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>But the main kicker is the seating arrangment. The new location sits its
>lone techwriter at a long table among the programmers. No cubicle and small
>desk space. Possibly a file drawer, but no bookcases. Just the same amount
>of work area that the programmers have. I find these accommodations
>unpalatable. I'm wondering if having a bit of privacy (in the way of a
>cubicle) is generally a job requirement for most of you. Does anyone know of
>studies done with writers to show how their creativity is impacted by this
>open and crowded environment? The manager of this situation, by the way,
>thinks its great that his workers show their team spirit by such
>arrangements. I can only think of them as uncomplaining, self-effacing
>grunts.
A few weeks ago I described our work space as:
"What we designed was a modified lab. There were no cubicles. Our
workstations were laptops. Our desks were mobile carts. This let us
move around to work with different people or different test machines
at different points in the project. When not pounding keys or testing
software, people tended to gather at the central conference area where
there was a large table and several whiteboards.
There was one private office which was used for personal conferences
and phone calls.
Some might be horrified at this, but we had a blast. We made one hell
of a team."
To provide full disclosure, people outside the team were horrified at
lack of privacy.
This method of working in "bullpen" style is in opposition to some of
the concepts of productive work spaces suggested Steve McConnell in
"Rapid Development" and Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister in
"Peopleware". I appreciate both books, but ...
My team was in a high pressure, fast production environment with a
need to constantly and consistently communicate. Members of the team
had different levels of expertise in different disciplines, someone
was always learning and someone else was always teaching.
I had five info developers writing, designing, editing, testing, etc.
the content, graphics, indexes and links for paper manuals, HTML
manuals, help systems, multimedia, training manuals, slides, etc. for
as many as 10 products simultaneously.
My concern was to have the greatest amount of brainpower available at
any moment. Another, less visible motivation was to train by osmosis.
questions asked in a bullpen are heard by everybody, so are the
answers. In a way, it is similar to this list.
The situation that you're talking about has an enormous virtue. It
makes you explicitly, and incontrovertibly, one of the team. In an
open bullpen you will learn more through overheard conversations than
you thought possible. You will understand more deeply and viscerally
the effects of changes on the schedule and on the attitudes of the
programmers.
I saw an interesting story in "Wired" (issue 4.08) a few years ago. It
concerned the development effort for the game Quake.
"Despite so much finished work, id was in a slump. The Quake
development process had been protracted and exhausting, marked by
delays and false starts.
-snip-
Yet what should have been a tightly coordinated effort had slowly
gotten out of synch. Mornings were quiet. Half the development team
(admittedly, only a handful of guys) straggled in around lunchtime,
settling into private offices crammed with books, games, geckos,
weapons, and CDs galore. Founded on teamwork, id's group spirit still
prevailed, with plenty of shuttling and shouting across the halls. But
it was always possible to withdraw for an hour (or an afternoon) by
going into a darkened office and shutting out the rest of the team.
Then the walls came down.
In a move that defied industry doomsayers, id more than doubled its
floor space. The old suite was transformed into a maze of drywall and
plastic sheeting, with plaster dust everywhere, loose acoustic tiles
and cables dangling from the ceiling.
Expelled from their cushy, distraction-filled offices, the whole team
- level designers, artists, programmers - went to work in one large
war room. Low tables lined the walls; every inch of counter space was
occupied by computers and notepads, reference books, soda cans, and
personal CD players. Almost every item not directly related to the
completion of Quake was gone. The only privacy to be found was between
the padded earpieces of headphones. And things would stay this way
until Quake was finished.
The move to a war room pushed Quake's production into high gear,
encouraging efficiency and closely coordinated teamwork. The spartan
quarters also heightened tension. When the stress of developing Quake
got to be too much, the room erupted into obscenities, screaming, and
violent explosions. Programmers ran to their keyboards, ready to let
off steam in vicious, companywide rounds of their own game. It wasn't
just fun. It was essential to rigorous product testing."
My team never quite went that far, but then we weren't game
developers.
Just one last thing. Because of the way we worked, our teamwork and
our self-support system, we seldom found ourselves on the critical
path, and over a six year period never missed a deadline.
Sorry for the long rant and self-puffery but I was proud of that team.
-Doc
VerText
South Hamilton, MA
+1-978-468-1105
Our choicest plans
have fallen through
our airiest castles
tumbled over
because of lines
we neatly drew
and later neatly
stumbled over.
-- Piet Hein
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