Noisy Work Environments?
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FredWi wrote:
How am I supposed to concentrate on work when the employer seems to discourage it by the environment?
You did talk to your manager about this, right?
FredWi wrote:
Are there employers out there that actually encourage productivity?
They all do, it's just that not all of them do it correctly.
FredWi wrote:
Maybe I live in the wrong part of the US?
Or maybe you’re in the wrong line of work. You could try contracting from home or look for smaller companies. Sure they may not pay as well but I'd rather maintain my sanity and get paid less than be stressed and hate my job to get a higher salary. Sure, you're always going to have the incessant yappers, insensitive boors but they are like dog bombs on the lawn, sometimes you step in it but you learn to look for and avoid the bombs. I wear headphones sometimes, I've also learned to deal with the nuisance when it happens. If it gets bad I take a break and walk away for a few minutes.
It was broke, so I fixed it.
S Houghtelin wrote:
Are there employers out there that actually encourage productivity?
S Houghtelin wrote:
They all do, it's just that not all of them do it correctly.
No, they all DEMAND productivity. Encouraging you to be productive is an entirely different thing.
If your neighbours don't listen to The Ramones, turn it up real loud so they can. “We didn't have a positive song until we wrote 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue!'” ― Dee Dee Ramone "The Democrats want my guns and the Republicans want my porno mags and I ain't giving up either" - Joey Ramone
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Wow. I would have turned that down as well, unless the alternative was selling hotdogs at the stand outside the building. :cool: Rejecting the offer by asking for 50% more was pretty awesome. :thumbsup: Soren Madsen
"When you don't know what you're doing it's best to do it quickly" - Jase #DuckDynasty
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I went for an interview at a supposedly prestigious stock thingy kind of company in New York. The salary range indicated was impressively high and I had passed the telephone interviews with ease, apparently making them so excited to get me in such that the agent said the face to face interview was just a formality. All good so far, except for it being in downtown NY. I won't mention which company it was but one of the recent mayors of NY had the same name and it has it's own cable TV channel. I arrived there at a new, sparkly glass and steel, modern looking building that they said was "purpose built". It was very open and airy, full of escalators, looking more like a shopping mall than an office complex. There were TV screens of all sizes all over the place showing stock info, trend graphs and the latest news, etc. It was full of people going somewhere; hustle & bustle as New Yorkers think only they know how. I was shown into a conference room for the interview - nothing but solid glass walls all around and very expensive designer office chairs. I was to meet with some techie/manager type, get a tour of the developer's area and then meet with the big bosses for the "sign-off" interview. The techie thing went very well although when I asked how the environment was for programmers he was reluctant to talk about it and said I will see on the tour. Then the tour... Apparently programmers need to work in brightly lit, noisy, glass-walled rooms full of large TVs showing stock prices and news, etc. mounted high around the walls. The desks were arranged in long rows side by side (no gaps), each row facing another similar row with the backs of the screen almost touching behind each desk was another desk just two chair widths away facing the other way except for those lucky enough to be up against the glass walls where there was a walkway all around. Each developer, analyst, project manager, whatever, got a desk space 4 feet wide and 2 feet deep with just enough space for a keyboard & mouse, two 20" screens and a telephone. Outside windows were frosted, so no distracting views of the city. There must have been at least 40 people in this one office, all heads down; it reminded me of a scene from the movie 1984 but with more chrome, glass and flashing colours. Everyone looked miserable and didn't make eye contact. I didn't say a word but looked at the techie who just shrugged and looked at the floor mumbling something about it's the same space as "the traders" get. I don't remember the "sign-off" i
And if they'd agreed to the 50%?
If your neighbours don't listen to The Ramones, turn it up real loud so they can. “We didn't have a positive song until we wrote 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue!'” ― Dee Dee Ramone "The Democrats want my guns and the Republicans want my porno mags and I ain't giving up either" - Joey Ramone
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And if they'd agreed to the 50%?
