At the first startup I worked at, the entire team of about 10 people sat in a ~700sqft "war room." Computers and desks lined two of the walls, whiteboards lined the other two walls. Open space in the middle. Everyone was in a technical role.
I was very junior at the time, but I learned a lot. I had the opportunity to listen to how the senior engineers discussed problems and the considerations they thought important. The writing and diagrams on the whiteboard were the reference for component interactions and process flow. The room was mostly quiet, except for technical discussion. It was easy to run end-to-end tests by simply talking to the person who owned the component at the other end of the stack. I learned a lot in that role.
We were a small team focused on the same product. Every issue any one person ran into was within the scope of concern of every other person in that room. I think it was an effective setup.
Direct employees of the company get more space than that, but not us dirty, rotten, stinking contractors.
The one time I really, really enjoyed an open office was when my desk was in a corner. I sat with my back to the corner, facing out toward the open room. So I felt like I got to enjoy a bit of privacy, while still enjoying the benefits of the openness. Things never really got so noisy that I couldn't concentrate, which was nice. I wore headphones sometimes, but it was because I wanted to, do because I felt like doing so was necessary for concentration.
In contrast, I don't think I'd do as well in an office with nothing but long rows of developers packed in like sardines. It feels a bit too much like this:
https://maas.museum/app/uploads/sites/7/2018/08/xCaption-9_e...
Does anyone else feel this way? As though there are both good ways and bad ways to do open plan offices?