Jobster is growing and we are simply running out of space. Instead of stacking employees on top of each other we are investigating new office spaces. And this is a very important topic. The various attributes of an office greatly affect employee moral (at least with the few companies I have worked for). Why is this?

Location is obviously key. Nobody likes a long commute and people enjoy working in an office close to good food and events.

The actual office space is important, too. Workers spend a lot of time in the office, so a space that is comfortable (physically and aesthetically) is valuable. But beyond having a cool space in an optimal location, employees need an environment that is conducive to high productivity. I could have an office on the beaches of Maui, but if I didn’t get any work done I wouldn’t be happy (at least after a couple of weeks).

So, what office environment is optimal for productivity? This topic came up in our development meeting on Friday. This is a very key issue, but is difficult to solve. Focusing on just developers, what environment results in the greatest group productivity and happiness? This is something I have thought about this a great deal at the micro level: Jeff’s environment. In my brief stint (less than five years) as a developer, I have worked in three environments:

• The Bullpen: a large room with a bunch of desks and no walls or cubicles. Think Bud Fox’s first office in Wall Street.
• The Cave: a solo, enclosed office with no windows, not even by the door.
• The shared office: a shared office with a door shared by three or four others with individual desks.

Which style works best for me? For cranking out work with minimal need fore interaction with others, the Cave was great. There were minimal distractions and I was extremely productive. My current setup, The Bullpen, works fairly well. It is especially suited towards collaboration and building a culture. If I have a Hibernate question, need to help Ops with a database problem, or need the CTO’s advice, I just swivel my chair and shout at the appropriate person. I also get to know my coworkers better and learn from discussions I overhear. The downside, naturally, is a ton of distractions for myself and others. When I need to get a lot of real work done, I come into the office at strange hours, turn off all of the lights, and crank the music.

So, for me, the ideal office setup with be a cave with retractable walls. My mini Safeco.

This isn’t feasible, obviously. And I’m not sure if The Cave or The Bullpen would result in greater overall happiness and productivity for me.

This issue is even tougher when thinking about the development team as a whole. What is the optimal setup? Each worker has their own perfect environment, but what is best for the team as a whole? When we move to a new office, how should we partition the space?

I don’t know. And I am still trying to figure it out.