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Building a Better Office
xjrfx asks: "I'm in charge of setting up a new office for my company. I want to make the place as worker friendly as possible, comfortable enough that long hours don't seem like banishment to a beige hell. I was hoping to get some input from Slashdot regarding past office experiences, good and bad. What amenities/factors cause you to love or hate your office? If you could create your perfect office how would it work?"
"Did you feel schizoid in open offices or claustrophobic in cube farms? Were you ever forced to be in an office when you would have been more productive on the road, or conversely have you ever had to leave the office to focus on the task at hand? What's more important; a foosball table or a fancy furniture system? Do you want the same desk space for your duration of your employment or do you want to move around depending on your projects?
Our office will be 40-45 people (15 engineers, 7 creative types, 15 biz dev/sales, and some support staff and part-timers as well), but I'm open to opinions from people from much larger or smaller offices."
Our office will be 40-45 people (15 engineers, 7 creative types, 15 biz dev/sales, and some support staff and part-timers as well), but I'm open to opinions from people from much larger or smaller offices."
I like being in the same room with others on the same project.
A window.
And Quiet.
LCD monitors are easy on the eyes.
love is just extroverted narcissism
Here are a list of things I've had and loved...
-Fast internet connection. Not only useful for downloading tools/patches/etc fast, but people will want to use the internet to check news, email, slashdot in the morning. A fast internet connection will help them get it out of the way quicker (right now we have a 5 floor building on on T-1 that also serves as a connection between buildings. I'm lucky if I get 5k/sec).
-Budget in money for free sodas/water/coffee. I like to go for a morning coffee run, but I'd rather have an espresso machine and some cold Coke's at the office
-Aeron chairs. Spoil my ass please. These things are more comfortable to sit in than it is laying down. I bought the one I used when I quit one of my previous jobs
-Actually, modern looking furniture in general makes the place look a lot better and makes it seems like your job is more important than it really is, making you a little happier
-Cubes offer good privacy, but you can feel cramped. The best experience I had was a big open room. People had their l-shaped desks against the wall, so you couldn't see their monitor, but you could see their face. Also, moving desks is never fun!
Comment removed based on user account deletion
First of all, I'd assert that fffice policies are just as important as office layout. If I'm told I can redecorate, then I'd almost rather do that than trading generic beige for something that some stranger decided is "artistic".
Here are ideas to consider:
No fluorescent lights. Try to provide full-spectrum sources where possible, and give people the ability to control how much light they work with. I have a big black insert in my window to keep glare off my screen and usually keep my overhead off too. Programmers and creative types are usually the most sensitive to this.
We have a couple people that are seldom in the office. We actually give them larger offices with a spare table and use them as mini-conference rooms while they're gone. And since they're seldom in, they usually have clean desks. (This assumes you have square footage to spare like that.)
If anyone in the office commutes by bicycle, a shower is a great thing to have. Appreciated by them *and* their coworkers. >:0
If you have a snack area, you'll probably have a microwave. Consider also having a toaster oven, or better yet a full size stove/oven. This makes it easier to fix whatever you're in the mood for. And I'm more likely to hang around the office if I can have what I'm in the mood for. (Microwaved bagels are right out, for instance). Ditto for an icemaker.
Have enough printers. Having to walk from one end of an office to another just to print a short doc is annoying. Make sure the printing facilities are split up and placed strategically around the office.
If you have creative types as mentioned, at least one conference room should be wall to wall with whiteboards (or smarter equivalents if you have the budget). I like to have two in my office alone.
Make sure there is good (and adjustable) air conditioning and heating. It's very hard to productive when you're too hot or cold.
At my current company we have an M&M jar on the front desk that gets emptied and replenished every couple of days. Nice for those times when you've got a munchie attack but don't have time before your next meeting to go get something. Doesn't have to be M&Ms, but just something along those lines.
In the Portland, Ore area and like card games? Check out: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/portlandgames/
One place I worked was in an industrial park, and they took over half of a building. The kitchen of the place was actually the remains of a failed industrial park-ish greasy spoon, and as a result we had a commercial gas range, two huge fridges, a deep freeze, a full complement of pots, pans, etc. It was great. Nothing like being able to just walk into the kitchen and make yourself a good non-microwaved meal to make one feel at home... Mmm. Still miss making steak for lunch...
