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Large Tech Companies Moving Beyond the Cubicle

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the what-would-dilbert-do dept.

statemachine writes in with a story from Silicon Valley about how Intel and Cisco, among other companies, are experimenting with cubeless, open, and unassigned seating. "Beginning this month, [Intel] will set up three experimental work sites. Open areas, comfortable armchairs, extra conference rooms and tables where people can plop down with laptops will replace the ubiquitous cubes that have been standard issue for decades. Each morning, Intel employees will log onto the corporate network using wireless connections. Their phone numbers will follow them. White boards that employees use to sketch out business plans and project strategies will be outfitted with electronics so drawings and plans can be transferred to laptops and e-mailed to colleagues. 'People feel much more comfortable coming up to me. It's more of a friendly atmosphere,' Cisco senior manager Ted Baumuller said. 'I hope I never have to go back to cubes.'"

9 of 345 comments (clear)

  1. What about personal things by WetCat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    like books, personal items, photos, etc?

    1. Re:What about personal things by Professor_UNIX · · Score: 5, Funny

      Irrelevant in the new economy. We need employees to be fluid and quick to react to any situation. When it comes time to lay them off they should be able to leave at a moment's notice with little to no trace that they ever existed at the company other than their e-mail account and storage space on the company file server which are being wiped as we speak. Turn in your badge and laptop and calmly wait for security to escort you off the premises.

    2. Re:What about personal things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      It isn't too hard to claim a personal spot in a situation like this. Just eat a lot "while working" and make sure the crumbs are all over the chair. Fart a lot into the seat cushion and make sure people hear it from time to time. Trust me, that spot is all yours...

  2. Don't kid yourselves, it's all about costs by cerberusss · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Open areas (...) will replace the ubiquitous cubes
    Yes, great! And we will need less office space! Isn't it great!?

    Don't kid yourselves, this is just about some PHB wanting to save on office space, cramming yet another dozen workers in the same space.
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    1. Re:Don't kid yourselves, it's all about costs by Mikkeles · · Score: 5, Interesting
      'Productivity also is up, said Larry Matarazzi, ...'

      I wonder how much of this is due to the Hawthorne Effect?

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      Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
  3. Management != Techies by AceJohnny · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So the senior manager is happy with the arrangement? Great. Guess what: that kind of guy deals with people all day long. It makes sense to make it easier for him to interact with people.
    But not for me. I'm a hardcore techie. I spend days not interacting with people, fighting with the code, and I need my concentration. Every time I get interrupted, I need about 20 minutes to get back to work properly.
    Yep, I'm in a cubicle. I hear everything that happens around me, and maybe I'm just not good enough to blank it out. I regularly have to reserve meeting rooms just to have a little peace and quiet to be able to think.

    Yeah, I'm mad because my request for noise-isolating headphones was turned down. Does it show?

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    1. Re:Management != Techies by sqrt(2) · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I don't mean to sound insulting or presumptuous, and I don't claim to know nearly enough about you or your work to make this claim with much accuracy, but perhaps you have adult ADD? I know someone who has it, and described nearly exactly what you said. They can't block out sound/visual input well and basically any sensory input not related to the task at hand, and once they get side tracked they have a hard time being able to regain focus.

      Or it could just be simple boredom/frustration/fatigue with doing a task for long stretches of time.

      What's stopping you from bringing your own noise canceling headphones?

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  4. I see some sterile nerds in the near future. by RandoX · · Score: 5, Funny

    No desks? Laptops on for 8 hours? You do the math.

  5. Re:Backward Tech Companies by CommandNotFound · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Also, didn't the early productivity studies regarding lighting show that productivity went because of the study itself? Wikipedia is down, so I can't link it, but if I recall, they changed the lighting, and productivity went up 15%. They changed the lighting back, and productivity still went up 15%. They determined that people worked harder because of the study.