Open plan offices are basically terrible in every way (2015)

I have such mixed feelings about the open office plan.

On one level I agree with every complaint that comes with this article and all the pro's of having a quiet closed off space.

On the other hand, there have been many occasions where someone overheard a conversation and injected something useful, or where I was able to do the same. There are some times, where being able to work AND talk with folks is a HUGE win for your collective productivity. I grant that this may come at the expense of others productivity, and that is the downside.

Some of the most productive projects I have worked on, have been when small teams (3-6 people) have taken over conference rooms as work spaces. We had the benefit of being "open" with each other, without the ambient noise of everyone else. The disinclination to speak out loud for fear of disturbing a whole office (its just my team members) went away. Headphones became effective with quite music (or a good set of over ear headphones blocked out people without music). I can think of one experience with a team where I didn't enjoy the company of 1/2 the team members, yet still managed to be highly productive in this setting with them.

My last several employers lacked enough conference rooms for meetings, never mind having spare ones to take over. It isn't just open offices, it is a lack of enough "Private spaces" that compounds the issues associated with the open office and makes them far worse.