How about not even in the office?
Equip your employees with a wireless laptop and a corporate account at the local Starbucks, Borders, or coffee shop hotspot.
I would love to work for a company like that!
I would like to bring my dog to work. Ideally he could sit in my office under my desk while I work. Or the company (university in my case) could provide kennel space so that I could spend my lunch break with my dog. I would be willing to pay a fee similar to the parking fee for such a service.
Also, make sure to design flexibility into the office. The more adjustable, the better. For everything. Minimize hard walls. Put wheels on almost everything.
The Philosophy of Liberty | lewrockwell.com
Moving to the US I found I really missed 'morning/afternoon tea time" turns out lots of really important informal communication goes on there .... so make a space and time at least once a day for people to sit down together and just talk
It was wonderful.
However, now I live in Hawai'i and my lab here is kinda the opposite -- here I have an office which is completely surrounded with glass - but overlooks a beautiful landscaped garden - so it's worth it. Still have the rolling chair, no carpeting and incandescentlighting and locked door.
However, number one on my list of light tips is NEVER EVER put a light source in the field of vision behind a computer monitor (eg. don't face your desk and computer out a window). It will force your eyes to continuously adjust between light levels while trying to focus on the light produced from the monitor and that coming from behind it. Always put light sources behind the viewer. Use diffused lights (eg. not a window) when possible to reduce glare, too.
Plants are also a benefit in increasing the mood of a room. I don't have any at work (yet), but the shelves in my home office are covered in plants, and I can attest that when they're not there (I recently had a mealy bug infestation and had to quarantine them) the room is not as nice of a place to be. And I mean real, living plants, not the plastic kind. If you're worried about maintenance, get succulents like hoyas -- they'll stay happy even if you forget to water them for weeks, and they have really cool flowers.
Do you really need reason for beer? Wingman Brewers
And then there's the obligatory open bar, couches, etc.
The best office environment was a small company where we had around 3 to 4 people per room with a full corner desk each. Also, everyone in the same room was in the same work group, project team. Plus, every room had nice big windows. There was free bottled water and coffee. People brought in plants for their desks.
The worst office is probably the one I'm in right now at a customer's site. Nobody in the whole company can see a window, except the receptionist by the front door. The colors are so bland I want to scream. The cubes are half height, and I can clearly hear a person's conversation on the other side of the 100 person cube room I'm sitting in right now. There are no plants (since there's no natural light). You need a special pass code to dial out so they can track your usage. Nobody even bothers with pictures of family or personal items.
That's it... I'm going back to the hotel... I miss my old job!
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
Theses are all good comments. I'm just against 8 foot cube walls because they feel pretty claustrophbic, unless your space has 14 foot or better ceiling height.
The best-designed offices I've seen have enormous amounts (percentage-wise) of communal space -- nice cafeteria/kitchen areas, with lots of public (i.e. employee-accessible) dishes, supplies, whatnot.
People work together best when they have a comfortable space to do it.
I've also seen offices with semi-partitioned work areas surrounding a central communal space; i really like that environment. Of course, plenty of private storage for personal effects, large desk areas and line-of-sight to other employees are all good.
I like community, so to some this might sound like a cube farm -- but expanded greatly to give employees the space they need to spread out and do their work.
--------------------- -me, Crusher of those who are Foolish (don't be foolish)
Well... If you would quit installing Gator maybe we could loosen up a bit.
I actually have a footspa that I use at work (I'm diabetic and my feet aren't as good as they should be) and it's amazing. I can work longer and feel better at work. Sure, some people will snicker, but especially after hours, pull that sucker out and your feet are still good for a few more hours.
This is my digital signature. 10011011001
(posted as AC to avoid public humiliation)
I don't know if it's just me or what, but the bathrooms can make or break a place. Sometime mid-afternoon, after lunch has had some time to settle in, I usually feel the need to use the restroom. If the office I'm working in has good bathrooms, I'll just go on in and do my business, leaving me comfortable and productive for the rest of the day.
