Quote:
Originally Posted by latepaul
Yeah I work in an open plan office. I do have my own desk but it's an open "pod" rather than a cubicle. I raised the issue of noise a few years ago (just tentatively pointed out that maybe folks didn't realise how much their voices can carry) and I was told that we didn't want to kill the "atmosphere" of a happy office and maybe I should wear headphones if I want to focus on something.
And yet the manager who told me this, over from HQ visiting for a few days, took up one of the few meeting rooms as his office while he was here.
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Fairly standard in Corporate America these days. I have been known to tell people to use their headset when they are using a speaker phone, or to show a little courtesy when they are carrying on a loud conversation when I'm trying to work. I have a couple of very good noise canceling headphones so it's really only the extreme cases.
I think that it's been pretty conclusively shown that open offices kill productivity, but too many companies have invested too much face and money in it to give up on it. Plus, as you say, the decision makers just take over meeting rooms as their private offices, so they don't feel the pain.