I've met quite a few. In an open office it's easier to ignore or gracefully leave the conversation. With individual offices you'll get pulled into tangential/"fun" discussions after a meeting when the team is on the way back to their offices. I could keep going, but you get the picture... After working with enough diverse programmers, you will see some varieties.

> In an open office it's easier to ignore or gracefully leave the conversation.

Not when people are having a conversation with the people sat next to / opposite you and you're trying to finish a complicated feature. An office or cubicle would help (but probably not stop these assholes) because it sends the signal that this is a workspace, not a communal chat space.

It's helpful if you don't refer to the loud folk as assholes for the crime of being themselves. I've never had a coworker tell me "no" when I've asked them if they could take their conversation to a meeting room because I need to concentrate to finish X feature. If the office is especially noisy, I'll camp out in empty meeting rooms.

We have plenty of communal areas away from desks (e.g. the kitchen area is the size of this section of office) for people to have conversations - they know this already. But open plan softens (if not erases) the distinction between "communal area" and "work area".

Also we don't have enough meeting rooms to accommodate even scheduled meetings which means "camping out in empty meeting rooms" is a non-starter of a suggestion, sadly.

I've had 2 reporting to me. I am not naturally one myself. Its a trait that has to be monitored and kept in check to certain degree but is I think a very good trait when properly focused on work (while at work).

I've had VPs ask me about how productive those programmers were with side remarks about seeing them frequently talking with front desk and hr (presumably socially). One was really productive so not really an issue for me but not good having to explain that.

> I've had VPs ask me about how productive those programmers were with side remarks about seeing them frequently talking with front desk and hr (presumably socially).

Developers like that are hugely valuable in a start-up, they talk to everyone, get to know what their jobs are, and are the people you go to when you need to know what the problems internal users are facing really are.