Comment cubicle not so bad (Score 1) 368
No really, I've been trying to talk my employer (company of about 30 people) into getting some cubicle dividers, or just some sort of separation between desks, for some time now.
What we have now is I guess what is meant by an "open office" plan... by which is meant, desks right up against each other in clumps, with very little in the way of dividers or walls, except for maybe a couple bookshelves. We're pretty packed in right now, and I suppose it's par for the course for a growing company -- you're going to be strapped for space now and then. The company has seems to have to move to or expand into a larger space about three times a year, and have plans underway to do so again early next year.
I would kill to have a little more separation, and I've had a couple of my co-workers also say that they would prefer cubicles over the current arrangement, so long as they were spacious enough to get two people into, so that pairs of people on a project can work collaboratively when needed, and there wouldn't be too much barrier to communication. The new office floor plan looks like they're organizing it according to large projects, although realistically any one of us is usually involved in multiple projects.
The people I work with are generally very considerate about trying not to interrupt each other much, but occasionally there will be just a lot of hubbub and loud conversation going on, like if a client visits the office or if the sales department is all hyped up over something.
Anyway, what's got me clamoring for something more cubicley is that my next-desk neighbor has some kind of medical condition I guess, that causes his breathing to be very loud and labored and peppered with gross snorting noises. It puts me on edge something fierce. No one else seems to notice, but then no one else is sitting four feet away from him eight hours a day. I can break out the headphones and put on music, but depending on the kind of activity I'm doing, music can be a distraction too. And besides, wearing headphones for several hours at a time makes my ears sore. To make matters worse, the guy has... how can I put this... a rather strong odor. Point is, it would be much easier to work with him if I wasn't *forced* to be right up against him all the time.
I don't imagine that my situation is anything all that out of the norm, though; so I don't think enough discussion is being given to this aspect of things. I don't think that separate offices are realistic, cost-wise, for most companies I would want to fork for. And in any case, when I picture such a situation, it feels like *too* much isolation -- I envision communication being very reduced, which seems counterproductive to working on a project team.
Plus dividers make for convenient places to hang up cheat-sheets, charts, a personal whiteboard, etc. I could really use that.
I think the cubicle gets a bad rap, frankly. But there are also probably better and worse ways to do the cubicle thing. People you need to work closely with should be easily accessible, so I like the idea about arranging them around a central space. Likewise, people need to be considerate about interrupting one another for any office arrangement to work.
What we have now is I guess what is meant by an "open office" plan... by which is meant, desks right up against each other in clumps, with very little in the way of dividers or walls, except for maybe a couple bookshelves. We're pretty packed in right now, and I suppose it's par for the course for a growing company -- you're going to be strapped for space now and then. The company has seems to have to move to or expand into a larger space about three times a year, and have plans underway to do so again early next year.
I would kill to have a little more separation, and I've had a couple of my co-workers also say that they would prefer cubicles over the current arrangement, so long as they were spacious enough to get two people into, so that pairs of people on a project can work collaboratively when needed, and there wouldn't be too much barrier to communication. The new office floor plan looks like they're organizing it according to large projects, although realistically any one of us is usually involved in multiple projects.
The people I work with are generally very considerate about trying not to interrupt each other much, but occasionally there will be just a lot of hubbub and loud conversation going on, like if a client visits the office or if the sales department is all hyped up over something.
Anyway, what's got me clamoring for something more cubicley is that my next-desk neighbor has some kind of medical condition I guess, that causes his breathing to be very loud and labored and peppered with gross snorting noises. It puts me on edge something fierce. No one else seems to notice, but then no one else is sitting four feet away from him eight hours a day. I can break out the headphones and put on music, but depending on the kind of activity I'm doing, music can be a distraction too. And besides, wearing headphones for several hours at a time makes my ears sore. To make matters worse, the guy has... how can I put this... a rather strong odor. Point is, it would be much easier to work with him if I wasn't *forced* to be right up against him all the time.
I don't imagine that my situation is anything all that out of the norm, though; so I don't think enough discussion is being given to this aspect of things. I don't think that separate offices are realistic, cost-wise, for most companies I would want to fork for. And in any case, when I picture such a situation, it feels like *too* much isolation -- I envision communication being very reduced, which seems counterproductive to working on a project team.
Plus dividers make for convenient places to hang up cheat-sheets, charts, a personal whiteboard, etc. I could really use that.
I think the cubicle gets a bad rap, frankly. But there are also probably better and worse ways to do the cubicle thing. People you need to work closely with should be easily accessible, so I like the idea about arranging them around a central space. Likewise, people need to be considerate about interrupting one another for any office arrangement to work.
