Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To hate open-plan working?!

86 replies

treacletree · 21/10/2019 10:48

Does anyone else hate open plan offices? I don’t understand why companies seem to think they are such a great idea. I work on a very large open plan floor and I can hear people around chatting, eating, typing so loud, having standup meetings all day and I find it makes me feel very on edge and it is hard to concentrate. My job frequently involves long stints of working with complex spreadsheets and I find it so hard in this environment. I get so anxious (or something) that I often need to go and sit in a meeting room for a few minutes to feel like I can breathe and not jsut be constantly on show.
Now I have long suspected that I may be autistic (although I’m pretty high functioning and mask very well), I guess I want to know if other people cope fine with open plan. I suspect my reaction is pretty extreme. I enjoy my work and when the office is quieter I find it much easier to get things done, but at the moment we are near capacity and pretty much every day I just want to escape to a room on my own.
Aibu??

OP posts:
ClientListQueen · 21/10/2019 17:49

I'm pretty used to it now after 15 years in contact centres!! I have no issue telling someone loud to STFU though if I'm on a call and can't hear because they're being too loud

VeniceBeach · 21/10/2019 17:50

The woman who sits behind me at work loudly sighs and mutters complaints to herself! It drives me mad!

It’s difficult to even go to the toilet for a moment’s privacy because we have to use the toilet for the general public and it’s always queued up.

Most people seem to hate open plan offices – so why do we still have them? How are they conducive to productive working?

Ginfordinner · 21/10/2019 17:55

Most people seem to hate open plan offices

Most people on mumsnet seem to hate open plan offices. TBH I have never heard anyone at work complain about being in an open plan office.

EggysMom · 21/10/2019 17:59

We have a huge open plan office. We also work intently on spreadsheets. Add into that mix that our team is split across two banks of desks - either side of the wide walkway to the meeting rooms on the floor (very outing!). It's impossible to concentrate without using something. We've negotiated with managers that, if we have a particular need to concentrate for a fixed time, then we can wear headphones to shut out the general hubbub.

thatmustbenigelwiththebrie · 21/10/2019 18:00

Until recently I was in an open plan office of 40 people. I hated it. I just couldn't concentrate but luckily my boss felt the same and was very open to us going somewhere quiet with a laptop if needed.

I am now in a new job and in an office of two others. They chunter away sometimes but I find it much easier to block them out and get on with my work.

Isleepinahedgefund · 21/10/2019 18:20

I had a bad open plan day today.

One colleague who kept wandering around talking to everyone.

Another having a meltdown at his desk, which happens too often as he doesn't handle pressure well

People's laptops pinging and binging away because of a new software update

I went to find a quiet space to concentrate and get a particular task done (we have them dotted around the building) and my manager came to find me to see what was wrong! Can't bloody win.

I much prefer working at home! I think open plan requires a level of discipline that many people lack.

Ginfordinner · 21/10/2019 18:39

Why are people's laptops pinging? We have to have the volume turned off on all technology at work.

We all work on spreadsheets so our office is pretty quiet. It seems that a lot of you work with some thoughtless and selfish people.

swingofthings · 21/10/2019 18:48

Another one who absolutely hates them and I'm definitely an extrovert. I can't stand the noise level, people walking around near you, talking over your head, having to concentrate working on an important document whilst having to listen to the person next you entertaining a very loud conversation or two members of staff discussing a project disagreeing on actions.

After 5 years in an open office, I am now back in one office I share with one person and its bliss.

ForalltheSaints · 21/10/2019 18:58

I work in one and when I first did about 20 years ago it took a lot of getting used to. It's OK if the people you work with are pleasant and respectful, and not all there all the time you are. Though I am someone who is not very sensitive to noise, so can see why many people would not like it.

Answerthequestion · 21/10/2019 19:05

Where are all there companies which aren’t open plan? In 25 years of working I’ve never worked in a non open plan environment.

Ginfordinner · 21/10/2019 19:15

Neither have I Answer

millimollimandi · 21/10/2019 19:19

Me too - it exacerbates my anxiety but fortunately I can work from home a couple of times a week. The noise and the inability to be able to concentrate should make companies think twice, but I suppose it is cheaper than having offices. I get easily twice as much work done at home...

Tableclothing · 21/10/2019 20:07

TBH I have never heard anyone at work complain about being in an open plan office.

I can't complain about it at work because then I'd be complaining to the very people I was complaining about. Also, there is no point in complaining at work because it won't change. (Public sector - they will not be upgrading offices any time soon)

If someone on MN issues an open invitation to complain about it though, I'm here with bells on.

I suspect some of your colleagues do hate it, they just don't talk about it.

apple0pie · 21/10/2019 20:16

My last job was open plan - I loved it. No one had an office even the directors sat next to PAs . It meant I could access people, it reduced emails and meetings as you spoke to people. I was more productive as my screen was in view.

Now share an office with 4 people and when I'm on my own I get bored, lose focus, less productive.

PablosHoney · 21/10/2019 20:17

I work at a school @Answerthequestion

maddiemookins16mum · 21/10/2019 20:19

Try being the one sitting closest to the printer/scanner.......I know more about printers/scanners than our whole company after 18 months of ‘helping’ people.

Animum2 · 21/10/2019 20:20

500 people work in our office over 4 floors all open plan but within their relevant teams, it can get noisy but you just get on with it

maddiemookins16mum · 21/10/2019 20:21

Plus surely open plan offices date back decades, the typing pool for instance.

Glovesick · 21/10/2019 20:24

I hate open plan. I find listening to music distracting, as I actually listen to it. Wearing headphones without music gives me claustrophobia.

Lots of studies have been done now that show open plan lowers productivity. But management are too attracted to packing in as many people on as little floorspace as possible. That is a hard cost. Productivity can be increased by setting targets that mean you have to work longer hours to meet them. So no hard loss on that front.

AutumnRose1 · 21/10/2019 20:26

Hate them with a passion OP.

MaybeitsMaybelline · 21/10/2019 20:28

Ive wfh for 14 years, when I go into the office on the odd occasion I find it wonderfully stimulating 😀

Ilovetolurk · 21/10/2019 20:29

Plus surely open plan offices date back decades, the typing pool for instance

Indeed. I started office work 30 years ago and have always worked in open plan offices

If anything offices are QUIETER now as everyone emails each other rather than using the telephone or having a conversation

SoundofSilence · 21/10/2019 20:31

I don't like open plan but can cope with our sparsely occupied end, and quite enjoy a little bit of social chat. What infuriates me, though, is that we have a meeting room next to us and people invariably gather outside it to have a loud chat before departing. Then you have the people that leave the meeting room to take phone calls standing next to our desks so they don't disturb THEM, and the people who use our section as an inpromptu break out space. My team does a sychronised donning of headphones with glares in that direction

Isleepinahedgefund · 21/10/2019 20:33

The laptops were pinging because of the IT update - we’ve had some really weird things going on with our laptops for the last few days and this was the side effect of the most recent “fix”, it seemed to reset everyone’s settings so the previously silent laptops are now beeping and pinging! Of course everyone has been turning off the sounds but as the update installed at different times for everyone it’s meant a steady ping bing beep all day.,

SerenDippitty · 21/10/2019 20:36

When I first started working 38 years ago there were tall screens which gave a bit of privacy but they were done away with for fire safety reasons. And before mobile phones it was cringingly embarrassing to have to make a phone call to your GP about your smear test or something. But you had no choice but do do it in office hours!