If your neighbours don't listen to The Ramones, turn it up real loud so they can. “We didn't have a positive song until we wrote 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue!'” ― Dee Dee Ramone "The Democrats want my guns and the Republicans want my porno mags and I ain't giving up either" - Joey Ramone
I hate to think what I would have done. I said the 50% as a joke - I didn't realize the agent would run off and put it forward seriously, she must have been desperate not to lose the commission. I was amazed that they actually came back with a 33% increase! It makes me wonder how bad it could be working there that they thought this was justified.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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I agree that those things can be annoying, but if that is all you have, then elephant off consider yourself blessed. ;P After 10 years of having my own, private office and working from home a lot, I am now with a new company and sitting in a SW engineering 'hall'. 30 developers in the same room with a mix of open landscape separated into three areas by normal height cubicle walls. My desk is next to a small kitchen with a cappuccino maker that sounds like it should be strapped to the wing of a Jumbo Jet. :sigh: Most of the noise actually come from that little kitchen. Apparently when people are in there laughing and chatting, they think there is an invisible, sound proof cocoon around them. :^) I am trying to adjust, but it is difficult after so many years. Soren
"When you don't know what you're doing it's best to do it quickly" - Jase #DuckDynasty
That explains your CP Username... :laugh:
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience
Greg King
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I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.
Lily Tomlin, Actress -
Unfortunately it IS normal (at least in my part of the world. I hate having to share office with the other developers, because they all have their irritating behaviours; tapping fingers, listening to music, talking on the phone, moaning and groaning (yes, I have a collegue like that X| ), irritating ring signals and signals signalling incoming email going off every 30 seconds. Some people don't care, but I agree with you. I can't work in a noisy environment either. I would prefer a private office so I can surf pr0n work in peace. But in a company with a sizeable amount of developers, I guees that is too costly... :sigh:
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience
Greg King
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I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.
Lily Tomlin, ActressAnd swearing. Don't forget swearing.(You DO use Microsoft right?)
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Tim Carmichael wrote:
So, in that light, do you like your job enough to learn to ignore the noise or are you going to change positions?
Normal people do not ignore sound, due to evolution. People ignoring the sound of a lion (or the fire alarm) are less prone to survive and reproduce. ..I live in a cold and wet place. Turn your heating down and learn to code at the same temperature as your fridge. Some type o' problem, same solution.
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
'Normal people'? Who died and made you god?
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And swearing. Don't forget swearing.(You DO use Microsoft right?)
What the elephant are you on about sunshine? We don't elephanting swear in out elephanting company... :laugh: Nah, seriously, you're right! But strangely enough, the Mac saved saints also seem to swear about their Mac. (Personally, I don't understand why they use a Mac at all, because the job they're hired to do has with Microsoft products. But some people need to be OOOOH so special (thus complicating everything for themselves). No sympathy from me! :laugh:
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience
Greg King
-----
I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.
Lily Tomlin, Actress -
What the elephant are you on about sunshine? We don't elephanting swear in out elephanting company... :laugh: Nah, seriously, you're right! But strangely enough, the Mac saved saints also seem to swear about their Mac. (Personally, I don't understand why they use a Mac at all, because the job they're hired to do has with Microsoft products. But some people need to be OOOOH so special (thus complicating everything for themselves). No sympathy from me! :laugh:
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience
Greg King
-----
I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.
Lily Tomlin, ActressAre you referring to the Macmentarians? I was talking to one last night. She couldn't understand why I built my home ent system out of bits of string and Linux for less than £150(now I have a 40" screen, 5.1 sound and Freeview on the same box. Also all my music and DVD's), then another £200 on an old, bomb-proof Elitebook, with a tb drive and core2duo processor(which I use for making and storing videos), when I could have spent 5-10 times as much on a Mac(which is still Intel)and been saved. Yes. The ability to license all my tv and films and music for one, overpriced, sealed box, and pay over the odds for them, is sorely tempting. Not. :laugh:
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Is it normal for developers to have to work on noisy office spaces? I've had a few different jobs as a developer over the past few years. The best one had an office. It was quiet and it was easy to focus on my work. I've had others with semi-queiet cubicles and one with a very noisy environment with people talking on their cell phones while walking around the developers' desks. How am I supposed to concentrate on work when the employer seems to discourage it by the environment? Please tell me that this isn't normal. Are there employers out there that actually encourage productivity? How do I find these jobs? Lately I seem to be having bad luck. Maybe I live in the wrong part of the US?
Be careful what you wish for. I used to work in a really noisy office, we were a small company and everyone was in the same room so you had account handlers and sales people constantly on the phone with phones ringing non-stop. Then the building was renovated and myself and another developer got our own office, which was sooo quiet and depressing that I would have given anything to move back into the populated office; I started getting moody and frustrated and felt completely isolated especially when the other developer went on holiday for weeks at a time. Eventually we moved into a less populated office and the noise levels were tolerable with headphones, but I'd rather be with people than without them.