The office I work at now has one of those tiny cramped bathrooms with absolutely no sound-proofing. The only thing separating my bare ass from the female coworker next door is about two pieces of drywall. You can literally hear a pin drop in this place, so I have never had the courage to risk some embarrassing bathroom noises. That results in me holding it in until I leave, which is usually earlier than I have left other offices. Plus, I'm super un-productive for the last hour or so as I have to direct 100% of my energies toward clinching my ass cheeks.
Remember that in many (if not most) companies, implementation, QA, admin, security etc. is just as much of a creative function as coding. Keep those people stimulated and comfortable too.
I've seen alot of good software severely marginalized when the coder was seen as the sole creator.
Number one, splurge on Aeron chairs. I used one at a consulting job I was at last year. Dear GOD I want one. They only hurt if you're wearing shorts and have hairy legs. Since I wear slacks even as casualwear, that's not a problem for me, and it shouldn't be for the bluejeans set, either. Being able to position myself perfectly to the computer, have my back in just the right place, not have it squeaking under me like the POS I'm sitting in right now, I was easily twice as productive just from the chair, because I could stay comfortable and focused for longer.
:-)
Second, don't lock people in their own offices, and don't put them out in one big pile of desks or cubicles. Most development is done by multiple people anyway, so put two people per (spatious) office, specifically two people who are working on the same or related projects. It's nice to be able to ask the guy a question about what he's doing by turning around rather than walking down the hall. It's also nice to be able to take an impromptu break and chat with him about whatever is on my mind for ten minutes, then get back to work. If you're going to be doing any team-development (eg, eXtreme Programming) anyway, this will make things logistically so much easier, while still balancing socialization potential and get-the-hell-away-from-me-while-I'm-working behavior.
I'd also suggest some decorations. I used to spend a fair amount of time just looking at the map of the city that was posted over the water cooler, just for the hell of it. The ability to zone out at a painting, tapestry, poster, or something that requires brainpower to process (complex patterns) is very good exercise for the brain, just as it is for a baby's brain. Maybe some of those computer-generated 3D poster things?
--GrouchoMarx
Card-carrying member of the EFF, FSF, and ACLU. Are you?
There are a few factors I would look for if I was designing an office layout from scratch.:
Sara
Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
If you have to have cubes, or even if you don't, buy everyone a set of Beyerdynamic DT 531 headphones. These are not only some of the best headphones you can buy (around $150) but they are completely open so that you can hear what's going on around you while listening to music. As such, you don't have the desire to listen overly loud and you don't get that "in your head" feeling that most headphones give you. For working it's perfect.
Music is a big way to personalize your work environment and I guarantee you that everyone who works for you will be shocked at how great the experience of using these 'phones is. It's at least as good as the first time you work for someone who gives you Aeron chairs.
I agree about the computer thing. I personally hate over zealous admins that lock the hell out of everything. I mean, sure, there's a place for it. But often times it simply pisses people off because they feel as though they aren't trusted and it makes them dislike their work enviornment just a litle less.
This is a tough one. I've been a sysadmin in a couple small companies. I started at the company I'm at now (family business), and locked down the network a little bit, but users could install software, and change things a fair amount. What happened was eventually systems were becoming totally unusable as adware got installed, and all sorts of other garbage people were trying out got on there, and the system would need to be redone. Since my primary job wasn't being a sysadmin, this made me do a bunch of extra work.
I then went over to a software development company, and as we grew, I took on the role of sysadmin there as well. Initially I tried a mildly locked down environment with software delopment from Win2k server, and it was a nightmare. I took it off within a day because the programmers all hated it, and it was easier to install manually on the few support staff systems than it was to create packages.
When I came back to my current job (which is not a computer company), I decide it was time to redo the network. So now it runs on Samba, and the workstations are locked down so that users can't install software, and a few registry changes are forced at login. I also use wpkg for software deployment, which is a huge timesaver. Most of the security, however, comes from the permissions on network shares and folders.
While this is what the grandparent poster hated, I can totally understand why. The amount of time I deal with dumb problems of users screwing up their machines has dropped to almost nothing, and I only get a few people annoyed ocasionally that they have to get me to install software for them. (Well worth my reduced time). I think for the most part they understand too, because our workstations are basically never down.
