Open offices are overrated

If you work in an office, there's a good chance it's an open one. How did we get here? And why is it so bad?

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Open offices have been around a surprisingly long time. But they're relatively misunderstood for their role in workplace culture. Where did open offices and cubicles come from, and are they really what we want?

This episode of Overrated explores the history, including Frank Lloyd Wright, Herman Miller, and other key figures in the office design movement. Our workplaces haven't always been this way — this is how we got here.

[AngelRodriguez-twxx]

This man is passive aggressively asking for better open office

[sinabonz]

I personally have trouble concentrating when there are people around me.

[AndrewCybulska]

You actually got paid to make a video to tell your bosses you hate your office layout. That's gutsy and I totally dig it. Thanks for the video!

[profgandoor]

I’d rather have a cubicle, it’s like your own little bubble of concentration. They also feel so quiet and cozy.

[Pcarnevaaa]

The best part is when they say “millennials enjoy open office spaces”... says who?

[bee]

Even as a college student I never liked open seating libraries. I always gravitated to one of those individual study booths with high walls. Too much distractions if I just sit at an open study table with other students coming and going, talking, and even sometimes not studying at all but sleeping.

[FerKzrs]

Making phone calls is a monumental task at an open office, no matter how much you try to concentrate. Megan just simply won't stop talking about how her boyfriend hasn't replied to her messages.

[keyqchan]

Open office is one of introverts' nightmares. Prisoners even have more privacy than us low-rank office workers.

[lillemegpower]

It is just like a classroom. It is nearly impossible to concentrate.

[EGstill]

Working in an office was the reason I hated my previous job and eventually what lead me to resign from the company.
I despised the feeling of constantly being monitored by either a co-worker or supervisor looking over my shoulder. I felt trapped in an Orwellian nightmare in which the simple act of opening a web browser to check the daily news headlines could result in either admonishment directly from a higher up or one of my co-workers snitching about seeing me doing an unrelated work task. Alternatively, there was the ever looming possibility of a co-worker “jokingly” calling me out in front of the whole office, rhetorically asking in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, “why I was scrolling the web, instead of focusing on my work”. I will never ever ever ever go back to the dreaded cesspool which is the modern office workplace. I shudder thinking of the seven years of my life I’ll never get back working in that infernal death trap where hopes of happiness come to wither into dust...

[tollboothjason]

Private offices are the best. If you don't mind interaction, you leave your door open. If you need to concentrate privately, you leave your door closed, and the only way to get in touch with you is to call you on the landline.

[kckzen]

If this is Phil's attempt to get his own office then good luck lmao.

[cyberneticqualanaut]

Yes, to save money on real estate. But also, it's the panopticon - it's a cheap way for management to create the perception that a worker is being watched constantly, to instill fear & guilt in the workplace, and maintain control.

[RixMorales]

Today's open office design is kinda depressing to be honest, especially if you're in the middle of the room. It kinda feels constricting and suffocating, your source of light is artificial, you're too far from the window, and you feel isolated in an alien world

[mymanson]

As a person on the autistic spectrum, I simply cannot work in an open office lay out, and believe me I have tried. The tiny noises, movements, sights, sounds, even smells....way too overwhelming. I was so lucky to find an employer who respected people's wishes and I got my corner cubicle; my own quiet space where, believe me, I work harder and better than ever before. Open spaces might seem cost-effective, but I really wonder how productive the employees actually are.

[bradido]

When I became a manager I did a lot of research into this topic. I was all hype to set up a more open office. However, what I learned is that the research show is that workers need *both* open spaces to congregate and personal spaces to work. The best work happens when employees have "random encounters" to collaborate (e.g. break rooms, open meeting space, etc.) but can retreat to a secluded space for formal work. The best example is the famous Pixar building, which perfectly implements these ideas.

[cajunstrat]

Add to this horror is the "hot desk", where you can't personalize your desk, must clean it out at the end of each day so someone who comes in earlier than you can claim that desk the next day.

[random_works]

The worst thing about open offices are those people that just sneak up behind you and look at your screen for a good 10 seconds before actually telling you what they need.

[xAckarax]

I work in a open office all we all opt to talk via slack even though person is 2ft away. I agree it overrated. I want to adjust my balls, pick my nose and slam the keyboard on my forehead in privacy.

[husnainanwaar]

What if we all work from home and company's improve homes