"no evidence that an open office supports collaboration" -- sure, but the choices aren't just open office or working remotely. Face to face interaction is valuable for collaboration, regardless of the office layout.
- for people to stop "collaborating" in the office I sit in; even over-the-ear headphones and loud music aren't enough to cancel that out
- for people to stop standing behind me and having (work-related) conversations
- for the guy working next to me to actually sit on his damn ass and not move around the office every 10 minutes
In general, I absolutely hate feeling presence and attention of other people when I'm trying to focus. With each new day I spend in a modern workplace, I more and more understand why cubicles are a fucking awesome idea.
One day I swear I'll build myself one out of pizza boxes.
If I were you I'd push hard for an office to work in at your job. Like, go out and get some job offers and tell them you'll take one of these jobs if you don't get your way.
Work environment is everything and once I started taking it seriously, my life enjoyment improved immensely.
I'm not pushing too hard, because beside the points I raised, I'm generally happy about my job. A nice and fair company, with good atmosphere and friendly people. I guess today was one of those days when my inner introvert reared his ugly head.
Either way, right now I'm considering moving out of town, so I'm trying to push them into letting me work remotely part of the week ;).