Most people won't fill their machines with bullshit. And the ones that do are pretty easy to detect, and those are the ones you can lock down.
But then it's after-the-fact. You now still have to spend time reimaging and configuring the system. Then you lock it down, and the user is angry because they can't make changes like they could before and like everything else can.
Speak before you think
It seems it happens to the best of them. How sad. The job of the IT person is to free the mind of the employee -> allowing them to be productive -> so the company can make money. That is unless you are working in an Electronic Sweat Shop where the cost of the brain power is less then the cost of the computer. If the brain power is not doing the work they should be shown the door. It is that simple.
IT people have a large amount of power, and some of the correct use is making sure idiots (usally those outside the company) can't do bad thing to the company. The correct focus of the IT person should be the productivity of the employees, not your ability to make life easier on yourself.
New rant: This is someplace were Unix/Linux is wonderful. With Linux I can cheaply install more software on every machine then almost anyone would use. Very few applications are ever missing. Costomizations stay in the users own directory. If you have a problem expect me to restore yesterdays configuration. If your machine has a software problem, it's going to get wiped. In this world the User gets all the power and the admin gets a consistent easy to install system. Everyone wins.
Yes, I'm both the admin and the user. I have worn both hats often at the same time.
Meeting rooms:
1. no chairs
2. work table set to standing height for papers, etc.
3. all the walls are whiteboard.
With no chairs, meetings are exactly as long as they need to be, and no longer. Yes, I *have* worked in this kind of environment, and it works great.
With only ten people, it doesn't get as noisy as you might think. None of the three apply. :)
That warm feeling in the bottom of your heart knowing your doing your part to ensure the continuance of the systematic exploitation of children in third world countries! Yay!
In some instances a combination office/cubicle is necessary. If you have a tight team of integrators, they may sit in a lab and have cubicles that they can go to for privacy. Managers and sales pretty much require individual offices to maintain the privacy of phone conversations and to minimize distraction to those in near them.
You do want to keep in mind physical security of your office as well. Design it such that visitor parking has an obvious entrance to a lobby area with adequate seating to wait in. Also consider requiring all employees to use a single entrance while having the option of exiting from multiple points (or you could force exit from the main entrance if your trying to track employee arrival departure in some way). By controlling the entrance and exits, you can more easily track persons entering and possibly equipment exiting. In these days of heightened security you'll definitely want to consider this in the design.
If your going to have racks of servers (lab or just your office systems), consider having these located in a secured area and one that can easily have it's temperature controlled.
If your team has many meetings, make sure to have different purpose meeting rooms. If you'll be entertaining clients at the office, you probably want to limit the use of the room and have a more common conference room for internal meetings.
As for lighting, decorations, plants, don't have a strong opinion on these. Guess it depends on how comfortable you want to make the office and how much money you have.
A couple years ago I heard a talk from an executive from one of Australia's bank (can't remember which one). She talked about how the bank spent a few million dollars on the office design for a five floor building (I think) and how successful the design was on affecting how the workers worked.
There was a couple things she did that were of note. Apart from having the obvious aspects of having a well lit and plessant work place. The building was designed to facilitate communication between the different departments of the organisation that wouldn't usually communicate. This was done by having a coffee shop in a cetral aspect of the building (in the middle of the middle floor). There was a large stair case that was centrally located which meant that people could easily move between floors. People from different departments would meet in the coffee shop (accidentally or on purpose) who would otherwise not see each other but would depend on each other. In the informal setting of the coffee shop they would talk to each other about their work which built organisational coherence and changed the adversereal nature of the departments within the organisation. The building also had an abundance of informal meeting rooms (some without chairs or a table) and some formal meeting rooms, which meant that people could meet easily and communicate more readily.
In terms of having an office design, I think it is most important to facilitate communication. The organisation will need to work as a whole which is much greater than the sum of its parts. Ideas need to evolve by diverse groups of people talking to each other. Informal meeting rooms automatically lower bariers and tention between people which helps in having successful meetings. The office needs to resist peoples ability to build walls around themselves and fortify themselves beuracratically.
Good Luck!Yet another ironic recursive statement.
