Open offices vs. cubicles - Which one do you prefer?

To start off, I just wanted to say that open offices suck.

It lacks privacy. It's loud. And it's distracting. I can't even comfortably go on WSO.

Too bad for me, a recent Harvard research found that the open office layout works --- but only if companies seat employees according to the type of worker they are.

The researchers identified two types of people:
1. high-productivity employees who generally produce lower-quality work
2. slower people who generate high-quality work.
--- Apparently, by seating these two types of people next to each other, they will pick up on each other's good habits and, ultimately, the workers' efficiency improves.

Personally, I don't care how much people hate on cubicles. I'd rather spend my 9-5 in a cubicle than in an open office.

What do you guys think? Are you for open offices, or are you for cubicles?

 

I love open office environments tbh. Then again I was in tech sales, so it might be just be the fact you're able to collaborate better.

It also helps build the team together. When you're constantly working with and interacting with your team, it just helps build friendship and camaraderie.

"It is better to have a friendship based on business, than a business based on friendship." - Rockefeller. "Live fast, die hard. Leave a good looking body." - Navy SEAL
 

Hate them both. Far too loud and distracting to focus and be optimally productive. Give me an office anyday. No one wants to hear my conference calls and I don't want to hear anyone else's

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

I'd take an open floor all day long. It gets the competitive juices flowing and, in my experience working in all formats - trading floor, office, cubes - an open floor best facilitates collaboration and transparency (it's harder to conceal bullshit when you're out in the open). Intuitively, the more physical barriers between employees, the less likely they are to speak to one another OR the lower the quality of interaction and communication to the extent employees are having the same quantity of interaction but are doing it over the phone, over email or over chat.

 

Right now I'm in the perfect situation where I both have my own private office as well as a trading desk where the rest of the team sits. Our head likes the trading floor idea so I sit out there a few hours everyday to make my presence known before retreating to my office.

Generally I dislike the open layout though. The worst is when somebody blasts a conference call on their speaker phone which makes it impossible to get anything done.

 
Best Response
models_and_bottles:

The worst is when somebody blasts a conference call on their speaker phone which makes it impossible to get anything done.

This is what tazers are meant for.

"There's nothing you can do if you're too scared to try." - Nickel Creek
 

Ive always found that open spaces (at least for me) decrease collaborative behavior. The first time i hear someone on the phone/speaker I immediately throw on my buds in a feeble attempt to drown out "Intern A" talking to "Lender B". That being said, you cannot overerstate the impact of a good set of noise cancelling earbuds/headphones.

Side note i've got a sweet high cube set up and a floor to ceiling window as my third wall.

 

I'm all about working on a trading floor. Two primary reasons, both of which have been more or less covered. a) there is no room for bullshit, you have to be on your toes at all times, there is no "I'll get back to you", etc. Conversations are also generally short and to the point which I prefer. b) there is something about the ambiance that keeps me performing near my top for an extended period of time. On quiet days on the floor, I get tired/bored really quick so I can only imagine how easy it would be to doze off in a cubicle.

 

I'd say cubicle with weeks that don't quite go to the curling. You get the ability to talk to people over the cubicle wall, but still have enough privacy to go on WSO.

"There's nothing you can do if you're too scared to try." - Nickel Creek
 

I moved from an open office set up where my back faced everyone else to a giant cubicle (6ft walls, all four sides w/ small opening to get in and out of). I loved the cubicle so much. I could comfortably take a break and watch baseball highlights or send a quick snapchat with no fear. Also I could eat snacks without being worried I was disturbing anybody.

 

Both obviously have their pro and cons, but i'd definitely prefer open plan. Natural conversations does not happen and it takes forever to get to know your coworkers. In my last job in an open floor plan, most of us were buddies. I'd like to get to know my coworkers considering how much time we spend at work rather than be in semi isolation.

 

As a consultant, most of my time is spent in shitty little conference room while on the client site. However, when in-office, I prefer a quieter space. At my old firm I shared an office with another consultant which was awesome (plus she was super hot which was a plus). We'd keep the door halfway closed so that air got through and it didn't appear stand-offish but still afforded some measure of privacy. Now I'm in a cubicle which is ok.... hard to collaborate, medium privacy, but can still hear the person next to me on their phone all day.

So, in conclusion, I'd say private corner office with a hot secretary and a butler is probably ideal.

