Re: IBM is having a Yahoo moment: No more working from home

[Julie Stickler <jstickler -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Charlotte Claussen wrote:
I suspect that people who don't like open spaces are in offices where it's
been a cost-cutting exercise rather than an effort to create a good
environment. It does require a different office culture, as well as the
right physical environment with good ventilation, comfortable temperature,
good acoustics, and other rooms to use for meetings or quiet time.


I had all that at my last open office gig and the open office was an utter
disaster depending on where you had to sit. I had three coworkers seated
nearby who liked to talk to themselves while the worked.  I don't think any
of the three of them were even aware that they were doing it.  And not just
one, but two management level loud talkers who had offices with doors, but
never remembered to close the doors when they were having a conversation or
taking a phone call.  One of the two would even use the conference call
option on his phone, with the door open.

So yeah, it does require a different office culture. One where people are
actually conscious of the fact that they're not the only people in the
office.

On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 3:22 PM, Charlotte Branth Claussen <
charlotteclaussen -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:

> Companies will always use excuses to save money,
>
> I suspect that people who don't like open spaces are in offices where it's
> been a cost-cutting exercise rather than an effort to create a good
> environment. It does require a different office culture, as well as the
> right physical environment with good ventilation, comfortable temperature,
> good acoustics, and other rooms to use for meetings or quiet time.
>
> I have most of my time worked in open space offices, and I'd say no to a
> job where I were to sit in a tiny office or a cubicle.
>
> /Charlotte
>
> PS: a previous workplace where it worked fairly well:
> http://www.plh.dk/en/projects/oticon-uk/
> The use of open space along with informal meeting spaces and traditional
> closed meeting rooms was in my opinion good for productivity and
> collaboration. And even the CEO was sitting in the open space.
>
> 2017-02-10 15:50 GMT+00:00 Wright, Lynne <Lynne -dot- Wright -at- kronos -dot- com>:
>
> > More collaboration in an open work space = more distracting ambient noise
> > for everyone. Its debatable whether that trade-off is worth it.
> >
> > I think the real reason companies go for open space designs are that 1)
> it
> > reduces costs because you don't have to buy cubicle partitions and you
> can
> > squeeze more people into the same space; 2) people can't slack off by
> > surfing the internet or whatever, because anybody passing by can see
> what's
> > up on people's monitors; 3) It looks all hip and minimalist to have long
> > banks of shared worktables with no space for clutter.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=kronos -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:
> > techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=kronos -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
> Of
> > Lin Sims
> > Sent: February-10-17 10:40 AM
> > To: salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com
> > Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> > Subject: Re: IBM is having a Yahoo moment: No more working from home
> >
> > There's been at least one study that suggests that the "open work space
> > environment" (I had to look that up; yech!) doesn't inspire any more
> > collaboration than having private offices; however, people who have
> private
> > or semi-private offices seem to have far lower levels of stress.
> >
> > http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidburkus/2016/06/21/why-
> > your-open-office-workspace-doesnt-work/#4f89804216d0
> >
> > I miss working at Telcordia. Managers had private offices, and everyone
> > else had semi-private (2 people per room) offices. Solid cinder block
> walls
> > and a solid door. Ah, peace.
> >
> > On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 9:31 AM, Chris Morton <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > IBM and Yahoo aside, I do perceive value in certain sociability
> > > aspects of being on-prem.
> > >
> > > But at one client whose facility I frequent one a month or so, all are
> > > engaged in meetings all day, every day. I leave wondering how anyone
> > > actually does any work. And Mr. ImAllImportant marketing guy wants to
> > > quibble that medical device user manual reading audiences (if any
> > > exist) that no one will understand what "unwell" means (he wants it to
