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[Tuscani01]

I absolutely hate the open office plans. I used to hate cubicles but man, give me cubicles over this super loud and distracting open office. Granted, the open office plan happened pre-Covid, but it was terrible then too, but now, add in the fact there's no assigned seating and it becomes even more of mess.

All depends on the desk mates. When I had assigned desks at my previous company, I would have LOVED open concept since we were always chatting and would often book meeting rooms so we could work together.

 

[tripwire]

All depends on the desk mates. When I had assigned desks at my previous company, I would have LOVED open concept since we were always chatting and would often book meeting rooms so we could work together.

Fair, but now you are making a lot of noise for everyone else.

I'm in the office right now, and near me (close enough for me to hear):

• 3 people in separate video calls
• Two people talking at their desk (one of the voices carries quite a bit)
• Chatter in the kitchen nook

It's not always like this, and there are quiet periods, but the first point is so silly - why are we being asked to come into the office if we have to make video calls at our desk?

 

[Jonny5]

Fair, but now you are making a lot of noise for everyone else.

I'm in the office right now, and near me (close enough for me to hear):

• 3 people in separate video calls
• Two people talking at their desk (one of the voices carries quite a bit)
• Chatter in the kitchen nook

It's not always like this, and there are quiet periods, but the first point is so silly - why are we being asked to come into the office if we have to make video calls at our desk?

Yeah, I've noticed the people who most love to come into the office are the ones who are talking at other people all day long in a very loud voice, usually about inane topics or some diatribe on politics I don't care to hear, also they have improptu meetings to blabber right beside unrelated people's desks. They are the backup beeping trucks of the office. "You are a mile away and 20 floors up, but I'm still going to make sure you know at 3:00 a.m. that I'm backing up my truck with its 170 decibel backup beep alert."

 

[evandyk]

We went to open concept, no assigned desks in 2019. I prefer it to having my own office (which I had for my whole career before that). It makes your day more social and engaging, which is a plus for me (though obvs not for everyone).

 

[evandyk]

But people don’t really take calls at their desk for the most part. We go into little phone rooms.

 

[narduch]

When I was in office for engineering consulting people took phone or zoom meetings all the time at their desks in the open office area

 

[afransen]

We went to open concept, no assigned desks in 2019. I prefer it to having my own office (which I had for my whole career before that). It makes your day more social and engaging, which is a plus for me (though obvs not for everyone).

But people don’t really take calls at their desk for the most part. We go into little phone rooms.

Unfortunately, my days are often 60-75% calls/meetings, and there are certainly not enough phone booths for everyone on calls. Enclosed offices are probably too far the other direction, but having people taking conference/teams calls at a long table with workstations every 6 feet is disastrous for focus.

 

[evandyk]

I've heard about those places where everybody works at a long table like they're at a coffee shop or something like that. We don't have that. We have kind of curvy lines of workstations with sound dampering material between them. Basically a long row of M's with desks in each corner. It results in pods of two where you can mostly see and hear everything that the person next to you says, but otherwise there's some isolation.

Right now we have enough phone rooms for everyone on calls. That wouldn't be true if people were actually following the 4 day a week in office requirement. But most people aren't.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I've heard about those places where everybody works at a long table like they're at a coffee shop or something like that. We don't have that. We have kind of curvy lines of workstations with sound dampering material between them. Basically a long row of M's with desks in each corner. It results in pods of two where you can mostly see and hear everything that the person next to you says, but otherwise there's some isolation.

When I was “work from office” from 1995-2020 it was all huge cubical farms.

 

[lenaitch]

They are the backup beeping trucks of the office. "You are a mile away and 20 floors up, but I'm still going to make sure you know at 3:00 a.m. that I'm backing up my truck with its 170 decibel backup beep alert."

Your beef is with the Ministry of Labour (OHSA). Even where not mandated, a lot of commercial insurance companies require them on certain vehicle.. Some organizations now use what is called a 'white noise alarm' which is much less annoying.

When I was “work from office” from 1995-2020 it was all huge cubical farms.

A buddy's kid had a co-op job at a large trading house in New York when he was a computer engineering student. The electronic traders were in long rows of table with each pair of rows back-to-back. Each trader had multiple computers and since they were on commission, down time was money, so he and his colleagues 'lived' in the space between the rows to given them access to the computers, cabling, etc. it was apparently steady work.

 

[Bayer]

Back in the day at Ferguson Block, and later at the agency I worked at before I started on my own, everyone had a closed office. I can't imagine how I could possibly do my job properly in a cubicle.