Stupid Ridiculous Open Plan Offices

[fizzwheel]

I've been working on a document for most of the day, I've tried and tried to concentate on it but for the love of god can I get it finished.

I work in a huge open plan office and the constant background noise from people

Chatting about what they did at the weekend.
Shouting at each other other 3 rows of desks.
Talking to colleagues on the phone.
Having improptu meetings by my desk.
One of two colleagues find it appropriate to moan about personal issues in a loud voice to seek attention.
Organise their social lives.

Is really starting to do my head in. The noise is just about verging on intolerable now. I copied my document onto my laptop and in the space of 45 minutes at home in the peace and quiet I've finished it.

We used to be allowed to wear headphone's so we could drown out so we could concentrate but we've had a management change and this guy has banned it. Despite people in other teams within my department being allowed to use them to get some peace and quiet and he refuses to back down about it. To be fair it is specifically mentioned in the company handbook / policy that staff shouldnt use headphones whilst at work.

I've really had enough of it now, I'm easily distracted at the best of times and I'm just about finding it impossible to concentrate. Theres no quiet area at work I can go and sit in to escape from it either.

Tomorrow if it gets to bad the ear plugs I use when I'm on the bike are going in my ears, but I bet he'll try and stop me using them as well.

Does anybody else suffer from this, what can I do to try and get some quiet time. I am thinking of asking to be able to work from home when I need to do stuff like this.

[jonboy]

Keep cool Fizz, in moments like this just put your lid on, visor down! :lol: .


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[timwilky]

I have the luxury of my own office even though I am very rarely there as I prefer to work from home. I cannot work in an open environment. when I visit our HQ I am forced to use the open office and find it extreamly difficult. My boss comes out with all the team crap and if I am not there I am missing out. I give him the usual I don't do teams.

I think there is a place for open plan, however it fails to recognise that individuals have different needs of a working environment.

[CoolGirl]

We work in a very cramped open plan office and suffer the same noise issues. But the deal I struck with our SMT means that although we are wedged into a confined space, we have 'quiet' rooms where we can go and get our heads stuck into stuff if we need to. (and I can work from home as well, for other reasons).

If you're not allowed to wear your headphones, make the point that it's a reasonable idea to have somewhere quiet you can work if you need to. And that you need some ground rules in the open plan about what's a good working environment. Also, make the point that you're being treated differently from your 'phone wearing bretheren across the floor, who are probably more productive.

Take the initiative and ask other colleagues if they feel the same need. You never know, your manager may see reason and/or bow to pressure.

Otherwise, make a point of starting up a loud, inane conversation next to HIS desk every time he's doing something important! :P

[lynw]

oooh I so sympathise. One reason I take my laptop home these days.

Theres one guy that sits there whistling all day, and its awful as hes so out of tune its painful.

The guy opposite me is having dodgy phone calls - think hes in debt to a loan shark by sound of it - and we joke about his "harem" turning up but there is invariably some woman standing there talking to him like no-one else wants to work :evil:

Im lucky I can take the CDs in and plug in now. Otherwise Id opt for never being there. :D

Debs, pointing out the others are allowed to wear 'phones may backfire. Fizz may not win employee of the month award if they realise and stop everyone using them if he points it out to his manager rather than allow him and his team :P :wink: :lol:

[Beenz]

Fizz, I know exactly what you mean.

I changed jobs within the same company and am on regular conference calls with India, China Spain and the states. Now thats a real bunch if different strong accents to get your head around when you talk face to face, on the phone its much harder.

The area I work in one ot two individuals start a discussion over the low level partition instead of walking five feet and it's damn near impossible to understand any of the people participating on the call. A short sharp word normally sorts it out along the lines of "excuse me but I'm on a call ....... and would appreciate it if you could lower the noise, thanks!" That works fine most of the time but I get completely fed up when I have to repeat myself every half hour or so to the same people. Plus it does not help with louder people further away.

When possible I work from home, not that often but you can bet your mother in law that the door bell will be red hot. :)

You have my full sympathy. I'm half tempted to apply for my old job back! that would have to be bad.

Try and take it easy, and maybe even retaliate by talking on the phone a tad louder than normal. Anyone says anything just tell them its a bad line.

Good luck.

[fizzwheel]

I've already pointed out the unfairness of one team wearing headphones and us not being able to. As have my colleagues, all our line manger says is. Well I dont approve of it and I dont want you doing it. He's made it quite clear that if we do it again we'll get b*ll*cked about it, which TBH I cant really be doing with.

