I've worked in various size open offices, they can best be described like financial trading floors, some are busy and chaotic, some are not.
The main point with an open office, is people can shout across the room quickly and easily when they want something from someone else which may need an immediate response or response in the timescales said office works to when resolving problems. ie some offices need to resolve things by the end of day, others need to resolve problems within a few days. Its also a lazy way of communicating without a document trail like a messaging system can provide.
Very difficult to manage, accountability is virtually at zero, so if you have a team which doesn't work or has personality clashes, that's a team which will perform poorly, but still look super busy.
Seating arrangements are interesting as well, you can spot hierarchies.
It probably explains the saying, if you want something done properly, do it yourself!
Shouting across the room saves one person 15 seconds while simultaneously distracting every single other person in the office. Regardless of how pro-open office one is, that seems like a terrible trade off.
> day, others need to resolve problems within a few days. Its also a lazy way of communicating without a document trail like a messaging system can provide.
This is the biggest benefit of a slack-first (or whatever your messaging software of choice is) approach. It’s very common that I search chat history from weeks or months ago because someone already answered something that I need to refer back to.
The main point with an open office, is people can shout across the room quickly and easily when they want something from someone else which may need an immediate response or response in the timescales said office works to when resolving problems. ie some offices need to resolve things by the end of day, others need to resolve problems within a few days. Its also a lazy way of communicating without a document trail like a messaging system can provide.
Very difficult to manage, accountability is virtually at zero, so if you have a team which doesn't work or has personality clashes, that's a team which will perform poorly, but still look super busy.
Seating arrangements are interesting as well, you can spot hierarchies.
It probably explains the saying, if you want something done properly, do it yourself!