[rhizome]

I was just thankfully let go from a startup that expected extra hours on top of running an open-plan office and coworkers who lived by the "who can interrupt the loudest?!" method of project management. 4-5 hour stretches were never once achieved during normal business hours in the 2.5 months I was there. A 2 hour stretch was a gift, but more often than not the quietude would be broken by one of a small group (3-4) loudest coworkers.

[SoftwareMaven]

Open floor plans are evil for developers. Whoever started that trend needs to be strung up by their nose hair. There is no better way to ensure no work gets done than putting 10 people in an environment that every two person conversation interrupts (and I believe that "15 minutes to get back into the zone" is a bunch of crap).

[dan_manges]

We have a dev team of 12 working with an open floor plan, pair programming. We get a lot done. There is no single right way to operate.

[rhizome]

"We get a lot done," is pretty meaningless without context. Do you know that the dev team likes it that way?

[dan_manges]

Yes, everybody prefers it to working in isolation

[rhizome]

"Isolation" would seem to be a harsh alternative choice.