U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces

Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by chrisBob on Monday March 25, 2019 @11:45AM (#19483541)

After a coworker screamed twice from this I made them a pretty RGB-LED display that flashes a rainbow when you press the button at the entrance to their cube. I am surprised I haven't seen any good products in this space. I feel like you could make good money selling programmers something that is essentially a button, battery LED and 6' of wire.

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by ska on Monday March 25, 2019 @12:01PM (#19483698)

I’ve seen a product (forget the name) that does the opposite signalling. USB powered RGB light dongle on your desk/cube. Red means “don’t interrupt me unless the building is on fire”, orange was “don’t interrupt me” , green was “feel free to bug me with that question”

I’m sure they could be repurposed the way you suggest. But don’t most people in open spaces use slack or equivalent for that?

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by cxseven on Monday March 25, 2019 @04:22PM (#19486419)

JWZ draped camouflage netting around his desk to make an ad-hoc "Tent of Doom": https://www.jwz.org/tent-of-doom/ . Maybe an actual tent would be even better.

Surrounding yourself by whiteboards might also allow you to approximate walls.

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by kurtisc on Monday March 25, 2019 @01:05PM (#19484311)

My mum has something that does this. She calls it a 'doorbell'. Doesn't even need the wire.

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by wccrawford on Monday March 25, 2019 @02:26PM (#19485235)

I just bought a new wireless doorbell. You can configure the sound and lights separately, so it would definitely work in this instance.

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by effingwewt on Monday March 25, 2019 @02:32PM (#19485311)

I had just replied to the comment above yours that doorbells do indeed have wires. Forgot completely about the new wireless ones. That makes much more sense.

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by donarb on Monday March 25, 2019 @12:26PM (#19483939)

They used to hand out as convention swag a little rear view mirror you attached to the corner of your monitor so you could see what's behind you.

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by notacoward on Monday March 25, 2019 @05:37PM (#19486968)

I have one of those in my home office. For me it works. For others it would just add to the visual distraction. Something that is visible only when someone else is requesting attention still seems preferable.

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by EForEndeavour on Monday March 25, 2019 @02:25PM (#19485213)

For people who prefer the opposite approach, they should also hand out horse-style blinkers that restrict the wearer's field of vision to the front.

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by dvtrn on Monday March 25, 2019 @12:53PM (#19484198)

have someone walk up behind you and tap on your desk

I've got two colleagues that are horrible about this. Fortunate enough to have an office with a door, and play music quietly at my desk so I'll hear it if someone knocks--since I face slightly away from the door.

Except they'll skip knocking and just walk in and around my desk to do the shoulder tap if the door's open.

I've been training them out of this behavior by saying "oh hey did you knock? I must have missed it, what's up?"

Time will tell how this goes, heh.

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by travisjungroth on Monday March 25, 2019 @02:14PM (#19485090)

Uh, do they just answer "no" and keep doing the same shit? I suggest you be a little more direct. "If the door's open, could you still knock so I know you're there? The shoulder tap is startling."

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by wccrawford on Monday March 25, 2019 @02:25PM (#19485221)

Yeah, some people just don't get subtlety. They have to be told directly.

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by dvtrn on Monday March 25, 2019 @03:12PM (#19485743)

I haven't written any unit tests for this yet :P

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by ConceptJunkie on Tuesday March 26, 2019 @10:58AM (#19492423)

I _always_ wear headphones and I don't recall anyone actually tapping me on the shoulder to get my attention, which is good, because that kind of thing can startle the crap out of me. Usually they have to resort to waving their hand in my field of view, but that works fine.

Although I do wear headphones pretty much constantly, I have always made a point to be responsive to people and not ignore them. If someone needs my attention, they will get it, and I made a point of doing everything I can to help people. Yes, I'd rather not be disturbed, but if they really need my help, then I will gladly stop and help. This is no different than if I were in a cubicle or my own office. I have no problems with that kind of distraction. It's the unintentional distractions that we need to eliminate.

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by tmm84 on Wednesday March 27, 2019 @12:20AM (#19498153)

A better way is to wave your hand in-front of them. It is a visual clue and as long as it in their view it allows them to finish without the monitor being blocked. I like it but that is my two cents.

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Re:U.S. workers hate ‘open’ office spaces by rabbitonrails on Monday March 25, 2019 @02:06PM (#19484979)

Why don't you turn around and request in a polite manner never to be tapped on the shoulder again?

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