 

Totally agreed on a mix.

I hated doing cold calls a few years ago in my internship - all because someone else was always being louder than myself. Took it to the stairwell and it worked. But when it comes to camaraderie or sharing knowledge, open space is all the rage. Bosses have it all figured out: open door policy for inducing team spirit, and close the door with a bang to assert dominance.

 
williamthesnake:

I work in London and I have yet to see a single office that is not set up as open plan. Everywhere I go (and I've been to quite a few offices for different firms) it's all open plan (save for some very senior people having their own offices).
Do cubicles even exist any more?

Yes, I'm sitting in one right now.

MM IB -> Corporate Development -> Strategic Finance
 

I think low walled cubicles(6x8) is what I would consider open office space. Anything higher and you can be in a hedge maze(not me I'm 6'4). But here is the caveat, different groups need different spaces. Sales should obviously be open, I've heard some GOLD on what people have said on the phone. And I don't mean that was a great point, more like dafaq did he just say#*!.

Accounting should have cubicles/open office space as well but should be grouped together, I think for most teams they should be grouped together as it builds comradery and ultimately productivity. People who like each other and interact with each other help each other, like finishing report TBD, or proofreading report TBD.

Now on the opposite end my wife just move to an open floorplan at Brookfield place, it is horrible. Whoever thought this place out, and nobody has anyway of knowing which company created the space, did not think things through. There is a long football sized open office plan where people share desk, no partition you can literally look behind your monitor on your shared desk and see the other person. Also in winter you can hear the cacophony of sneezes slowly proceeding slowly inward from each end as everyone in the office gets infected over the course of a week. My wife and all her coworkers are terrified to be on the phone because there is not a modicum of privacy.

So there is a way to do open office space right and there is a way to do it wrong.

 

I prefer semi-open offices to traditional cubicles. I prefer my own private office now (obviously), but I was in a cubicle at my first company, and then they switched to shoulder-level glass-topped cubes. They were in groupings of 4 along the windows so that the natural light could reach all the way into the middle of the building and everyone had a nice skyline view. The VPs were all moved to the interior of the building, but still kept their offices, albeit with glass walls so everyone could see them as they worked.

With traditional cubes I never saw or interacted with anyone and it seemed so dark inside the building, but when they made the switch to open format it was a lot more friendly between coworkers without any increase in noise. Also, the natural light was frankly a breath of fresh air and it gave me a much better ambience to work in.

 

Sure, focus exclusively on whatever your most important work is. Give yourself deadlines to get stuff done and stick to them. Work comes before anything else. Look at your monitor and ignore what's going on around you. If you are just working, get some Bose noise canceling headphones.

 

When working in an open office, I generally just stick to my usual routine. I must say, though, that I get a lot more dirty looks when I masturbate at my desk in that kind of environment.

 

on the other hand from most of the above posters, after spending a while working on trading floors i actually find it much harder to work and focus without the bustle of activity and noise around me at all times. Something about quietness that makes me want to waste time and check stupid websites instead of focusing in hard on what i'm working on.

 

Bose QC20i. I bought them as soon as they came out (b/c the QC15s/25s which I do love look a bit antisocial in an open office). They are outstanding and I have sold probably a half dozen coworkers on a pair of these.

 

I work on a trading desk it's probably 10x worse than what you're going through. Just sack up and throw in some headphones not everything is supposed to be 100% easy and made to your specifications lol. You may also be ADD like me, in that case go and get an Adderall prescription from your doctor - that'll set you straight.

"Well, you know, I was a human being before I became a businessman." -- George Soros
 

I moved to an open office environment and it took me a couple of months to get used to, especially with your boss, your bosses boss and the CEO/CFO sitting eye level across from you or within whispering distance. But then again, the access is easier as well.

I would recommend headphones (earbuds - I'm not sure I would feel comfortable with beats by dre over the ear headphones - seems a bit overkill), I'd say when I do have my headphones in maybe 50-60% of the time I'm actually listening to music. The other, the headphones act as a weak noise suppressant and as a way to tell others i'm trying to focus (not be anti social - act as a deterrent to being bothered).

Also, I find my team having the same issues as other (hard to focus with others on the phone, distractions of people walking by, having to find a conference room for sensitive calls/meetings - probably the biggest issue etc.).

 

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