Open Plan offices never really worked did they.....

Gloomendoom

Many years ago I worked in a huge drawing office presided over by a senior draughtsman at the front. No noise problem. Three phones (strictly business use only) amongst 100 men... and one woman.

The real problem was the smoke. Almost everybody in there smoked and probably half smoked pipes. When the sun shone through the massive windows, you couldn't see across the room.

jaylee3

Another vote here for hating open plan offices. They started in the 1980s didn't they?

I am lucky now to be in an office with just 2 other women, and we are all out around half the day, so we don't tend to get on each other's nerves.

I have worked in an open plan office before though, and I also hate it.

Gloomendoom

jaylee3 wrote: »

Another vote here for hating open plan offices. They started in the 1980s didn't they? .

They have been around a lot longer than that.

fairy_lights

My office is technically open plan but seeing as only three of us work in it, it's not a bad thing!
In a previous job I worked in an open plan office with about 50 people, most of them were men and a fair proportion of them like to go to the gym on their lunch break. They didn't have time to shower before coming back to work, so most afternoons the entire room reeked of BO. You could try to open the windows the air the place out but then half the people in the room would get too cold...
And it was impossible to have a quiet conversation with your manager about needing time off for a doctors appointment etc without half the office listening in.


Huge open plan offices are not great environments for introverts to work in either, Susan Cain talks about how they are not particularly productive in the book "Quiet" (which I would recommend to anyone who finds large offices a bit daunting).

engineer_amy

Our office is open plan, over 2 floors. there is only 1 private office which I have just moved into. I deal with all the accounts and HR side of the business and it has become necessary to be able to discuss money or have a quiet conversation without the rest of the office overhearing.


as someone else has mentioned before, it is so good to be able to close the door and concentrate on what you are doing.
it is too easy to get sidetracked and distracted by other conversations going around you.


Although, I couldn't work on the ground floor of our office, too many politics, too many big personalities all fighting for prominence, whereas upstairs everyone gets along well, is considerate of others and will help each other out.

tea_lover

I quite liked the last open plan office I worked in. Was a good mix of enough people around but not distractingly-noisy. It helps that I liked the people though - it's a few years since I left there and I'm still friends with quite a few of them.

Fort he last couple of years I've been on my own (totally on my own for a lot of that time). Handy to really get your head down and get things done but v boring. I start a new job in a couple of weeks (scared!) and am v looking forward to having people around again. Will be lovely to have people to say hello to when I'm getting a drink

Starrystarrynight1

I work in an absolutely enormous, open plan office and I hate it with a passion.

The noise, at times, in unbearable and unworkable, but the thing I dislike the most is people 'borrowing' specialist items (chairs, footrests etc) that have been set up for me after an occupational health assessment.

Another pain is people leaving bags etc in the walkways. I report it, as it's pretty dangerous, so it stops for a few days, then starts up again.

Gigervamp

Hey, be grateful that you have your own desk! Where my husband works, they're talking about hot desking, so no-one will have a desk to call their own.

PlutoinCapricorn

I can hardly bear to read this thread now: it gets worse and worse.

Working by myself at home is paradise in comparison.

engineer_amy

Gigervamp wrote: »

Hey, be grateful that you have your own desk! Where my husband works, they're talking about hot desking, so no-one will have a desk to call their own.

Judging by some of the slovenly staff in our office, I would hate to have to hot desk. bins overflowing, crumbs all over the desk, mug rings from spilt coffee. Mines not perfect but I wouldn't be embarrassed if anyone sat at my desk, its tidy and polished regularly.