I'm a contract programmer and I always seem to end up in lighting hell, surrounded by florescent lights glaring off my monitor. The rare times when I did get into the office first I wouldn't turn on the lights, and of course everyone was wondering what I was doing sitting in the dark... :O
I too am a fan of high ceilings...
you definitely hit some major points:
1) good lighting not only is easier on the eyes, it will make your employees be able to physically relax and get their minds focused on their jobs
2) if the tools that you give your employees to do their job are continuously breaking or causing problems (whether it's desks, monitors, software) then you need to consider replacing them.
3) lots of power plugs, lots of network ports so you can temporarily add & remove machines (laptops, client machines, etc) to the network with ease.
4) you need to also consider your network and computer-policies as an extension of the 'office' because your employees will spend more time (hopefully) wandering the 'virtual office', ie the network, than actually walking around the physical office...
Gekido's Lair
But does it scale? :) Will it be 10 groups of 10 or 100 people in the same room? Good luck with the noise...
The OBR arrangement might be good for scrappy development teams where there are lots of interactions between developers. But I doubt if it would scale to larger teams, and probably would only work well in the initial stages of a longer project.
Perhaps a happy medium for larger projects would be to use OBR for the initial stages of a project, and offices after the team and project have gelled.
Everyone here's going to be pissed at me for saying so, but great code will get you nowhere if you can't sell it. Make sure the sales team has the privacy they need to close deals on the phone and have customer meetings without distractions like this.
Berto
Quite simply, hire a design professional or architect. They're the ones trained in progression of space, ergonomics, lighting, accoustics, color, materials, and environmental psychology. A good work environment is much more than Aeron Chairs and free sodas.
Not anyone can design good websites (*cough*) or write good software (*cough*), so please don't think that anyone can design 3-dimensional space.
I'm sure all you web developers cringe when you see all those "home website designer" packages at Best Buy just as we do at the design-your-own-dream-home ones. We're barraged by bad design just because someone thinks they can save a dollar or two by doing it themselves...
After all, how hard could it be?
;-)
Ok, I dont have that...But I have everything that I need. I work in a small, software house in New Zealand, and here it works well...
We have free soda,
We have a free coffee machine (Beans, not instant-mud)
We have kitchen facilities,
We have a pool table, a dart board and "ping-pong"
We have an open office, two desks together, loosely couple by project.
Everyone has the same style chair.
There is a non intrusive radio playing all day.
Directors sit in a "fish bowl" (Out of the kitchen as it were)
Everyone has a PC that is capable of doing their job.
Everyone has VMWare too
We have fast internet access (Well it is NZ, so this becomes another story!)
And Friday is beer o'clock day, company funded.
If a small company can do this....?
Is a small room, just for making phone calls too personel for the cube enviroment.
I didn't relize how much something like this is needed until I was going through a family crisis I didn't want anybody to no about.
Just needs a small table a phone and a chair.
that said, color is good, real plants are good, comfortable chairs, nice pictures. Free sodas go a very long way.
Speaking of chairs, find a supplier that will bring chairs in, and let the employees try them out, and pick a color. Employees are expensive, give them smething comfortable to sit so the can concentrate.
BTW, are you hiring programmers?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Programmers need 100 square feet of space, and 30 square feet of desk space for optimal productivity. More doesn't really help. I also personally feel two monitors drastically increases efficiency, but IBM didn't make any comments on this in the 80s when they did this research.
Offices are good. Cubes are bad. If your cube walls are over 7 feet tall, they function about like walls would. (But, since you're rolling your own space, go with offices. Note that Microsoft uses offices as well.)
People need their back to a wall. Backs to the door / window = tension.
Programmers need to be able to close the door, so:
Also, programmers frequently work in small groups; this means that they're more efficient when they can talk to each other. This also works contrary to the 'doors' stuff above: Here's one suggestion I read which synthesizes all this:
Three programmer team: They get one office, 300 square feet, arranged as follows, each one has a desk, and faces out from the wall. Partitions / dividers / plants, create some privacy. This is about 200 of the square feet. The remaining is a small couch and a chair, plus a whiteboard area for those really great discussions. The whole room has a door, which will probably be mostly closed. The common area is nearest the door.
