Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!purdue!decwrl!ucbvax!hplabs!hpfcdc!hpldola!hp-lsd!ritchie From: ritchie@hp-lsd.HP.COM (Dave Ritchie) Newsgroups: comp.software-eng Subject: Office Survey Results.................. Message-ID: <10440004@hp-lsd.HP.COM> Date: 3 Aug 89 05:35:06 GMT Organization: HP Logic Systems Division - ColoSpgs, CO Lines: 313 To all, here is the summary of responses I received regarding my post requesting information concerning office space. The names have been removed. Enjoy! Dave Ritchie ========================================================================== I see by your address that you work for my old employer -hp-. In 1975, several -hp- people left to start up Tandem Computers (including myself), and one universal demand in this group was that software people WILL have private offices (2 to the office with doors that shut). Most of us had worked in -hp-'s building 42 Upper, where several hundred people work in one room, and it is virtually guaranteed that at least one phone will be ringing at all times. Good luck trying to get -hp- to change their bullpen policy. The best ammunition I can think of is the book ``Peopleware'' by De Marco and Lister. They point out that during intense creative design (e.g., programming) each interruption costs you 15 minutes, by the time you deal with the interruption and refocus your concentration. I conclude that if you can hear a phone ring more than 4 times per hour, you will get nothing done. This is why at -hp- I always worked nights and weekends and avoided 9-5. When Tandem got their first real building, they looked at costs and found that 2-man offices are scarcely more expensive than carrels, and I feel strongly that the productivity gain much more than pays the difference. ========================================================================== I am unhappy with my office. "World Headquarters" for the then independent Compugraphic Corp. was built during the energy crises by a very cheap management team. They used ugly brown cinderblocks and the made the windows very small. Can you say State Penitentiary? The worst problem though is the interior layout which is large open floor space with only 5 1/2 foot cubicles. Level 3 and 5 (associate and regular software engineers) have to share an 8 by 10 cubicle. Senior Software Engineers like me get a whole 8 x 10 cubicle, and Principle Software Engineers get a whole office. The two major functions of S.E. conflict badly in this environment. In one cubicle you have 3 people jammed around a white board discussing a problem, while next door someone is trying to concentrate but is unable to do so because of the noise. We have only the very cheapest office furniture and very few comfortable chairs and definitely no ergonomically-designed adjustable workstation tables. Rumor has it that the new management is going to redo everything, but I doubt they have read Peopleware. Any suggestions on how to affect (infect?) their thinking? ========================================================================== I'm in a (roughly) 10x12 two man closed office with a window into a hall. (About 1/3 the offices have outside windows). The office is OK, if minimal. If wouldn't consider it a feature... ========================================================================== Ashton Tate has just moved one set of developers into new quarters. These offices are about twelve by fourteen with two people inside. The office has a door, and walls which reach to the ceiling. It is a real office, and not just a cube. In fact, the office is split into two cubes: one for each occupant. Each cube is about seven feet by twelve feet. The occupant sits in the middle of a u-shaped modular component table. Above one side of the U are two shelves providing twelve feet of open shelf space. Below the table on this side are desk components: three drawers, one of the a filing cabinet. At the base of the U is a keyboard holder which can be stashed under the table. Actually, I find this useless as it doesn't hold a mouse and places the keyboard in an awkward position. I don't use it. Above the other side of the U are cabinet shelves which can be locked. under the table on this side is are four filing cabinet drawers. Underneath the bottom shelf and the cabinets are some harsh fluorescents, which I never use. Each person is also supplied with a standing cabinet, maybe four feet by five feet. And there is one very ergonomic and nice chair! Each office is equipped with up to six ethernet/serial connections. Most people have one or two types of machines and/or terminals depending upon what they need. I have a microvax II workstation and a toshiba laptop. They did a very nice job here. Perhaps the only complaint is a lack of windows: There are inner and outer offices and not enough windows for each. You should check out IBM's San Jose offices. They built a site with lots of specs inorder to boost programmer productivity. Several years ago there were several papers written about it. I believe I may have some xeroxed copies, if you are interested. ========================================================================== I'm working in a 10' x 12' office with one other person. We have an outside