So I witnessed to following: I was in WHQ, in an open space on one of the floors. The area had 4 small collaboration tables and an area with workstations. A group of 3 workers sat at one of the collaboration tables to hold their meeting. A man, who was working at the workstation got up, approached the group and told them to leave. He said that they were disrupting him and he couldn't concentrate. The group got up and left but one of the joked about not being able to collaborate. The funniest part is that, within a few minutes after the group left, the man got up and left for about an hour (I assume lunch). I wonder if this goes on all the time.
14 replies (most recent on top)
@am+1k6dsdc1 it's not ebonics, is new yawk, man, haven'tcha eva bin tadda Lowa East Side? dey even moved Cadillac dere for a while, and den... well... you know how executives are, dey keep on changin' dere minds n'all.
@d8 - I agree with you on the status thing. First, we are told to go ahead and work anywhere, even in the offices. Then, we are told we get designated areas to work. Now, we are told to leave the offices for the managers. Now, us pions are left with the open spaces and workstations.
The new building will be amazing. Just hold on until then. The old WHQ was not designed for collaboration.
@am isn’t the original reply’s quote supposed to be Elmer Fudd from looney tunes?
@c3 that sound suspiciously close to what we had before the furniture salesman came around, are you saying he may have sold us on something that we didn’t need?
Software vendors I’ve visited have a very different office architecture than Ford. Typically something like ten offices on the perimeter with windows and natural light, on one side, glass walls on the other sides. One of the glass walls faces a common area equipped as a conference facility. Each office has a desk and a workstation, a chair for visitors and a coat rack. Inside the offices you can see people in the other spaces, but can’t hear them. There is a small lobby out of eyeshot from the offices with a receptionist who takes phone calls, receives deliveries and guests. Calls to people in the office are screened by the receptionist, if they are urgent they are transferred to the target of the call, others a message is taken. When visitors arrive they are greeted by the receptionist who contacts the host and the host escorts them to the meeting place.
People who need to concentrate on their work have a quiet place where they can see what’s going on around them to feel secure. They don’t get calls that aren’t urgent, and they have confidence that if a real emergency arises they will be interrupted. With glass walls a person in a office can see a meeting, but can’t hear it, so it can be easily ignored.
Not far away, but out of earshot and eyesight there is a canteen with a coffee machine and casual tables where workers can eat lunch and take a coffee break. Bathrooms are also nearby.
@bx im confused, let’s just agree it needs to be labeled with instructions
@bt There were no cubes in the area. The small conference room was already being occupied. So the Focus work zone are the tables with chairs around them? What would be the purpose if you have 3-4 people at a Focus table without talking
@OP It sounds to me like someone was trying to collaborate in a focused work zone, they really need to label these zones better. What was wrong with the old private cube and conference room setup?
@am Maybe it’s all the above?
Good for him. Love this.
@ae I can’t tell if HR is being racist by trying to use display ebonics, or if they’re implying that people who are trying to get work that requires deep focus carry speech impediments.
Oh, and maybe s-xist, too.
My favorite collaboration is the complaining that happens after every all hands. Real morale booster.
how can a man woik wid all diss noise goin' on!