> > > read, "not feel well").
> > >
> > > Further, I just read in the local edition of the Business Review that
> > > yet another company has bought a building and is going to create an
> > > open workspace environment. No thanks.
> > >
> > > At least my HP cubicle afforded some degree of privacy, and it was
> > > common to let team members know when one was "on critical path" (read:
> > > don't bug me right now). From what I've read, all the open workspace
> > > does is promote more slacking off, not desired "team building" (unless
> > > that definition has come to mean playing fraternity house pranks).
> > >
> > > Once upon a time I had a high-ceilinged 12' x12' office with a door I
> > > could shut. If I needed to attend a meeting, no problem. If I needed
> > > to coach an engineer how to construct an actual useful UI, no problem.
> > > If I needed to go in the lab to bang on a piece of kit, I could. Yet
> > > when I needed some freakin' quiet think-and-do time, I could retreat
> > > to my man cave and have at it with no interruptions.
> > >
> > > Today I have a nicer man cave at home, from where I do my clients'
> > > work. At the medical device place, all they give me is a study carrel,
> > > a crappy lamp that can't be positioned such that I'm not looking
> > > directly into it, and no external monitor (they all have twin 24"
> > > units in their cubicles). My handler was put off when I insisted on
> > > going back to my nearby hotel room between their all-important
> > > cross-dysfunctional meetings. There I had set up my external keyboard
> > > and 24" rotating monitor with my laptop, along with Bose SoundLink
> > > Mini. I had all of the peace and quiet I needed (except for the
> > > snowplow at 4:00 am one morning)âespecially during one very intense
> > > 1-1/2 hour critical path where 150+ pages were flying as I hastened to
> > > update yet another iteration.
> > >
> > > Chris Morton
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > â Substantive Editing â Technical Writing â Proofreading
> > >                      â Marketing Expertise â Mentoring Click to
> > > <http://t.sidekickopen68.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nM
> > > JN7t5XYgdnqQxW7fsH3H4XrddKW1pNgV-56dMhqf2Q-c6C02?t=https%3A%
> > > 2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fpub%2Fchris-morton%2F2%2F166%
> > > 2F6ba&si=6020636811198464&pi=4ba8e002-4d27-4f88-dc26-e24f9998f2c4>
> > >
> > >
> > > On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 9:04 AM, Cardimon, Craig <ccardimon -at- m-s-g -dot- com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > The idea of working shoulder-to-shoulder is not exciting to
> > > > introverts like me.
> > > >
> > > > If the introverts have options, they will skedaddle.
> > > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: techwr-l-bounces+ccardimon=m-s-g -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:
> > > > techwr-l-bounces+ccardimon=m-s-g -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
> > > > techwr-l-bounces+Of
> > > > Stuart Burnfield
> > > > Sent: Friday, February 10, 2017 8:51 AM
> > > > To: 'Techwr-l' <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> > > > Subject: Re: IBM is having a Yahoo moment: No more working from home
> > > >
> > > > It sounds a bit like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
> > > >
> > > > IBM is a vast, surprisingly decentralized, enterprise so it's hard
> > > > to sum up in simple terms. But if you poke around on ibm.com and
> > > > browse the marketing material that's written by marketing people and
> > > > not technical people, you'll find a lot of "I don't understand what
> > this means"
> > > > translated from English into marketing jargon.
> > > >
> > > > Getting the writers to sit with other marketing people who don't
> > > > understand what it means either isn't going to help with that.
> > > >
> > > > If cutting payroll really is the unstated goal, this will work. A
> > > > lot of good people who can leave will leave because they have
> > > > options. Some
> > > staff
> > > > who suspect they won't thrive on the job market will stay.
> > > >
> > > > If the real target is lack of productivity from some remote workers,
> > > > this is a ham-fisted way of going about it. It's a management
> > > > problem that
> > > could
> > > > be solved by better management.
> > > >
> > > >  > "I know this is hard ... But we have gotten to a place where  >
> > > > we're excited about the path forward."
> > > >
> > > > <retch>
> > > >
> > > > Stuart
> > > >
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> > --
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