I've also pointed out that we are being set unclear examples of what is acceptable behaviour by the management team in letting one team use them and one team not. He says that we are being managed consistently as far as he is concerned as he's told us as a team not to do it.

We picked his argument apart in a team meeting and he got really sh*tty about it and I decided I didnt want to push the issue further.

I've asked for a quiet area before and got told no. I got told to book a meeting room if I wanted somewhere to work, but they all get booked weeks in advance so thats no good when you want a quiet hour or so at short notice.

I was quite rude to a group of people the other week who were chatting about football after lunch really really loudly. It quietened things down for a while but its started again.

I've asked for low level dividers to act as sound barriers, but we've been told we arent allowed them, yet they have them in different departments.

I think I'll be trying the earplugs next, as theres nothing in the handbook that says we cant wear them. I think what I want is a decibel meter that way I can measure the noise level and then if its loud claim a health and safety issue.

Failing that I'll just sit my desk with my lid on and my dark visor down :evil: ala jonboy style

[Diveboy]

http://www.lucasalexander.dk/images/Arnold-Stop-Whining-sizdow.jpg

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[Jelster]

It's quite easy Fizz, tell your boss that to get the work complete you need somewhere to concentrate, and if the company cannot provide somewhere, tell him you'll be an hour late tomorrow as your doing it at home first.

When he starts to argue, tell him if he wants the document on time, it's the only way you can do it because of the noise in the office.

The other way is just to raise your voice above the others and ask them "if they have any f**king work to do?" because your trying to work and they're stopping you.

Both have worked for me. 2nd one tends to pi** a few people off, but you're their to earn money, not be their friend. Sorry if it sounds harsh, but when it gets like that, YOU have to take control...

.

[Haxsaw]

The way to survive in an open plan office (without going mad) is to become the most obnoxious & annoying person there. Once you've succeded, people should soon stop congregating around your desk &, if you're lucky, might complain how crap open plan offices are or even that you should be put in an office on your own :D


(Disclaimer: this theory has not been tested)

[Ed]

Try a grievance under the grievance policy - that you can't get your work done in such a noisy office and with management failure to produce a workable solution. That way you'll have something in writing so if they try to tell you off you can tell them to go hang.

[Beenz]

Fizz, its' clear that your gaffer has some issues, mainly to do with ego and being a control freak. He stops you wearing phones simply because he can. In that position I'd consider voting with my feet and be off either to another company or another area in the same company. Its a hard decision to make and one that you should not have to but it will right the situation. Put up with it till another opportunity is secured, don't go or even threaten to go until you have another job in the bag. Sticking with it is not doing you any good at all.

[independentphoto]

Fizz.

It's quite clear to me that you and your team mates have tried to reason with the manager in question, but with no joy. It's also clear that although company policy, the use of headphones has become "custom & practice" across other departments. The provision of low dividers by other managers also identifies either a problem, or a willingness to encourage and support teams. Your guy doesn't give a :toss: .

GO OVER HIS HEAD - tell the next manager up (in a team if you can) what's going on and point out the inconsistency. If nothing is done, follow the grievance procedure then. Once that fails - get the union in.

Good luck. I have a cordless phone and have been asked how many offices I have purely because I seek sanctuary for privacy and concentration. I still hate it though. Much better to have a door you can close.

Garry :wink:

[Richie]

I've always hated Offices.. never could stand em. now that I've got one ....... I hate them more.... I've got a phone where people can ring me.. and people always ring and want to know stuff that doesn't even remotley have anything to do with myside of life...
The light is on, But you won't find me there.... ( the office that is..)

[Viney]

That was one of the things i hated in Reuters, is that out team where always noisy. I dont like coming down on anyone within reason, but i did have to tell them all to naff off round the breakout area when they wherent needed.

However, we get told, as in, me, my team and the guys that work on the desks behind me, to stop laughing so much!!

I would say to your boss, that as he is not prepared to do anything about it, then you are going to go above his head. Its not professioal to do it without letting him know 1st, but you are within your rights to do it.

[thor]

Hey fizz, does it say anything about ear plugs?

[timwilky]

Thinking about it, we in the UK tend to organise open plan on the cheap. I.e cramm as many backsides into a space a possible without regard for what people need of a work environment.

I was thinking of one of the French offices I visit, mainly open plan. there the ground floor central area is a coffee lounge, complete with comfy chairs in quiet areas , fecking big (30ft) palm trees, tables to lean against with tall chairs and a kiosk where they coffee comes free, but you have to pay for snacks.

