That's not necessarily a bad thing, since spontaneous conversation encourages creativity. The real problem is signaling what state you're in. Everyone looks the same on a computer, so it's hard to tell who's in the zone and who's available.
What if we took a huge glass conference room and dedicated it as a 'quiet do not disturb room'? No talking at all, and the only movement is entering/exiting. When people see you in there, it's a giant visible signal that you're probably not responding to Slack/email/etc because you're doing something and don't want to be disturbed.
What does this have to do with rents? Cubicles can easily replace an open area and they count as tax deductions. Also this is like saying that it makes sense to give your developers cheaper, but lower performance PCs. While the lower upfront costs are obvious, your company will pay dearly in lost man hours... which makes no sense since silicon (or almost any other material) is still less expensive than carbon when it comes to the cost of time.
> That's not necessarily a bad thing, since spontaneous conversation encourages creativity. The real problem is signaling what state you're in.
Even when you signal your state e.g. headphones People in open offices still ignore it. Think about it. Would you not look at, smile, or wave to someone you know, who you just happen to be walking by? Is the supposed increase in creativity worth the major decrease in productivity when you have lunch and happy hour as options? I could be wrong but Github was born in an happy hour
> What if we took a huge glass conference room and dedicated it as a 'quiet do not disturb room'?
Yup. This kind of fixes it. Based on my experience with the 'fish bowl', a mini partition like what you see in libraries and schools would further help reduce distractions inside a conference room while still lowering the bar for obstacles to interaction.
Sorry, but this just isn't true. Open office layouts are a bad thing. There are studies showing that they make people sick, unhappy, and less productive. People sometimes feel more creative and engaged, but on average they're not.
See http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119992592.ch6... and http://www.newyorker.com/currency-tag/the-open-office-trap for more background.
Little things that they usually wouldn't pester you for, it pops into their head and turns into a five minute conversation that completely obliterates any thread of concentration from before the interruption.
Also, I fully agree re: desk passing, it's so difficult to ignore this... particularly because if you _do_ manage to get in the zone and not notice the office traffic, there's inevitably somebody who comes to stand just a little behind you and to the side, hovering there waiting for your attention. It's startling when you notice them.
i am picturing an open office full of people wearing VR headsets and i am kind of freaking out a little, because that's either the best, or worst thing ever.
You can turn off IM and email for extended periods to disable popups, and you can wear headphones to shield you from noise, but it's hard to shield your peripheral vision from constantly moving people (who may also smile or wave - expecting a response in turn) without a structure like a private office or cubicle