

Ask HN: How do you work in an open office plan and get anything done? - econner

I started at a company that has an open office plan (i.e. where everyone sits in the same big open room and can freely walk between people).  For those of you who have been doing this for awhile: how do you get anything done?  One day I noticed that I got interrupted about every 20 minutes by something..even with the super duper noise canceling headphones.  The times that I don't work in the office feel orders of magnitude more productive.  Thanks.
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scottyallen
I hate open office plan environments. I feel very lucky to work from my own
home office full time now. That being said, I've done my time in open offices.
Some things to try:

\- Try saying "No" to interruptions. This is probably better worded as "Sorry,
I'm really heads down on something right now - can you shoot me an email about
it, or maybe I can come find you later?" Do that enough, and people will grow
out of the habit of constantly interrupting, because there's no reward.

\- Develop a signal for your coworkers that indicates you're in "heads down"
mode and that you shouldn't be disturbed. When I worked at Google, one of the
SREs had a sign on his desk that said "If Cody is wearing the rockstar
glasses, he is thinking and shouldn't be disturbed". I've also visited offices
that have sliding whiteboard doors on their cubicles, and the office policy is
that if the whiteboard door is open, you're fair game to interrupt, but if
it's closed, you need to be left alone.

\- In ear headphones may be better than noise canceling, if you haven't tried
those. I have a nice pair of shure's (SE210's) with these tips, which are
pretty similar to earplugs: <http://compare.ebay.com/like/290692040848>. I
also had custom molded earpieces made, but I could never get one to make a
good seal. The other one was great though, so it might be worth a shot.

\- Try coming in early or staying late. Any time spent when the office is more
empty will likely be more productive.

\- Hide:) Conference rooms are good, and out of the way couches or stairwells
sometimes work.

As someone who is way more productive in quiet environments with minimal
distractions, I wish open plan offices and "bullpen" environments weren't so
trendy among startups.

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eshvk
I have never actually heard an engineer ever proclaim why an open office plan
is definitively a better approach to do things. I have heard things like
"Foster open communication" or "Collaboration" but I am not really clear why
one couldn't collaborate online or slip into a meeting room and conspire. I
haven't got a good answer from non-engineering folks who usually decide on the
office plan.

Rant aside, I try to get to work incredibly early and get a significant
portion of my work done then. Another option as someone else suggested is in-
ear phones. These can vary from $200 (Shure) to $500 (Westone ) for a really
awesome pair and can get some getting used to, however they surpass active
noise cancellation headphones in terms of shutting down coworker noise.

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moocow01
Worked in that environment for 5 years... I honestly never found a way. Now
work mostly remotely.

I feel like I tried everything - headphones, locking myself in meeting rooms,
being uninviting when people interrupted.

I wish I could tell you a story about how I figured it out but now I only take
jobs that are at least semi-remote. I would consider a job where there are
real offices for everyone but this seems to be increasingly difficult to find.

I'd talk to your boss about working remote 2-3 days a week and proving how
much more productive you are during those days.

~~~
Andrenid
Yeah I ended up talking to management and arranged to work from home a few
days a week, mostly coming in on meeting days or team stuff. I asked them for
a trial initially, and when they saw how productive I was when I wasn't in,
they were instantly sold on it.

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smeez
When I worked in an open office, we had a small team of developers. We all
wore headphones when we were in the zone, and we communicated during
unofficial "quiet time" by using campfire. Eventually, we all started to
complete 60 - 90 minute quiet time focused work sprints followed by 5 minutes
of break time and joking, before starting the cycle again. It was weird how we
all fell into a similar pattern. It made our team stronger, though.

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KMcHugh
Two rules we use to manage interruptions: 1) If I have headphones on, IM me. I
will respond when convenient. 2) If I am pairing, a server better be on fire.

We make the pair sacrosanct. A greater emphasis on pairing means there is one
fewer person to distract you.

Still, there are times when a quiet room is necessary. Striking the balance
between productive cross-polination of ideas and total chaos is a tricky
dance.

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codeonfire
Work from home, get in at 5am, leave at 8pm, have a 'meeting' at an empty desk
elsewhere, and finally try to find another job. The problem is that there are
lots of roles where success depends on other people. If everyone at the
company is doing their own heads down work, this becomes a major issue for
people in those roles. It's no mistake that you are being interrupted every 20
minutes.

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chrisbennet
I get in early and do the concentration intensive work then if I can. I've
(re)trained myself to tune out stuff. I naturally tune people out but I got
rusty when I worked alone in my home office for a few years.

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OafTobark
Chat, not talk. Reserve talking (interruptions) for critical things.
Everything else, chat even if the person is directly next to you.

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zoltar92
Idea paint. We painted our room with idea paint (white board paint) I actually
think better in there then anywhere!

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sharemywin
buy a couple of cubes. let people use them when they don't want to be
distrubed.