The idea being you want to talk, you leave the office go downstairs for a coffee and chat and come back ready to work. seems to work very well. Discussion in the open office is generally 1 to 1 work related but again more than a few minutes do it over a coffee

[Kate]

I work in a similar environment, an open plan office and they used to have regular meetings around me.

To be honest, Haxsaw's suggestion to become obnoxious isn't such a bad idea. They used to have meetings around my desk until I turned around to them and told them not to. Repeatly. Being sarcastic about problems also stopped them from talking complete drivel around me too.

I do use earphones and if I still get bugged by the lusers around me, then I often work from home.

If these two options weren't available as in your case then I would have to take things further. Your new manager obviously has issues, he probably wants to make his presence felt as he is new (or new to the role). I would suggest going further up the chain and perhaps having a quiet chat with HR. I've taken something to HR before now and it was swiftly dealt with in my favour. If nothing works then perhaps its time to find a different job.

[fizzwheel]

Hey fizz, does it say anything about ear plugs?

No it doesnt say anything about earplugs :wink:

This new manager is also a contractor, his contract doesnt have long to run and you guys are right he's chucking his weight around. I'm going to wait until his contract is ended and then when his replacement starts I'm going to speak to him and ask if he has a problem with us wearing earphones when we need to concentrate and then take it from there I think.

I have thought about going over his head to our head of department, but I want to try and sort it out myself first.

[Grinch]

I worked in a open plan office for years, loved it, much better atmosphere. But I to got distracted sometimes, not on my normal day to day work as I can zone out when doing that. But when i was working on docs and I had to think about gamma. So I used headphones as you mentioned, or simply went and did my work in the canteen. The best was just to go to my manager and tell him I'll be finishing it at home, always got it done then, and I could also get Jax to point out my mistakes.

[Anonymous]

Yup i have the same Fizz.

Because i used to work in sales, i sit with the sales guys, ive not been promoted into account management (which as i cant drive anymore means im doing it all internally). Im trying to get on with my work, write emails, analyse business data, and provide MI to our directors, but all i can hear is my colleague Chris talking about any old thing.

You may recall i posted about him a few months ago.. the guy who just does NOT shut up... well hes still waffling on about absolute bullocks. I cant wait till the company bring in 2 more sales guys on the Temporary contract they've been talking about, as it means ill get an office of my own where i may actually be able to get on with my work in peace.

Chris doesnt realise that he puts me off all day, so im actually behind (ill leave the in depth mathematical investigation work until hes gone) which then means that whilst hes in the pub, im still stuck in the office.

Thankfully our offices isnt open plan as such. Its small offices on multiple floors. Our office has 3 desks in it, each in its own cubicle if you like (american stylee). Means i cant actually see chris, but i can damned well hear his voice. :twisted:

[northwind]

I have the best of both worlds- a corner seat in a sort-of-open-plan office. So I can stare out the window, get distracted by the general chat, go on the the internet without being seen- the perfect combination of work-prevention circumstances.

Oh look, a train!

It's gone now.

I'd better turn this bit of paper over just so it looks like I'm busy.

[Grinch]

I have the best of both worlds- a corner seat in a sort-of-open-plan office. So I can stare out the window, get distracted by the general chat, go on the the internet without being seen- the perfect combination of work-prevention circumstances.

Oh look, a train!

It's gone now.

I'd better turn this bit of paper over just so it looks like I'm busy.

lol... thats funny, don't you go burning yourself out... I loved my desk at IBM with the view of the lake... Oh the good old days...

[Sudoxe]

I have the best of both worlds- a corner seat in a sort-of-open-plan office. So I can stare out the window, get distracted by the general chat, go on the the internet without being seen- the perfect combination of work-prevention circumstances.

Oh look, a train!

It's gone now.

I'd better turn this bit of paper over just so it looks like I'm busy.

Yep, same here. Good job i'm in IT. Keep typeing all day...ooh look im busy now...tap.tap..click...click...

Dan

[sharriso74]

I work on a trading floor near the FX traders. You don't need Reuters to know what the markets are doing just gauge it on the noise level.

The only quiet place we have is the cubicles in the toilets.

[localhost]

Does anybody else suffer from this, what can I do to try and get some quiet time. I am thinking of asking to be able to work from home when I need to do stuff like this.

I had this quite badly. They banned headphones in the office and after a while i had enough.
My solution: go and work for the competitors, they atleast allow headphones and the open office is a lot smaller!
Best move i ever mad :D