Open offices can lead to closed minds

The idea that open offices will increase meaningful interaction has always seemed strange to me. Usually I find that it makes it impossible to find a place to actually have a conversation. New "conference rooms" start to appear: outside tables, wide parts of the hallway, stoarge closets. In one office, I had to book time in the reception area to have a weekly one on one with my boss.

> At the first company, the authors found that face-to-face interactions were more than three times higher in the old, cubicle-based office than in an open-plan space where employees have clear lines of sight to each other. In contrast, the number of e-mails people sent to each other increased by 56% when they switched to open-plan. In the second company, face-to-face interactions decreased by two-thirds after the switch to open-plan, whereas e-mail traffic increased by between 22% and 50%.

This has also been my experience.

I believe cost-cutting was the real-driver and everything else was bravo sierra. Pretty much everyone in an open office wears a headphone to shut-out distraction, and prefers emails/chats to face-to-face.

Investing in noise cancelling headphones dramatically increased my productivity and well being. Not just in the office but using them to dampen urban environmental noises during the commute.

The other side benefit was that it created a nice ritual for getting into the zone whenever I need to.

I'm sure managers love open offices because they can keep a pulse on office activities but anything that requires thinking really benefits from less noise and random intrusions.

As with most things, the right answer is a combination of things. Cal Newport describes a plan called the Eudaimonia Machine in the book Deep Work, which seems it would make a great office space. Offers a open plan for when you need to do rote work / bookkeeping, and a solo sound proof office when you need to concentrate. Think the Basecamp office is also built this way, with a central open plan hub with private offices as spokes.

As I type, some guys are having a contentious and noisy meeting to iron out a few kinks in their application right at the end of my row of desks. So now I'm killing time on HN until they go away and I can concentrate again.

While I'm leaning to open-office and willing to keep this article in mind for future office set up, some part of the article reminds me how you can use same event to derive a complete opposite conclusion.

"Open office is a clear message to employees that they are just cogs in the system". And here I am thinking that cubicle set up is such a message.

"Open office is like a flat". What? I feel cubicle is exactly like a flat.

I like the survey and factual parts of the article. It would go better without the latter opinionated assertion parts.

I am the most productive in my home office. There I can control the interruptions, but go into the office when I do need the face to face.

Open plan offices lower productivity. You are constantly interrupted by people who seem to think they’re question is my priority. Please email me as you don’t need an instant answer. This in particular to dumbass managers who don’t like being told to get lost.

I hate our open office setup. I usually commandeer our one office to get some peace and quiet so I can concentrate.

It’s definitely a deal breaker for my next job.

So many studies are finding open offices to be bad for various reasons, but I can't help but love them. I felt so much more creative and motivated with people working around me.

This is bull. I love open offices. They make conversations happen that would never would with privacy.