Office Space: TV Documentary Looks At the Dreadful Open Office 314
sandbagger writes "The CBC (it's like PBS only without the begging) is broadcasting a documentary about the open plan office this evening. You can hear a radio interview about the documentary here. In this documentary, the history of the open office is looked at, how it has evolved, and how the justifications for it being best for everyone else are used by those with offices. Advocates say fewer doors and walls means more collaboration. Critics say it's all driven by bottom line economics--crowding more people into smaller spaces saves money. Is it just me or do the people who want you to work in open offices sound like the nobility in Downton Abbey?"
The solution is obvious (Score:5, Funny)
Switch to LibreOffice. It's much less dreadful.
Human capital (Score:5, Funny)
To me the reasons for the open office space are partially explained by this Dilbert strip [dilbert.com].
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
I prefer Libre Office (Score:2, Funny)
Things really went downhill when Oracle took it over.
Re:Downton Abbey (Score:4, Funny)
It's just you, since I don't watch Downton Abbey
Neither does the submitter, since there's no way Lord Grantham would talk that way about "commoners".
Re:Downton Abbey (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I like the open plan (Score:5, Funny)
yes, everyone with headphones on, you can just see the collaboration, can't you?
Re:I like the open plan (Score:2, Funny)
One new type of person I met I like to call the "punctuation farter." I met a fat, dumb slob who preferred to fart during certain words, but it was unclear whether or not he was trying to disguise his farts or reinforce his point. For example, he would say things like, "Yeah, if we drilled the hole *PBBBHHT*here, then we could have enough slack in the cable to move the light fixture that *PPBBBBHT*far from where it is (him farting plosively when he said "here" and "far").
This "real life" thing is amazing, you all should try it sometime. It's far more bizzarre than anything "reality" TV can cough up.
-- Ethanol-fueled
Re:I like the open plan (Score:5, Funny)
I got moved to open office while still doing the same job. My productivity plummetted. I spend more time on slashdot than ever before because it's the only thing I can actually focus on.
Re:I like the open plan (Score:5, Funny)
I've noticed it doesn't impair slash-dotting at all.
The shrinking cubicle wall, from cube farm to open (Score:5, Funny)
The breaking point was when they got lower than the average person's stupid mouth. Then EVERY phone call was basically broadcast across the entire warehouse of an office complex. Seriously, god help you if you are within shouting distance of sales, because you are never ever ever going to get any work done.
As a final insult they shrunk our desks from U shape to L shape, then lowered the cube walls to desk height... so if something rolled off your desk, it could roll down the hall too. It was insanely stupid...
Eventually they just sent all the tech people to work from home... since they had sabotaged our work so much at the office, we might as well take the initial hit on telecommute.
I am all for ruining the office so badly that we no longer regard meat based presence as mandatory, but I wish it could happen faster, rather than the phased "lets ruin everything every 3 years" approach.
Re:I like the open plan (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The solution is obvious (Score:5, Funny)
Or Google Docs. Work anywhere.
And you get a free backup at the NSA.
remember this one? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I like the open plan (Score:2, Funny)
I just don't need every bodies BS to know what is going on.
Re:The solution is obvious (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I like the open plan (Score:2, Funny)
L-shaped desks arranged into plus-signs. Heil! Your entire post takes on a whole different meaning doesn't it. Let me paraphrase for you...
Working in the camp felt like I was in pen - there was a subtle "arbeit macht frei" vibe going on. It was dehumanizing.
At my current job as a sonderkommando we keep peace and quiet because everyone in the room is also a Jew, and nobody wants to be Loud Avigdor.
Re:Humans are territorial animals (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I like the open plan (Score:4, Funny)
They make you put in produce?