You seem to be in a very small minority, then... I have to agree with most of the opinions I've read through the thread, open floor plans are a total productivity killer, way too many distraction sources and most of what communication there is, is irrelevant because no team stayed separate or respected anyone else's audio boundaries.
Cubes are still rather poor, but at least I odn't have to see what my neighbor's doing, or listen to any but the loudest noises. I'm three steps away from everyone else in the team, and if we need an impromptu discussion the aisle is at least a cube width, so plenty of quick standup space.
An office / separate workroom away from the team opposite me would be great but I can earbud them away.
I hear a conversation relevant to me and jump in, a conversation stops being relevant I jump out
That simple interaction has added tons of value for me over the last few years of open offices.
We have a very simple way to indicate you don't want to be interrupted, headphones or a flag
There's also tons of huddle rooms you can go into if you want to hunker down in quiet
-
Everyone is different, some people feel switching from keyboard to mouse is a huge productivity drain and invest a lot in avoiding that transition
Maybe I'm just fortunate but it's never been an issue for me, people are pretty respectful of their coworkers where I've worked
Cubes are still rather poor, but at least I odn't have to see what my neighbor's doing, or listen to any but the loudest noises. I'm three steps away from everyone else in the team, and if we need an impromptu discussion the aisle is at least a cube width, so plenty of quick standup space.
An office / separate workroom away from the team opposite me would be great but I can earbud them away.