window, although most other people in my organization do not. Since we are European, we have arranged our desks to face each other (rather than both facing the wall, which seems to be more common in the US). The passageways in our building are 5' wide, and there are no windows at the ends, nor are there any windows between the offices and the passages. Most people in the organization are very insistent on having separate offices (rather than bullpens). But I sense an increased degree of "wandering the halls" since we moved to this building from a brighter and more open building. The organization is involved in software development. I'm particularly interested in these type of issues, and have considered doing some further work (academic/professional) in the area. I'd be very interested to discuss the subject further with you, and would like to hear the results of your net request. ========================================================================== I share a 10x12 closed office with another programmer and no window. :-( I would be happier with a cubicle than sharing an office with a door, even a window. :-I Of course, I am happiest (and most productive) with my own office with a door; however, a window would be OK! :-) ========================================================================== > I was wondering what companies provide their employees in the way of >office space (open/closed offices, size, windows) and whether or not >employees are satisified with the office space they occupy. Please mail >your comments to me and I will post a summary. At Bellcore, we have, almost for all technical staff, two-person closed offices -- most without windows. The privacy is nice on occasion, but the isolation from one another is, in my opinion, a psychological factor that may not be well studied. I have read the reports about private offices, phone pick-up, noise reduction, etc. I know they advocate all three as productivity enhancers. I agree with the noise and the phone pick-up. I am not so sure that the of- fice privacy comes without its down side. I have been to various HP loca- tions (as well as those of many other companies). I do not feel that the open style at HP was noisy or invaded my sense of "privacy" in any meaning- ful way. I like it better as it is brighter and there is a sense in which everyone has a "window." One of our buildings in Piscataway is done with movable (takes some effort but no demolition) metal (not at all ugly though) walls which have glass at the tops. Thus, natural light does get in to almost all the offices to some degree. This is what I think is important. I think there have been studies (apart from those done in the computer field) about natural light simulation and its impor- tance to many people. People ought to consider that along with privacy since the light might be more of a spirit enhancer which may be far more important in boosting productivity, attitude, etc. On the other hand, I adapt fairly well wherever I work and have never worked where the physical conditions were poor. However, I KNOW I work better when I have natural light available. In fact, I prefer to work on a sunny day and am not motivated much at all when it is dreary out. ========================================================================== Our company provides the usual open stall type of office layouts which I find very frustrating. At the current moment in my cubicle I can hear (clearly): - someone bursting listings - a three person conversation about problems in an existing release - a manager trying to find out how to set up a LAN s/w option - a gentleman behind me lighting up another cigarette (the smoke will soon follow) This is not an effective environment to work in but unfortunately it is corporate wide policy. The cubicle sizes vary, mine is 10x8 (feet). ========================================================================== I work at AG Communication Systems. I have: 1 desk 2 bookshelves 1 table 1 terminal stand with an Apollo DN3500 workstation that can also connect me to our IBM 3090 mainframe I don't have any windows, but I don't share an office. Actually, it's not so much an office as it is a cubicle - movable walls connected to form a rectangle. Our standard offices are 6 feet by 9 feet. The offices get bigger as you get promoted. You may want to look at the book called _Peopleware_ that talks about the importance of such things. It even identifies meaningful metrics that you can collect on this subject. ========================================================================== I find these elements work well: - walls to keep noise out - sharing a space with another person is good for impromptu brainstorming - south-facing window large enough to provide enough natural light so that artificial lights aren't required (except after sunset). - enough desk space so that I can multi-task. The desk should be large enough to hold my Mac, several listings open, plus a few file folders open and my briefcase open with still enough space to be writing on a pad of paper. As a consultant, I get to work in a lot of different office configurations. The elements above are my preferences. ========================================================================== I'm