Comments on: Mold the Virtual Space Not the Office Space http://www.annezelenka.com/2007/10/mold-the-virtual-space-not-the-office-space a blog about the connected age Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:14:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Jeff Barr’s Blog » Links for Sunday, October 28, 2007 http://www.annezelenka.com/2007/10/mold-the-virtual-space-not-the-office-space#comment-1926 Jeff Barr’s Blog » Links for Sunday, October 28, 2007 Sun, 28 Oct 2007 22:59:44 +0000 http://www.annezelenka.com/2007/10/mold-the-virtual-space-not-the-office-space#comment-1926 [...] Anne Zelenka: Mold the Virtual Space Not the Office Space - “It’s strange to me that the solution to improved communication in this time of ultraconnectedness is to change the physical space rather than molding and improving the virtual space. There are tons of ways that you can help teams communicate better that don’t take individual team members privacy and quiet away.“ [...] […] Anne Zelenka: Mold the Virtual Space Not the Office Space - “It’s strange to me that the solution to improved communication in this time of ultraconnectedness is to change the physical space rather than molding and improving the virtual space. There are tons of ways that you can help teams communicate better that don’t take individual team members privacy and quiet away.“ […]

]]> By: Tim Peter http://www.annezelenka.com/2007/10/mold-the-virtual-space-not-the-office-space#comment-1703 Tim Peter Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:21:04 +0000 http://www.annezelenka.com/2007/10/mold-the-virtual-space-not-the-office-space#comment-1703 It's funny, Anne. I think we're the same age (I might be a year older), but I always come off as the old-school stick in the mud. Still, while risking that label, I don't know that I agree with your overall point here. One key element missing from your premise is that different individuals work best in different environments. Just as we all learn according to individually-preferred modalities - visual, auditory, kinesthetic - we also tend to favor certain communication styles, too. That's not to say that a bullpen would serve <i>you</i> best (you strike me as a visual learner), but your auditory and kinesthetic colleagues might gain immensely. I think another way to look at this is that companies shouldn't force a specific style on its workers, assuming that one style drives optimum productivity for <i>all</i> its workers. Instead, an ideal workplace should allow opportunities for every worker to find the space that best serves their style. It’s funny, Anne. I think we’re the same age (I might be a year older), but I always come off as the old-school stick in the mud. Still, while risking that label, I don’t know that I agree with your overall point here. One key element missing from your premise is that different individuals work best in different environments. Just as we all learn according to individually-preferred modalities - visual, auditory, kinesthetic - we also tend to favor certain communication styles, too.

That’s not to say that a bullpen would serve you best (you strike me as a visual learner), but your auditory and kinesthetic colleagues might gain immensely.

I think another way to look at this is that companies shouldn’t force a specific style on its workers, assuming that one style drives optimum productivity for all its workers. Instead, an ideal workplace should allow opportunities for every worker to find the space that best serves their style.

]]> By: one man writes » Recently Read http://www.annezelenka.com/2007/10/mold-the-virtual-space-not-the-office-space#comment-1702 one man writes » Recently Read Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:19:57 +0000 http://www.annezelenka.com/2007/10/mold-the-virtual-space-not-the-office-space#comment-1702 [...] cubicles to open plan spaces to aid communication, and proffers some suggestions in her post titled Mold the virtual space, not the office space “Lots of web workers are traditional employees and go to an office every day. But they can [...] […] cubicles to open plan spaces to aid communication, and proffers some suggestions in her post titled Mold the virtual space, not the office space “Lots of web workers are traditional employees and go to an office every day. But they can […]

]]> By: Gordon http://www.annezelenka.com/2007/10/mold-the-virtual-space-not-the-office-space#comment-1701 Gordon Fri, 12 Oct 2007 07:49:04 +0000 http://www.annezelenka.com/2007/10/mold-the-virtual-space-not-the-office-space#comment-1701 I've worked in open plan offices for the past... ohh quite a few years. There are times when they are a real boon, as a technical author we rely on information so the more we can get, the better. If that comes from word of mouth or an overheard conversation then so be it. However it does have an impact on productivity on those days when you just need to get your head down and get stuff done. So, for those days, I work at home. On average I work at home maybe 3 days a month, some months it will be more, some less but without that quiet time I couldn't keep up. We have a Wiki that is heavily used for any and all information and collaboration (something I'm exploring further for an upcoming conference slot) and most of us are on MSN during the day (we have a development office in Jakarta, we are in the UK). We are about to launch our first internal blog within the development group. The idea of a social network is intriguing. We have a large number of staff out on-site, many of whom rarely make it back to HQ very often and, largely, communication is via email. I do like the idea of creating a social network to help manage those relationships. Interesting. I’ve worked in open plan offices for the past… ohh quite a few years.

There are times when they are a real boon, as a technical author we rely on information so the more we can get, the better. If that comes from word of mouth or an overheard conversation then so be it.

However it does have an impact on productivity on those days when you just need to get your head down and get stuff done. So, for those days, I work at home.

On average I work at home maybe 3 days a month, some months it will be more, some less but without that quiet time I couldn’t keep up.

We have a Wiki that is heavily used for any and all information and collaboration (something I’m exploring further for an upcoming conference slot) and most of us are on MSN during the day (we have a development office in Jakarta, we are in the UK). We are about to launch our first internal blog within the development group.

The idea of a social network is intriguing. We have a large number of staff out on-site, many of whom rarely make it back to HQ very often and, largely, communication is via email. I do like the idea of creating a social network to help manage those relationships. Interesting.

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