Comments on: Distributed Development http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/distributed-development/ programming, politics, & other religious issues Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:31:40 +0000 hourly 1 By: Ilja Preuß http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/distributed-development/#comment-33541 Ilja Preuß Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:06:47 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=675#comment-33541 Interesting idea. I think one thing that makes the background voice work in an open office is that the voices are distributed over the office space and you can distinguish between different people not just by their tone of voice, but also by where the voice is coming from. So I suspect for this "virtual sound room" to work well for other than very small n, you needed some kind of surround sound... Interesting idea.

I think one thing that makes the background voice work in an open office is that the voices are distributed over the office space and you can distinguish between different people not just by their tone of voice, but also by where the voice is coming from.

So I suspect for this “virtual sound room” to work well for other than very small n, you needed some kind of surround sound…

]]> By: IllegalCharacter http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/distributed-development/#comment-33536 IllegalCharacter Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:51:56 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=675#comment-33536 I think my biggest problem with working from home is that there isn't really a line between work and play. One thing I like about working in an office is that when it hits 6 o'clock (we work 10-6 instead of 9-5), I can stand up and walk out, and never have to worry about work until 10 the next work day. Although since I'm getting more and more used to working in Linux and vim, the benefits of working at home where I can choose my tools becomes more appealing... I think my biggest problem with working from home is that there isn’t really a line between work and play. One thing I like about working in an office is that when it hits 6 o’clock (we work 10-6 instead of 9-5), I can stand up and walk out, and never have to worry about work until 10 the next work day.
Although since I’m getting more and more used to working in Linux and vim, the benefits of working at home where I can choose my tools becomes more appealing…

]]> By: Barry Kelly http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/distributed-development/#comment-33532 Barry Kelly Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:44:50 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=675#comment-33532 I work remotely, and "commute" (fly) to the office quarterly; our offices, however, have doors (which I usually leave open unless it's too annoying). I personally can't work with headphones on, or with music playing. Anything with lyrics I find distracting, and most of the instrumental music I like has interesting beat patterns, so it's a no-go too. I've worked in an open-office before, in two situations - both before an office-move and after, where the floor configuration was different. Working in an open office when everybody in your close proximity is working on the same stuff is OK; when the people around you are e.g. taking support calls, or working on orthogonal stuff (e.g. business rules when you're working on an application server), not so good. However, I suspect proximity to n people working on the same thing is only good for low n. The "background-noise" thing is kind of an interesting idea, combined with several other things: * Proximity-based volume: with careful control, people who work together often ought to be more audible to one another; it ought to be possible to virtually "creep away" from people who are distract more than help, in terms of ambient noise. This could actually end up more efficient than an open-plan office. * Strong presence visibility: you don't want to be calling out, "hey John ... John? ... John? ... John! ... (gives up)"; if that happens too often, things would get socially awkward pretty quickly. Also, don't forget time zones. For example I work at an 8-hour offset (London) from the main team (Scotts Valley, CA), while my own main teammate is 8 hours away in the other direction (Japan). I work remotely, and “commute” (fly) to the office quarterly; our offices, however, have doors (which I usually leave open unless it’s too annoying).

I personally can’t work with headphones on, or with music playing. Anything with lyrics I find distracting, and most of the instrumental music I like has interesting beat patterns, so it’s a no-go too.

I’ve worked in an open-office before, in two situations – both before an office-move and after, where the floor configuration was different. Working in an open office when everybody in your close proximity is working on the same stuff is OK; when the people around you are e.g. taking support calls, or working on orthogonal stuff (e.g. business rules when you’re working on an application server), not so good. However, I suspect proximity to n people working on the same thing is only good for low n.

The “background-noise” thing is kind of an interesting idea, combined with several other things:

* Proximity-based volume: with careful control, people who work together often ought to be more audible to one another; it ought to be possible to virtually “creep away” from people who are distract more than help, in terms of ambient noise. This could actually end up more efficient than an open-plan office.

* Strong presence visibility: you don’t want to be calling out, “hey John … John? … John? … John! … (gives up)”; if that happens too often, things would get socially awkward pretty quickly.

Also, don’t forget time zones. For example I work at an 8-hour offset (London) from the main team (Scotts Valley, CA), while my own main teammate is 8 hours away in the other direction (Japan).

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