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Are you referring to the Macmentarians? I was talking to one last night. She couldn't understand why I built my home ent system out of bits of string and Linux for less than £150(now I have a 40" screen, 5.1 sound and Freeview on the same box. Also all my music and DVD's), then another £200 on an old, bomb-proof Elitebook, with a tb drive and core2duo processor(which I use for making and storing videos), when I could have spent 5-10 times as much on a Mac(which is still Intel)and been saved. Yes. The ability to license all my tv and films and music for one, overpriced, sealed box, and pay over the odds for them, is sorely tempting. Not. :laugh:
In the end, it's all about the total time you save, including building and using. Much like this xkcd comic. That's probably why I'm so keen on optimising programs...
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In the end, it's all about the total time you save, including building and using. Much like this xkcd comic. That's probably why I'm so keen on optimising programs...
I do it for fun. If it isn't fun, then it really isn't worth doing IMO. :rolleyes:
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Noise distraction is relative. i grew up in a family with 9 children; I learned to be alone in a room full of people. It doesn't bother me to have others making noise around me. Also, I lived next to an airbase where jets were scrambled all times of the day and night over our house. We learned to ignore it. So, in that light, do you like your job enough to learn to ignore the noise or are you going to change positions? Tim
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I do it for fun. If it isn't fun, then it really isn't worth doing IMO. :rolleyes:
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Good point. Booze. Women. Pubs. Or I could waste it. ;)
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Good point. Booze. Women. Pubs. Or I could waste it. ;)
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That reminds me of the joke where someone tells a smoker, "If you smoke for 30 years, you'd waste enough money on cigs to buy a Ferrari!" To which the smoker retorts, "As you don't smoke, where's your Ferrari?"
But seriously folks.....my employer celebrated 40 years in the business by giving everyone an Ipod Shuffle. Within 30 minutes the team had found a Python hack that allowed it to be used as a drag and drop player. Then Apple put barriers up so that the hack couldn't be used/was illegal, and hey presto, my 2GB music player can only be filled by DRM bloatware, assuming I have a Windows VM running somewhere. Not a time saver, and apart from beautiful design, not a particularly good player. Now, I have a BB10 phone(NOT iphone/android), which is 20 times bigger, has a better amp, an interface and is also a phone. And I can put anything on it and it will play. Only drawback is my Linux machines have to use wifi to access it, because BB10 bloatware isn't available. Narf.
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Is it normal for developers to have to work on noisy office spaces? I've had a few different jobs as a developer over the past few years. The best one had an office. It was quiet and it was easy to focus on my work. I've had others with semi-queiet cubicles and one with a very noisy environment with people talking on their cell phones while walking around the developers' desks. How am I supposed to concentrate on work when the employer seems to discourage it by the environment? Please tell me that this isn't normal. Are there employers out there that actually encourage productivity? How do I find these jobs? Lately I seem to be having bad luck. Maybe I live in the wrong part of the US?
It seems to be heading toward normal ... as the office planners move to more cubitoriums. People don't understand how we work. I'm currently in a cubitorium where a few meters away sits she-whose-name-can't-be-mentioned but she is incapable of TALKING WITH AN INSIDE VOICE. I've never met her but I know all about her husband, children, auto insurance and the current real estate projects! :(
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Is it normal for developers to have to work on noisy office spaces? I've had a few different jobs as a developer over the past few years. The best one had an office. It was quiet and it was easy to focus on my work. I've had others with semi-queiet cubicles and one with a very noisy environment with people talking on their cell phones while walking around the developers' desks. How am I supposed to concentrate on work when the employer seems to discourage it by the environment? Please tell me that this isn't normal. Are there employers out there that actually encourage productivity? How do I find these jobs? Lately I seem to be having bad luck. Maybe I live in the wrong part of the US?
I have worked for a lot of companies, large and small. The small ones were usually the best, as the space to work in peace was allowed, and the number of people making noise were limited. The largest with cubicle farms were the worst. Literally hundreds of developers working on different projects at once. In my current position we moved our entire development team to a different part of the building. The only people there are developers and there is no room for anyone else. It is quiet, loose, and comfortable. The best yet. My advise, invest in a good set of noise cancelling headphones.