The only thing worse than open-office for me is a setting where my back is to a space that people are walking through. I can't even have my back to an open doorway in an office (assuming the hallway outside is somewhat busy), or I spend much of my time in a low-grade fight-or-flight situation.
If you put me in an open office where people are regularly walking by behind me, you are probably getting (at best) 60% of my productivity in an office with a door. Actually, in this job market, you are getting 0% of my productivity because I will work elsewhere.
most places if you close the door your office is cut off from the nearest thermostat, so you get too hot or too cold.
...assuming your office was even a reasonable temperature to start with. and that the HVAC is working that day. and that your office mate isn't some 70 year old who is cold all the time but can't just put on a sweater.
There are so many reasons... I think you either get it, or you don't.
Yes, I prefer it. I can very easily drown out everyone and everything in the room by simply listening to music when I need to, and I like the proximity to everyone else that the open office provides.
Me. I like having the background activity and don't find it distracting. I've only done it in small group / company settings though.
Personal pet peeve: questions that I answer by literally pulling up the commit message for the last commit that changed the line in question.
I guess there are different kind of personalities, some people prefer working from an office others prefer working from an Starbucks. I have a coworker who prefers the library.
My ultimate "office perk" is no meetings over skype/hangout/zoom/gotomeeting.
This alone is a major productivity booster
There is a fucking difference between commentary and music and radio btw.
Try not to project your own limitations on to other people!
I have a whole range of preferred noise depending on the task, from dead silence for hard, tricky problems up to what I just described for easy but important detail work. I even know exactly what kind of music I want to listen to for different tasks, and whether or not I want vocals in it.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to what works for people.
- I'm in an open office situation.
- Standing desk is awkward when everyone else is sitting.
- If I make a loud noise eating or sneezing or something like 5 people stare at me trying to figure out what is going on.
- I can't have twitch or a baseball game on in the background because nosey co-workers will walk by, see my screen, and comment or internalize that I'm a slacker because I like a running commentary instead of music when I work.
- Constantly being pulled aside for conversations that can be answered in a sentence or two via slack or email. (not having me in person forces people to think about and write down exactly what they want to say or ask before they actually say it)
- My home setup is significantly nicer than my office set up.
- Open office means I hear all about everyone's past or upcoming weekends, vacations, etc.
- I enjoy stretching or doing small exercises throughout the day, which is super weird to do while in the office (plus no yoga mat).
- People low key hate me because I am the only person with a mechanical keyboard and make lots of noise when I start typing a lot. (I've learned to ignore the not so subtle stare downs)
So probably my biggest thing is the open office problem. As a programmer, being in the middle of a group of chatty 20-30 somethings all day is not great for productivity.