You get the idea. This space is centered around helping programmers get in the 'zone' when they need to, and helping them get quick answers from their team when they need to.
Look guys....i've got to jump in here to defend flourescents. They've gotten quite a bit better in the last 50 years and they're not all sickly blueish white with a circa 1950 magnetic ballasts. Modern Flourescents use high frequency electronic ballets with no detectible flicker, and warmer temperature bulbs are available that better approximate sunlight. You can also get fixtures with a largely vertical distibution pattern to avoid screen glare and eye fatigue.
In general in a computer based office, providing general flourescent lighting at a low light level and then brighter task ligthing at each desk is the way to go.
-Chris
--an unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys--
Storage space, and lots of it. You can't RTFM if there's no place to keep TFM. Modular cubicles with built-in "efficient furniture" typically have one small (often non-locking) book shelf. That is utterly inadequate for technical staff.
Glare-free lighting. For me it's not how much or little light, but how it hits the screen and desk. A hot spot on the screen or a overhead light aimed at the eyeglasses is a migraine waiting to happen.
Flexible arrangement. What works for my body may not suit yours. Monitor and keyboard positions change depending on eye height, length of arms, bifocals vs. 20/20 vision, etc. Frequently used items will be arranged differently for the sin vs. dex vs. amidextrous workers. Another strike against one-size-fits-all modular furnishings.
QUIET telephone ringers, perhaps completely muted (use a "ring" light instead). You don't need to hear it from down the hall, that's why you have voice mail and a cell phone. How I miss the days of Western Electric phones, when you could stuff tissue into your neighbor's ringer and kill the stinking noise!
Single cubicles only; no double bunking. Even if you practice ExP, allow everybody some own personal space. When it's team programming time, pull up an extra chair (another real chair, not some broken-down reject from the lunch room).
Dilbert clippings hanging on every available wall. It's not a geek department without them!
All this is based on the assumption that people who don't have a clue what they're doing know that they don't have a clue. In my experience, this is usually the case. There are occasional exceptions. For them, let them get into trouble, and maybe help them out once, but after that tell them "it's your problem, unless you want to go to lock-down." Also be sure to block network access to computers that spew viruses.
Sig:Why copyright isn't a fundamental human right
1. Hot water faucet for tea, soup, etc. (microwave water - no good)
2. Refrigerator
3. Microwave
4. Citrix server - work from home or road
5. VPN
6. Stable network / computer envioroment (patch, lockdown)
7. "wall talker" whiteboards
8. Enough storage space
9. Backups - peace of mind, save your butt.
10. Offices if you can - privacy, some people work better in different lighting
11. Quiet break room with comfy chairs
12. Kitchen / common lunch area
Avoid:
Noisy equipment in common areas
When you do your buildout if you do one thicken the walls a bit or put something to help diminish the noise. Pay a few bucks more for better lighting. Not those plastic zombie lights that flicker. Good ventilation and and maybe a quiet air filter can really help out those us with allergies and anything that helps more oxygen and less dirt get through the lungs is a winner.
Privacy is a big one. I know I would be a lot more satisfied with my job if I was not in an office with no privacy. We don't even have dividers. I have to wait till everyone goes to lunch (I take a later lunch) just to have a moment of quiet. Obviously everyone can't have their own office but definitely don't overlook smaller sets of cubes. Why not put 4 cubes together in a diamond shape where everyone is at an angle from each other. This reduces the feeling of being in an egg carton.
Good points for the most part, though I think you have a rather narrow view of "true hackers". You can thank ESR for that. Some of us enjoy teamwork, because we realize that the manipulation of other people is a wonderful game in and of itself ;)
P.S. - If you mod this up, it means I win
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
You mentioned that your office has 40-45 people (15 engineers, 7 creative types, 15 biz dev/sales, + extras.. )
I wonder what is the common ratio between similar tasks/roles nowadays. I work on a software company with about 80 employees, and I'd say at least 50 of are engineers/developers and we have 5, max 10 people who one could consider to be sales personel and 6 creative/graphical/gui designing guys + the support, extras etc.
Are we the exception that makes the rule or what type of ratio between roles other companies have ?
