The Myth of the Collaborative Cube Farm

Over the course of my career I have sat in a variety of seating arrangements. Some have been purely practical: fit as many people in the minimum space available. Some have been determined by the interior architecture of the building. Some on social rank: contractors in the closet, CEO in the corner office on the top floor, everyone else in between based on corporate ladder rung position. Some have been based on different philosophies of business productivity. The current arrangement I’m sitting in is a ‘bullpen’ or ‘pit’ arrangement. There are 4 desks arranged in a square with the computer desks facing out to each corner. So the four occupants sit facing away from the middle of the ‘pit’, which is occupied by a small table. There is another group of four desks arranged in an identical adjacent ‘pit’. The eight desks are surrounded by six foot cubical walls. There are two entrances to this ‘bullpen’, one at each long end.

Why this arrangement? To promote collaboration and productivity. In theory, the mix of developers of various experience levels who are working on various projects will interact in an ad hoc way providing advice, help, and encouragement to each other. The proximity will also decrease the time required to walk to another developer’s office space to consult and return. The general community problem solving that would take place would benefit even those not involved directly, by osmosis.

The reality? It’s noisy, distracting, disruptive, and definitely NON-productive. I’ve worked in this sort of arrangement at four different employers, and I cannot wait for an opportunity to get out of the ‘pit’. A typical day in the ‘bullpen’ will find the majority of the occupants with head phones on to block out the ambient noise. A smaller percentage will be absent. They have moved to a conference room or empty training room to work (for 2+ months, so far). Why? To collaborate and be productive. During the course of the day many discussions will break out among the occupants. Rarely is the subject related to getting any work done. It’s basically, general BSing. Hence, the head phones. In the supply closet near us, among the paperclips and ball point pens, is a box of ear plugs. Although humorous upon first discovery, they are actually being used, and resupplied.

This has been the pattern everywhere I’ve encountered this failed experiment in productivity. It’s time to accept the fact that software developers need a quiet place to work that discourages random disruptions and distractions.

Collaboration isn’t a random process that just happens because of proximity.

UPDATE: 

This subject keeps popping up on other blogs. Here are some links:

http://www.lifeclever.com/jason-fried-working-closely-together-aint-productive/

http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/10/11/open-plan-workspaces-getting-cozy-with-your-coworkers/

http://foundread.com/2007/10/15/tip-of-the-day-ditch-your-office-cubicles/