The BIG problem is that these are never full time spaces - they are places you have to reserve and move to temporarily to get any work done. Thing is, if I have to pick up and move to get anything done, I might as well work at home.
I literally lose 50% productivity in open plan. I lose 10% just sharing an office with a trainee.
A place that maybe I can reserve once a week? Doesn't fly. I get stressed and sick in open plan. Last one I was in gave me pneumonia, and my sleep was only ~5 hours a night. In an office I get 6.5 hours.
I get really, really bitchy in open plan, especially if I have a) people sitting behind me looking at my monitor, b) walking behind me, c) sitting next to me close enough that I can smell them or touch them, d) talking on the phone near me loud enough I can make out what they're saying, e) close enough that I can see them eat or smell their food (two words: microwave popcorn.)
Last one I was in, 55 dB was the constant "quiet" noise level. Will all seats filled, it regularly spiked up to 95 dB. Yes, I bought a sound meter.
Places that have these introvert havens only have a few (nevermind that introverts are half or more of all knowledge workers) that have to be reserved and that you are bullied if you spend "too much" time in them actually working instead of "interacting" with your cow okers.
Sorry for the rant but throwing the introverts a chicken bone by putting in two or three "quiet" spaces in an office with a couple hundred people just fucking doesn't cut it. You know damn well the big wigs will camp out there, and everyone else just suffers.
I agree that it doesn't work when there is not enough private space to go around or access to it disrupts workflow. :/
Since the descriptions are available, however, some offices choose to put up more than a few of these. I suspect that it's much more common if the boss is an introvert.
Cubicles aren't a great space for most people, but some folks do better than others. There's no reason people can't make a similar layout with solid glass cubicles, which can have smart glass or blinds for privacy -- and the extroverts can just leave their doors open. Plenty of interaction and line-of-sight for those who want it, without bothering those who don't. Adaptable spaces really support a diverse workforce.
Another alternative is a mixed floor with a selection of closed offices, semi-open offices, cubicles, and breakout rooms to suit many different working styles. This model is currently popular among the more innovative tech companies. The introverts can hole up, the extroverts can cluster to brainstorm, everyone wins. You also have the option of putting reference people or other folks people constantly need to talk with out in those open cubicles for easier access.
Trying to put everyone in the same kind of space doesn't work well, because there are not only different kinds of people but different kinds of work.
In general I've found that tech companies don't accommodate introverts well. I'm speaking from experience and talking with my fellow tech geeks.
They'll pay it lip service with a quiet room or two that do double duty as nap rooms and mom's rooms, and than wonder why their people are sick all the time - "But we have quiet rooms for the introverts to go to..." - if the people who need them on a daily, constant basis can't have them, they are only for show. If I have to pick up and move half or more of my workspace every day to get peace and quiet, I'm not being accommodated, I'm being patronized and abused, made to feel like I'm some sort of freak for simply needing peace and quiet to work in.
The Steelcase quiet workstations are nice to look at, but no company that I've ever worked for has assigned an individual contributor to work in one.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmith
(no subject)
Date: 2017-04-30 05:36 am (UTC)... and it made me realize that I can design my own work spaces now. Hmm.
Yay!
Date: 2017-04-30 05:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-05-01 03:51 am (UTC)I literally lose 50% productivity in open plan. I lose 10% just sharing an office with a trainee.
A place that maybe I can reserve once a week? Doesn't fly. I get stressed and sick in open plan. Last one I was in gave me pneumonia, and my sleep was only ~5 hours a night. In an office I get 6.5 hours.
I get really, really bitchy in open plan, especially if I have a) people sitting behind me looking at my monitor, b) walking behind me, c) sitting next to me close enough that I can smell them or touch them, d) talking on the phone near me loud enough I can make out what they're saying, e) close enough that I can see them eat or smell their food (two words: microwave popcorn.)
Last one I was in, 55 dB was the constant "quiet" noise level. Will all seats filled, it regularly spiked up to 95 dB. Yes, I bought a sound meter.
Places that have these introvert havens only have a few (nevermind that introverts are half or more of all knowledge workers) that have to be reserved and that you are bullied if you spend "too much" time in them actually working instead of "interacting" with your cow okers.
Sorry for the rant but throwing the introverts a chicken bone by putting in two or three "quiet" spaces in an office with a couple hundred people just fucking doesn't cut it. You know damn well the big wigs will camp out there, and everyone else just suffers.
Well...
Date: 2017-05-01 04:24 am (UTC)Since the descriptions are available, however, some offices choose to put up more than a few of these. I suspect that it's much more common if the boss is an introvert.
Cubicles aren't a great space for most people, but some folks do better than others. There's no reason people can't make a similar layout with solid glass cubicles, which can have smart glass or blinds for privacy -- and the extroverts can just leave their doors open. Plenty of interaction and line-of-sight for those who want it, without bothering those who don't. Adaptable spaces really support a diverse workforce.
Another alternative is a mixed floor with a selection of closed offices, semi-open offices, cubicles, and breakout rooms to suit many different working styles. This model is currently popular among the more innovative tech companies. The introverts can hole up, the extroverts can cluster to brainstorm, everyone wins. You also have the option of putting reference people or other folks people constantly need to talk with out in those open cubicles for easier access.
Trying to put everyone in the same kind of space doesn't work well, because there are not only different kinds of people but different kinds of work.
Re: Well...
Date: 2017-05-01 09:58 am (UTC)They'll pay it lip service with a quiet room or two that do double duty as nap rooms and mom's rooms, and than wonder why their people are sick all the time - "But we have quiet rooms for the introverts to go to..." - if the people who need them on a daily, constant basis can't have them, they are only for show. If I have to pick up and move half or more of my workspace every day to get peace and quiet, I'm not being accommodated, I'm being patronized and abused, made to feel like I'm some sort of freak for simply needing peace and quiet to work in.
The Steelcase quiet workstations are nice to look at, but no company that I've ever worked for has assigned an individual contributor to work in one.