Ok, I know the question is, "What would be the perfect office?", so mod this as off topic if you must, but how 'bout no office or cubicle or desk-in-a-corner at all?
Am I the only guy that still dreams of working in front of his wireless laptop at home with the CD music shaking the windows? You never got the urge to get up, put on the bathrobe, and tap at the keyboard without first having to act like you know how to dress yourself and then commute 15 miles to the office? What a way to start the day...
Do we miss office politics that much? It's the only reason why you feel "out of the loop" when you're not in the office - Come on, admit it! How many managers have you ever liked let alone admired? And the few good managers (open minded, considerate, inspirational) you managed to work for generally don't last long since most of the qualities that you like aren't the same qualities that most organizations encourage, let alone put up with.
The only reason that telecommuting isn't a reality today is because the management structure in most organizations date back to when Prussia was a colonial power. Without offices and cubicles managers don't 'control' floor space. Without floor space, there isn't people 'under' you. Without all that going on, a manager would be nothing more than a receiver and coordinator for the output of others. A ticket puncher and bean counter.
The technology for remote, at home, offices has been in place for FIFTEEN years! My home office is my perfect office, IMHO.
Mod me troll, if you must, I can't help it.
"Real hackers don't want to socialize with other people. Collaborative coding can happen in their offices, but the real producers could give a damn about a foozball table or artwork by famous painters. True hackers don't participate in group activities or group sports.
Caffeine. Lots and lots of caffeine. More caffeine than you think a normal human could possibly consume."
I don't mean to be rude, but the the hell is this? Where did "real hackers" come from? How many people that work in an office are hackers? What about normal people with normal office jobs? No foosball table just because the nerd hacker guy doesn't want to socialize with everyone?
How about creating an atmosphere where people don't feel obliged to stay in the office for more than an average of eight hours per day.
I can't say I'm an expert on american office culture, but I used to work for a large global consulting company which brought a group of american consultants into one specific project. The americans spent endless hours in the office, but in general didn't seem to be any more productive than their European coworkers who usually limited their working hours to eight or nine per day. The extra hours just seem to go to general surfing and "hanging around" not any productive work..
"There is a terrorist behind every bush"
Sociopaths are very rarely good coders, they just think that they are. Predominately because they don't mix with enough other people to realise that they're barely mediocre. A good coding team has people that can work together and actually get on with each other; as well as being excellent programmers. Office toys like table football can help foster this kind of environment.
I do a lot of 'duo-coding' simply because some problems get solved faster and better with four eyes then with two. Two people working a one PC can often outperform 3 people working alone, depending on what they are working on.
So a desk that is big enough to place two chairs behind it is a huge plus for me.
The point about the mouse and keyboards are very correct, and i whould like to add double points for a cordless mouse (and enough batteries).
Another important point for me is a place (preferably outside) to go to just to get away from the screen and take some distance from the work. The most difficult problems are solved away from the code, by looking at the problem from some distance.
Silence is essential for good concentration. So small office room for engineers, no more than two people per room. Generally, assign the same task to both people.
Artists are often more socialisable then coders, keep them together in a bigger room.
One large room for teaming, keep regular meetings.
Also, assign sales people into two competing teams and sit them in two larger rooms.
What to do with support staff depends on your technology. If they are going out often, they should have a separate office. Keep them in good contact vith sales people.
There you are, staring at me again.
Wow. So, you're saying the receptionist will be required to install software as part of her job? The executive assistant will need to make registry changes? I call bullshit. Most users have the tools on their machine to do their jobs.
Corporate policy is set to make support more or less standardized, so that the support people can swap a broken desktop for one that works without too much of a delay, so that the people who actually do the work can stop twiddling with their desktop and just do the work.
If you trash it, you're not only wasting your own time, but the time of the people who keep the computers running. Neither of your times are "cheap".
It's analagous to saying "I'll use this shovel the way *I* know how to use it, and if it breaks, so what? Give me another shovel." ... and you'll break that one, too. Except you're talking about a ~$1500 networked shovel that requires a support staff, constant patching and updates.
