of us know how often a lack of communication is the cause of trouble.
I think what feels more relaxed depends on the person in question. Many introverts like myself feel a lot more comfortable in an enclosed workspace, and thus, productivity is also increased.
Exactly. People who can work at coffee shops find it natural and relaxing to work in an open office but I never work at coffee shops because its noisy,distracting and i don't drink coffee :)
There is a big difference between 'open workspaces', emphasising the plural, and 'open office plan'.
Putting teams (either functional or cross-functional project-based) of 3-6 people each in an open workspace is great for communication. On the other hand, putting a whole office floor as a single open workspace will simply kill productivity and discourage communication because either people will be isolated in headphones so they don't hear their neighbor, or people will avoid discussions there ('let's get a meeting room') so as not to disturb others.
Man, I must be showing my age, because I remember a time when everyone hated cubicles - they were tiny, cramped, and almost always drab. In fact, I always thought the modern open-plan workspace was a response towards the backlash against cubicles.
While the research information is relatively thin (as most work related research seems to be), it goes in line with my experience (and probably the commenter you've replied to).
If your productivity is measured by getting code out that works and is maintainable, or any other activity that requires focus for extended periods of time, then getting interrupted in an open layout office is going to bring it down. Having a quiet office that's insulated from drive-by management and other distractions can really help in that regards. If I remember correctly, Peopleware [1] devotes a longer explanation as to why.
If your work isn't that and requires more collaboration than concentration, open layout offices probably work better for those kinds of work.
I'm not saying one way or the other if it helps or hinders productivity. But productivity is such a nebulous idea. If you're getting at what I think you are, it's probably better to express it as an increased probability of becoming distracted. Dev team in our office each has headphones for that express reason :-)
I've never been able to work to music so I end up having to blast white noise over headphones to work in open office spaces. There is nothing like listening to white noise for 8 hours to make you hate open office spaces.
Headphones reduce (not eliminate) distractions from noise, they don't do anything for visual distractions. And they don't stop people from approaching and interrupting you (this of course still occurs in non-open layouts, but less frequently).
Of course, if you had an office with a door you could close when you needed uninterrupted focus time, that would pretty quickly stop the interruptions. This is the premise behind why C*O's supposedly need their own offices (to concentrate on all the important decisions), and there are some who advocate this approach for all programmers (look up Spolsky's offices for programmers).
Comments
I'd think open layout designs do not qualify for this question as it's pretty well established that they are bad for productivity.
"I'd think open layout designs do not qualify for this question as it's pretty well established that they are bad for productivity."
Are office cubicle layouts largely an American practice? In the UK, I have never seen a cubicle layout in either large or medium offices. Open plan seems to be the default. I've never worked in anything other than open plan offices, so I don't know how I'd adapt to a cubicle, but I wonder just how widespread (or not) the cubicle layout really is outside of North America.
And people get ill more often in open workspaces (versus cubicles).
I'm still going to opt for (at least semi-)open workspaces though. Despite the downsides, they encourage communication a lot and it also feels more relaxed. I think most of us know how often a lack of communication is the cause of trouble.
I think what feels more relaxed depends on the person in question. Many introverts like myself feel a lot more comfortable in an enclosed workspace, and thus, productivity is also increased.
Exactly. People who can work at coffee shops find it natural and relaxing to work in an open office but I never work at coffee shops because its noisy,distracting and i don't drink coffee :)
There is a big difference between 'open workspaces', emphasising the plural, and 'open office plan'.
Putting teams (either functional or cross-functional project-based) of 3-6 people each in an open workspace is great for communication. On the other hand, putting a whole office floor as a single open workspace will simply kill productivity and discourage communication because either people will be isolated in headphones so they don't hear their neighbor, or people will avoid discussions there ('let's get a meeting room') so as not to disturb others.
Man, I must be showing my age, because I remember a time when everyone hated cubicles - they were tiny, cramped, and almost always drab. In fact, I always thought the modern open-plan workspace was a response towards the backlash against cubicles.
I dislike both. Give me a private office with a door that closes any day.
I do not believe that is well established.
Define "productivity", then define specifically what it is about open layout offices that harms it?
Momentarily let's just define it as getting things done without disruption.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1998....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2401283/Open-plan-of...
http://www.informedesign.org/Rs_detail.aspx?rsId=1888
While the research information is relatively thin (as most work related research seems to be), it goes in line with my experience (and probably the commenter you've replied to).
If your productivity is measured by getting code out that works and is maintainable, or any other activity that requires focus for extended periods of time, then getting interrupted in an open layout office is going to bring it down. Having a quiet office that's insulated from drive-by management and other distractions can really help in that regards. If I remember correctly, Peopleware [1] devotes a longer explanation as to why.
If your work isn't that and requires more collaboration than concentration, open layout offices probably work better for those kinds of work.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peopleware:_Productive_Projects...
I'm not saying one way or the other if it helps or hinders productivity. But productivity is such a nebulous idea. If you're getting at what I think you are, it's probably better to express it as an increased probability of becoming distracted. Dev team in our office each has headphones for that express reason :-)
I've never been able to work to music so I end up having to blast white noise over headphones to work in open office spaces. There is nothing like listening to white noise for 8 hours to make you hate open office spaces.
That sounds truly awful. Perhaps pink or brown noise would be slightly less awful.
Headphones reduce (not eliminate) distractions from noise, they don't do anything for visual distractions. And they don't stop people from approaching and interrupting you (this of course still occurs in non-open layouts, but less frequently).
Of course, if you had an office with a door you could close when you needed uninterrupted focus time, that would pretty quickly stop the interruptions. This is the premise behind why C*O's supposedly need their own offices (to concentrate on all the important decisions), and there are some who advocate this approach for all programmers (look up Spolsky's offices for programmers).