I disagree. While the "over-the-shoulder" thing is a valid arguement, the idea of doing away with area of natural congregation seems ludicrous to me. Some of the best companies in the world have intentionally built such areas into their work environments for the express purpose of encouraging employee interaction. The best example being the oft-cited wunderkind that is Ideo. No one's spent more time crafting culture through office design than they have.
I disagree. While the "over-the-shoulder" thing is a valid arguement, the idea of doing away with area of natural congregation seems ludicrous to me. Some of the best companies in the world have intentionally built such areas into their work environments for the express purpose of encouraging employee interaction. The best example being the oft-cited wunderkind that is Ideo. No one's spent more time crafting culture through office design than they have.