My cube is currently being redesigned to that open space concept - luckily we get to work from home for 6 wks until the reno is done but it is going to be an interesting transformation. Told the guy in charge of our group to locate me as close to a load bearing solid wall and plan to make creative use of the boxes I have coming back from storage. My highly introverted group will likely be rocking fetal position in a corner somewhere
Absolutely hate cubicles. Even when I worked at home in my home office, I still closed the door. I wanted my “cocoon.”
It’s really annoying how the decision to go all-cubicle was invented by clueless extroverts who thought that everyone would find listening-to-everyone-else-all-day-long would be invigorating vs draining. (Not that all extroverts are clueless of course, but those who think that way certainly were!).
My former clients who had open offices all got around it by reserving conference rooms and pretending to have meetings or phone calls there just so they could THINK and get work done.
^ I an extrovert and I HATE cubicles!
I think it’s more of a generational thing than introvert/extrovert.
Art kid has her first corporate job. Has her own big office, name on the door, big bank of windows with a city view…and she’s lonely and complains its too quiet…go figure.
Are Google and Facebook open offices?
I have a smallish building. It’s not a cubicle Farm but there are some spaces that have shorter walls that you can see across the room. All windows around for natural light. It can fit up to 12 comfortably, I have 6 in there right now. The reason is that really some people do like the social interaction instead of being in their own space, it gave me space for more people and there are a lot of questions during the day. There are offices as well for people who are on the phone a lot or need private space. I have a lot of young workers, they do seem to like being able to chit chat about all kinds of things. My daughter works for me too and she says it’s kind of fun, but everyone works and is productive.
I have my own office but there is a big area of cubes outside my office. We got newer cubes that have clear windows at the top third or fourth. There is some kind of white noise being emitted from the ceiling at various spots to help reduce the noise level.
Recent cube-related discussions around here have included concerns about a lack of privacy for pumping moms and the belief that the cube residents are out of luck in active shooter situations… Our employer has held multiple meetings about active shooters in the workplace - the obvious advice is to run for the exits or hide in the offices with doors.
^When I hear about people worrying about active shooters, I wonder if they worry about driving home at night, since the chances of having a car crash are so much higher. Defensive driving classes make a lot more sense than meetings about hiding in offices. OK, I’ll get off the soap box now.
I despise cubicles and will take an open office any day.
Who thought they were a good idea? The head of the agency I worked for. Lawyers, accountants, financial managers all sitting in the world of the cube. Shouters, grumblers, phones ringing. It was awful. The guy who sat in front of me had a fit if anyone’s personal cell phone rang even though there were office phones, blackberries, and computers ringing, pinging and buzzing all the time. I was definitely a head phone wearer. I took all my calls in the conference/file rooms.
When I’m King, everyone is getting an office even if it is just a closet. Productivity drops way down for the cubes.
I have been in a cube for 15 years or so and have never had a window.
Disadvantage: it can be noisy sometimes. Advantage: one can learn a lot about what’s going on at the office from overhearing other folks’ conversations.
Disadvantage: I have to leave my desk to see the outside world. Advantage: when the weather is bad, I don’t freak out about driving home and when it’s good, I don’t become pensive because I’m cooped inside.
Disadvantage: if there is ever an active-shooter situation, I won’t have a door to hide behind. Advantage: none of the doors in the building lock, so I’ll be no less safe than anyone else.
Disadvantage: my cube is in a corridor in which there is only one other occupied cube, and that one is used by a coworker who telecommutes and is in the office only two days per month, so when the boss makes his rounds, saying hello to everyone, he rarely remembers to say hello to me. Advantage: same as the disadvantage. Ha ha.
My son works with a small team at Google - it’s more open office than cubicle where he is. My BIL law is a lawyer there - he had his own office when he was on the main campus I don’t know what he does now that he’s at the SF office.
I’m tenure-stream faculty, so I still get an office (and can defend it with an appeal to federal law, in that I need to be able to talk privately with students about grade details), but my wife works at a place that’s open-plan for most, and actual offices for people who have personnel responsibilities (like her).
For my part, I’m convinced that the main reason for going cubicle or open-plan is because it makes it easier to shift workspaces around if someone is hired or fired, and claims about productivity are simply a veneer for public consumption.
Man, makes working out of my home seem more and more like heaven! I shared an office for a few months with a friend while they built hers instead of having her work in the library. It was less productive since we both talk to ourselves while puzzling out an issue and ended up talking to each other. Fortunately, after she got her office, I had my office to myself again and it was better for both of us. H worked in a cubicle, but fortunately the folks around him were pretty serious and didn’t do much visiting or chit-chatting.
Re: boss’ office
Occasionally, a company may have most employees in offices, but put the managers in low wall cubes for accessibility.
What’s next? Removing the bathroom stall partitions at work?
As if “open office” wasn’t bad enough, 2 employers ago, I got subjected to “hot desking”.
The company brought in an efficiency consultant that noted that on any given day, 20% of the staff was out of the office-- away for business travel, training, sick, vacation leave, whatever. So it removed 20% of the desks and made us scurry for a free desk every morning, like some kind of twisted Musical Chairs game. At the end of the day, everything had to be removed from the desk.
Now, we weren’t talking about low skilled Call-Center staff, but 6-figure earning engineers working on billion-dollar construction projects. What a waste of people’s time…
OMG, that takes the cake!
^^ This would motivate me to get to work earlier!
It would motivate me to find a new workplace!
Yuck! Sounds like a good way to lose stuff and totally wreck morale. I’d be looking for another job too! Sure sounds wasteful of human capital!