[lo_zamoyski]

> IMO you lose so much more by sacrificing spontaneous conversation & ideation that results.

People repeat this like a mantra when defending open floor plans (usually managers), but I very much doubt it. Most people seem to hate open floor plans. The subject seems to have gone by the wayside with the pandemic (then it was a question of finding a quiet place to work in a house shared with other people). I'm sure it varies by occupation, but the cost of distraction relative to whatever benefit you might gain from conversation is like investing money in the lottery. Yeah, you might win something, but you mostly won't and the cost will be enormous. I sense a bit of classic FOMO opportunism motivating such rationalizations.

[ryandrake]

Leaning in to "spontaneous conversations" as a benefit of office work is so weird. I count "spontaneous conversations" as close to the #1 downside of working in an office. Your ideation is my distraction. Also, championing in-person conversation as a way to communicate in the office often results in poor official communication: It's better to have clear, written communication of company/division decisions than relying on "Oh, I ran into Bill in the hallway and he said the team's now working on the FooBar project this quarter!" And poor internal documentation: How does this API work? "Talk to Erica" vs. "Read the internal wiki here"

[Macha]

Not least of which is it leaves a paper trail for the next person when Bill or Eric decide to move on or get laid off.