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I've spent many projects in an "open" environment, never had bad side-effects. You can divide and conquer projects where people focus on only one task... that's

I've spent many projects in an "open" environment, never had bad side-effects. You can divide and conquer projects where people focus on only one task... that's efficient group multitasking. The only inefficiency comes through the time taken to synchronize with people.

michaelochurch 14y ago
You are multitasking in an open-plan office because you have two jobs that are often at odds. One is being productive. The other is appearing productive as part of what actually matters at work: managing your own social status within the group. Even if you're not aware of it, your brain is dedicating resources to the latter of these jobs. Over 9 hours, that wears you down. You may not notice it. You may attribute your end-of-day fatigue and digestive problems to aging even though you're not actually old.
silverbax88 14y ago
I don't work in your office, but I have worked in several. More than I care to remember, actually. There is no greater weapon for a knowledge worker than one solid hour of focused, uninterrupted work. Most great knowledge workers are introverts. I don't mean 'introverts' in the pop culture way, I mean the scientific description - people who think deeply and internally about things and work best with focused solitude.Most people think introverts are shy, repressed loners but that's not accurate. There are athletes who do tons of interviews, very well, who are introverts. There's a place for extroverts, but it is not in this kind of specific work. And extroverts work differently - an open office is great for them and they can't understand why anyone wouldn't want to work that way. Whenever I see companies (usually start ups) who have their coders all working in a bullpen, I secretly think ('not hardcore coders'). Just my bias, but over a career that has now spanned nearly 20 years, I've come to trust it.

michaelochurch 14y ago

You are multitasking in an open-plan office because you have two jobs that are often at odds. One is being productive. The other is appearing productive as part of what actually matters at work: managing your own social status within the group. Even if you're not aware of it, your brain is dedicating resources to the latter of these jobs. Over 9 hours, that wears you down. You may not notice it. You may attribute your end-of-day fatigue and digestive problems to aging even though you're not actually old.

silverbax88 14y ago

I don't work in your office, but I have worked in several. More than I care to remember, actually. There is no greater weapon for a knowledge worker than one solid hour of focused, uninterrupted work. Most great knowledge workers are introverts. I don't mean 'introverts' in the pop culture way, I mean the scientific description - people who think deeply and internally about things and work best with focused solitude.Most people think introverts are shy, repressed loners but that's not accurate. There are athletes who do tons of interviews, very well, who are introverts. There's a place for extroverts, but it is not in this kind of specific work. And extroverts work differently - an open office is great for them and they can't understand why anyone wouldn't want to work that way. Whenever I see companies (usually start ups) who have their coders all working in a bullpen, I secretly think ('not hardcore coders'). Just my bias, but over a career that has now spanned nearly 20 years, I've come to trust it.