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

Hermia

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.

My friend worked at a place where they hot desked, but did not provide enough desks for all the staff. People had to get in really early or they spent the whole day having to balance their lap top on a windowsill!

The thing I have hated about the open plan offices I have worked in is that all the staff had to work in them and there were no private offices. You therefore ended up with people who were doing tasks that required huge concentration (like writing the annual report or doing complicated accounting) sitting near people who needed to talk etc.

Timpu

Hermia wrote: »

My friend worked at a place where they hot desked, but did not provide enough desks for all the staff. People had to get in really early or they spent the whole day having to balance their lap top on a windowsill!

:rotfl: This almost describes where I work: A huge open plan office, everyone but the most senior staff hot desk, though there are too few desks and late comers have perch on 'bars' rather than window sills.

On the positive side, I find that I can rock up and get on with things. I don't think it makes a difference to my concentration but I have worked around very loud people in the past so perhaps have learnt this over time (great to hear about how Tony became Antonia in his spare time. I kid you not! I'm sure Tony/Antonia would have been horrified that we knew before his family thanks to this friend). I've got pretty good at tracking down team members on a daily basis too and also met more people just by saying hello to whoever is sitting next to me. The lack of desks means I get to work from home also, which equates to a lie in - great!

On the negative side, why can't people clean up after themselves and learn to be quieter? I absolutely avoid being anywhere near the immature team due to their noise (i.e. crashing + banging around the place) and childish humour which borders on the offensive. The other bug bear is people not reporting broken monitors/cable ends because it's not 'their' desk, it's someone else's problem.

Callie22

j.e.j. wrote: »

Yup, and add to that people all bringing in their various smelly foods for lunch and eating it at their desks. One eating tuna fish sandwiches, one with pot noodles, one with curry flavour something-or-other. It made you feel quite queasy.

Open plan offices are the work of the devil!

This is one of the main things that annoys me about our open plan office. Seriously, some afternoons the smell of a dozen or so different lunches, ranging from curry to fish to eggs and everything in between, can literally make you heave.

However, much as I hate open plan working, my company keeps hinting about moving towards hot-desking, which I think would seriously make me think about resigning lol. They keep suggesting an idea whereby we all hot desk, but we each get a little filing cabinet on wheels that we can trundle around with all of our stuff in it. It's utterly ridiculous, but management love these kinds of trendy ideas. What worries me most about it is the hygiene aspect. I work in a professional environment where most of the people have higher degrees, but you wouldn't believe how many don't wash their hands after visiting the loo etc. The thought of sharing a grot (sorry 'hot') desk with them makes me cringe.

j.e.j.

Callie22 wrote: »

However, much as I hate open plan working, my company keeps hinting about moving towards hot-desking, which I think would seriously make me think about resigning lol. They keep suggesting an idea whereby we all hot desk, but we each get a little filing cabinet on wheels that we can trundle around with all of our stuff in it. It's utterly ridiculous, but management love these kinds of trendy ideas. What worries me most about it is the hygiene aspect. I work in a professional environment where most of the people have higher degrees, but you wouldn't believe how many don't wash their hands after visiting the loo etc. The thought of sharing a grot (sorry 'hot') desk with them makes me cringe.

Yup, and don't forget the Peter Principle, namely: everyone rises to the level of their own incompetence :laugh:

belfastgirl23

Oh really feeling your pain, I worked in an open plan office for a few years. My biggest bugbear was being watched all the time. For may of the people there, the main thing was being physically in the office. Once they were there they were de facto working even if they were mostly talking about what they had for dinner the previous night. If I wasn't there because I was at home working on a report because the office was so noisy I couldn't work in it I was de facto a slacker. Drove me crazy. I remember coming up to christmas the second year I worked there and having a deadline for the last day. Several people in the office spent the whole day finding christmas songs on youtube and playing them for each other. It was pretty apparent that I was the problem for trying to work rather than them for interrupting me. Makes me mad even now thinking about it....I ended up finishing the report on my holidays.

The constant intimations that it must be lovely to be me and to drift in and out of the office at whim still rankle too!

Fireflyaway

I work in an open office and we have to hot desk too! Despite hot desking, people still seem to claim the same desk when they can and then you feel uncomfortable about sitting in it. One desk and keyboard is covered in skin flakes as the person who usually sits there has a skin condition ( not his fault but not nice for others either) Another has mouldy half full coffee mugs. I hate to think what their homes are like. Fortunately I can work from home at times!

meer53

I'm the opposite. I'd hate to have to sit at the same desk every day, i enjoy hotdesking. All the people who get all territorial about "my desk" make me laugh. I get to sit with different people most days, all in my team, but we're all happy to sit wherever we can when we come in. I start at different times every day, so some days, i end up sitting with a different team too. I've worked in this environment for 21 years now, i've not caught anything fatal from any keyboard yet, so i assume all my workmates wash their hands ! As for people eating their lunches at their desk, some do, some go to the restaurant, i really don't find the smell of food offensive, we quite often have days where we all bring in food and have a team buffet, we also sometimes have food delivered. Where i work, open plan definitely works, i don't think i'd like to be in an office i'd find it claustrophobic. It's what you're used to i suppose.

double_mummy

i used to hot desk in a massive open plan office (about 80 of us) it was absolute hell because people would take equipment off of that desk so that they didnt have to run around looking for them when they came to the next desk the next day so people were hoarding cables and the good mouses etc

there was so much noise (lots of people on phones both for work and not) you could never really focus on anything im more much of a get head down and get on with stuff person

there was a group of about 4 women who would always sit together the first one in would 'reserve' their computers for them and get them all turned on etc and no one else could sit there even if they were on a half day or something and everyone knew exactly what they all had had for dinner the night before and what they thought of every soap opera and exactly how each of their relationships were going it was hellious!!!!

meer53

Ten times that amount in my office, maybe more ! All equipment maintained by our IT department, same equipment on every desk so no issues really. A manager for every team of about 12 people, the managers sit with us, they don't have dedicated desks either ! I think if it's managed well it works fine. With over 2000 staff in one building, it has to be well managed !

onlyroz

I've always worked in an open plan office and in general don't have a problem with it. In my last job the lady at the next desk was a noisy eater who used to smack her lips and roll the food around in her mouth, but I just learned to put headphones on as soon as her lunch box emerged from her bag. In my current office it's pretty quiet most of the time, but there's one guy who makes these horrible honking noises whenever he gets a cold. Having said all this, I think I'd find it lonely if I was ever given my own office.