moderately happy with mine. I have a semi-private office (only one roommate) of about 140 sq ft. I was given no choice of officemate (my current one is ok, but I almost got saddled with one who will NOT get along with me, no matter what I do & I had no say in the matter). For comparison, I'm 40, have over 20 years professional experience and bounce between being a techie and a technical manager (software development and systems engineering). ========================================================================== I have a "cubbie", which is okay. What I REALLY HATE is when a company blocks all the windows with management offices. That leaves us peons with no real walls, no privacy, no view. You can't even stand up and look out a window to rest your eyes from the glare of a terminal. Seems to me there are at least two styles of office architecture out there: One, typified by DEC, clusters management offices in the center of the build- ing. At least when I worked there, official policy was that no one had a window. I like that. The other type, like here, reward management by giving them not only more money and more prestige but windows which block the rest of our views. This creates a sweatshop environment. Next time I interview for a job, I'll check out the office arrangements. I won't be working at another company that blocks windows. I feel the style reflects an attitude at the top about who's important and who isn't. I prefer to work somewhere where my contribution is valued enough to provide me with a relaxing view. ========================================================================== Here at FICC, we (programmer/analysts) are given offices to share 2 per office. Outside windows are reserved for 1 per office management types. We have an atrium in the middle of the building that the 2nd and 3rd floors have offices with windows into ... reserved for employees with a number of years tenure at the company (or a little luck :-) Basically, I like it a lot. I don't have a window office, which would be nice, but it beats the heck out of cubes. And the whole key is to team up with an officemate you can handle. ========================================================================== So far, at least, Apollo provides full-sized, full-height offices, and we're real keen on them. Windows vary somewhat by building; in the building I'm in currently window offices tend to be doubles. For what it's worth I personally don't care for window offices, but I am fond of having a separate, private, office. It might not be #1 on my checkoff list, but wandering into an environment filled with miles of cubicles starts off an interviewing experience on a negative note. From a recent poll of employees when our newest building was being laid out, this is by far the consensus opinion. Two comments: one, that poll *was* con- ducted and acted on, and two, I understand we're in a minority position compared to our new HP brethren on this issue... But I'd rather fight than switch! ========================================================================== The standard Convex office is a 150 foot square room, carpeted, with walls from floor to ceiling, solid wood door with 1'x4' window in it, and equipped with Herman Miller modular furniture attached to the walls. Everyone from the Vice Presidents to programmers, payables clerks, and gofers has this same basic office with essentially the same equipment and furniture. Every office has a fiber-optic connec- tion serving telephone, ASCII, X-terminals, and Applenet capability. None of the standard offices abuts an exterior window. (Exception: the two founders offices are about 200 sf, they do abut a second story window, and have free-standing furniture. They are notably more spartan than an office I had in an earlier incarnation.) Because Convex has avoided bullpens, "choice" locations, office size, and varying grades of furniture wood, we tend to be happy campers, with little of the usual grousing about elitism, etc. The offices are comfortable, well-lit, furnished according the employee's needs (need a bookshelf? just e-mail facilities a week ahead of time & it's yours). The under-shelf lighting is nice, especially for workstation types, who can turn off the overhead stuff, but still be able to function. The closed plan offers more privacy and reduce noise distractions. On the down-side )-: probably the biggest beef is between the "halfs" and the "half-nots." Some of these 150 sf offices are shared by two people, and some are not. The determinants, typically, are seniority and rank. This is a blatant inconsistency in an otherwise egalitarian arrangement. And it's not a matter of degree... either you share, or you don't. About the only other negatives are minor... some people don't like facing the wall, and the HM modular stuff forces you to do so, at least some of the time (it takes less space, though); some people don't like the window in the door, but they are free to cover it with something (most of us work with the door open most of the time). On the whole, Convex strikes a balance between quiet, comfortable, pleasant surroundings, and avoids the extremes of crowded, hot/cold, noisy offices, or opulent, exorbitant, and wasteful offices.