A slight digress from the norm for myself is an office remodeling project. While normally I stay out of these kind of issues it reminds me how farsighted organizations can be at times looks at the next 3 or 6 months but never looking years down the road on the effects of what they do. In a large warehouse setting where you have one enormous room it makes sense in a way to use cubicles as it allows for flexibility to change the configuration as years go by. However when trying to use this methodology when you are working with smaller existing rooms which can only really be configured in on or two orientations and where history has shown once installed existing cubicle furniture will be used as is for 10+ years why spend the money on high-wall cubicles with electrical & data run into them at a cost equal to or more than fixed walls? Often times it is cited it provides a better “community feeling” or aids in “collaboration”. Then why does it often sound like a bar scene where the only way people can concentrate on the task at hand is by using noise-cancelling headphones all day long? Do I really need to hear every conversation of everyone within 5 cubes of myself? No, I think not.