I've always said as much. Anyone who was willing to learn, and to put up with the abuse of, say, users like yourself, can do this job. It's a matter of data retention, and a willingness to keep up with technology. IT is a support organization, supporting the people who make the money. Personally, I think that we should be lumped in with the Facilities people, because we essentially do the same job. No one gets promoted for keeping a building running, but they're damned if something breaks, no matter whose fault it is.
Of course, the janitor can work with the same broom for 20 years. Cleaning innovations come around rather infrequently (home cleaning aside). The facilities people don't have new wrenches that make their old ones obsolete after 6 months.
IT changes constantly. There's a new version of SoftwareCompanyWidgets, a new OS version, a new virus, a new patch, a new inconsistancy. A new client-server piece of crap that doesn't conform to any sort of standards, and screws other things up. A new set of things that won't work together.
And the janitors' and facilities' (or physical plant's) realm is fixed, for the most part. You don't expand a physical facility at the whim of the business units. You don't have buildings being added, removed, and replaced at the pace you do within an IT environment.
As for being fired and replaced, many IT people have been fired, downsized, outsourced, etc. CEO's know EXACTLY how easy it is. But there's always a cost to hiring someone new and getting them familiar with your environment and your rules. The cost of replacing employees is not usually one that a company wishes to bear.
Those offices also probably don't have any sort of data security, network security, etc. Cookie cutter machines are easy to build with ghost, jumpstart, ignite, etc. Without policies, they become nightmares to fix, because no one knows who has access to what, or what you've installed on your machine.
Most rules have REAL reasons behind them; for example, at one of the places I worked, machines have to be locked down and changed via CR due to federal regulations. Yes, users complained, but they quieted down when
It's a little wrong to say a tomato is a vegetable. It's a lot wrong to say it's a suspension bridge.
1)Lighting - As everyone says, no horrible glare on screens either from windows, skylights or bulbs.
:-)
2)Heating/Airconditioners - Nothing worse than being frozen or boiling every day because your neighbour has a different metabolism from you. Best place I worked for gave everyone a small personal airconditioning unit by their desk and you could adjust the temperature to whatever you liked. the area of effect was small so you didn't annoy anyone else. And no torrents of cold air drifting down from overhead to dry out and irritate your eyes while you started at the screen all day.
3) Privacy - I like an office to myself so I can think without distraction, but I understand others don't. I hate people talking about the latest soccer match or someone's wedding or inane crap about soap operas or Star Trek (is there a difference?) On the other hand some people need that level of herd behaviour to function, so I'd say a mix of offices and cubes would be good. But how do you decide the split? And how do you stop the cube people thinking the offices are elitist?
4) Drinks - I have no problem with paying for cans of Coke or whatever. What I do hate is people who get spit all over their water bottles while they drink and then jam them up against the water cooler outlets to refill them. I'd either provide individual bottles of water or ban refills from the coolers. I've got no desire to share unknown oral germs with some spotty bastard down the hall.
5) Chairs - The best and most comfortable you can get. Preferably with adjustable lumbar support. And definitely not those cheap pieces of shite with small low backs that are only adjustable to a comfortable position of you are a midget. The rest of us can only raise them to some pivot point on our spine that is guaranteed to give you permanent backache after a few days.
6) Privacy - Yep, it's good to be able to say "I love you too" to someone without the rest of your colleagues sniggering. Some of us have lives, even though it's not macho to admit it.
7) The best, fastest PCs (or Macs or whatever) for the programmers. Upgraded regularly. Heaps of memory and the biggest screens you can afford. NO SPEAKERS but get good sound cards and headphones. Good graphics cards too, for work and for after hours play. After all, if people want to hang around for games after work it's their own fault if they get caught with some extra work that just came in
In general, get rid of anything that is a DISTRACTION so you will allow the people to work without thinking about the environment at all. The only added ATTRACTION I have included above is the graphics and sound cards. And that's really only because most programmers will have those at home and will hate having to work on a machine with an inferior spec to their hobby box. If they are willing to personally pay several thousand for home computing they will see anything less at work as the company not taking the job seriously.
Troll.
A friend's company spent a lot for quality Herman Miller chairs, then saved on the tables - they used cheap, foldable picnic style tables. The rationionale being that the chair is more critical to the programmers comfort. it worked.