Working in an open office space
There has always been a debate on whether an open space office is better or closed space is better. Having worked in both types of offices for two years each now, in retrospect, there is a lot it takes on an individual to adjust working on both.
It’s been two years, I have been working in an open office space. Coming from a closed office set up where only 3 of us were in a room, it was a cultural change for me. Here I was on an open floor with thirty other people, with one individual sitting face to face in the opposite direction. It was very difficult at first to cope up with the changes, but over the period of time, some of the habit developed has really helped me to excel in my work in an open space office set up.
I find this same problem faced by many other people too. Here are a few practices I follow to stay productive in open-office plan.
- Creating imaginary space:
To get into my space and have my work done, I create an illusion in my head that the desk provided to me is my space i.e. small office for myself. That space is my zone to feel free and work on projects with ease. For this, I try to bring in some of my personal belongings like books or table showpieces and have it there to provide me an illusion of personal space.
2. Using meeting spaces:
How much one tries, there is always a constant low volume noise going on, in open space office, be it because of people typing keyboard or small discussion between the team members discussing the project architecture. To not be a source of noise and minimize it as much as possible, I tend to keep my meetings in some other space or meeting rooms. If I feel, the discussion with my teammates is going to be more than just a few words exchange, I usually call for a meeting in the meeting room, so others don’t get disturbed.
3. Blocking external noise:
Noise-canceling headphone works great to get you going with your work blocking out external noise. This is another way of telling the colleagues that you are in your own space and on to something. These headphones can be used to hear songs that will drive you on a good flow for the work or you can listen to podcasts too if you can do multitasking easily. I personally don’t own a noise-canceling headphone and use simple earphones and listen to podcasts while I am working, and they work great too.
4. Productivity Time Tracking:
Time tracking is rather a controversial topic, where developers have their own say about it. Some people say, that time tracking is good for their productivity and helps them to stay on track and in retrospect analyze the work done for better planning of upcoming work and stay focused, while others feel like they are getting spied and micro-managed. On my personal level, I feel, time tracking increases the developer’s accountability.
Time tracking is one of the tools to stay productive in open-office space. This helps us to analyze, the time spent on meetings and other secondary works rather than the real development work. Having tracked the work properly, one has to sit less with managers for communicative meetings and thus more time to work. Managers will have a better understanding of the project status and are more confident that they have a handle on what their developers are accomplishing.
5. Taking advantage of off-peak hours:
During my two years of work in open office culture, there is a certain pattern I have noticed in the office culture. During the 9 hour office including a 1-hour break, there are certain time slots where people are most productive and some slots where there are fewer people on the floor. This is the time where you can focus on heavy tasks and get them done. I usually get my most important task done in these time slots, and this mantra has been working well for me for quite some time now.
6. Embracing the noise:
Sometimes all you can do is embrace the noise and be a part of it. And the noise is not always bad. I do take off my earphones, once in a while and overhear the discussion going on in other projects, this way I try to be more involved in the culture and get knowledge from other projects too. The goal is to get as much knowledge as possible, be it from my own project or from other projects. Having a positive outlook on things is the main mantra here.
There are a few advantages associated with open office space as well. Among all Cultural Exchange is one of them. When there are no barriers and boundaries, ideas flourish, culture is exchanged. You get to know your fellow colleagues, helps you increase your social circle, which is beneficial for both introverts and extroverts alike. This has always been something that fascinated me towards open office spaces.
No matter what type of office we work in, productivity is always the result of efficiency and accountability. With good out-look on work and self-discipline, we can always stay productive in any office space.
If there are any other practices, you are following, please do leave in the comment section below.
