So I’ve been in our new “open floorplan” cubes — along with the rest of everyone in the office, from filing clerk to Group Vice President — for a few weeks now, after having spent most of my professional career in an office (not always a nice office, but with four walls and a door). How is that working for me?
Privacy
Well, obviously, there is none. Well, not much. I’m up against a window, but with people both in front of and behind me. The latter is problematic both from a “I’ve never liked folks looking over my shoulder while I’m working” position and a “Hmmm, tough to surf Twitter in the downtime between calls when everyone can see that I’m surfing Twitter.”
I’ve gotten around this a bit by repositioning the built-in monitor stands, and by putting a polarizing filter on one of my monitors. My (quite legitimate) excuse for this is that I deal with sensitive material (spreadsheets with labor rates, for example, as well as emails regarding personnel issues) and need that security on occasion.
I still feel like I want to put a small “baby watch” mirror on one monitor, so I can see behind me.
The other aspect of privacy is on phone conversations. I’ve learned to lower my volume so that I’m not bugging people around me. I do have a nearby “phone booth” I can duck into for calls of a sensitive nature — unfortunately, it’s situated such that my wireless headset does not work well in it, which means I need to either plan ahead or figure out the easiest way to transfer / pick up calls there.
Space
Okay, it’s a small cube. Though convenient — I hardly need to slide the chair around at all, except to get it out of the way. There’s actually a lot more storage than you’d think, under the counters, including more file space than I am presently using (or anticipating using). No room for my Justice League action figures, sadly, but I kind of expected that.
I do pace when I’m on the phone. I end up walking around the cubes around mine, trying not to disturb others, but enjoying the view …
Windows
I have a view, looking northeast out my window. I don’t get the mountains directly, but neither do I get direct sunlight. Works for me.
Yesterday we had a cloudburst blow through. It was great watching it coming, and to see the water spattering on the window. For someone who’s spent the last 3-4 years in a completely interior office, it was wonderful.
Noise
We have a very robust white sound system overhead. I do get some sounds of my neighbors on the phone, or occasional chitchat around, but it’s not all that distracting, to be honest. And I have headphones if I need them to listen to Google Music (until the network guys cut that off).
So is all that socializing actually forming creative synergies and all that biz-speak? Actually, it’s come in handy more than I’d thought it would. And it’s downright nice to be able to turn and talk to someone about something (trivial or technical or whatever).
Net-net
Well, there’s not much I can do about it, given that all the execs are living in the same sort of situation (albeit, sometimes, with larger cubes, but just as public). Indeed, in November our corporate HQ in California is moving, and everyone there (on up to the president of the company) will be living in the Valley of the Cubes.
That all said, it’s working okay. It’s hard to toss in the occasional blog post during the day, but by no means impossible. It’s nice being around other people, as well as seeing the sky and the weather. I think I can live with it.