The joys of open spaces

Despite having been in IT for many years now, I spent a lot of time working in traditionally designed offices. The game studio I previously worked with had rooms and half-enclosed cubicles to isolate people. This setup seemed nice for our artists who liked custom designing their spaces, but it discouraged collaboration.  Everyone seemed to keep to themselves most of the time. Every meeting had to be scheduled in conference rooms. And people conversed more on instant messenger rather than face to face despite them sitting just very close to one another.  
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The first time I got exposed to open spaces was at LegalMatch in 2014. We were still starting LM’s Cebu office back then, and since we were still testing things, we rented temporary seats  at The Tide, a co-working office in Cebu IT Park. 

At the Tide, they have long tables where people sit on opposite sides while working. Spaces are uniform for everyone regardless of position. And work tables function as conference room tables too. Anytime anyone wants to ask anyone anything, all they need to do is talk (or shout if they want to. 

This structure is perfect for agile teams as it fuels collaboration.
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What’s with agile and open spaces?

Agile development is an iterative approach to software development that allows for incremental delivery of output based on value to customers. Agile places importance on adaptability to customer needs and constant interaction with customers and team members at every phase of the project. For agile development to work, there has to be constant collaboration.

Open spaces support agile as they encourage people to talk more freely and do ad hoc meetings with one another easily. In open spaces, people can ask questions or seek help from others without walls to restrict them. 

Tips for designing an agile open space

A few months ago, we decided on constructing our own office. We rented a space at the FLB Building, right in front of Ayala, Cebu Business Park.

We wanted the space to support agile development, thus we allowed our experience at Tide to influence much of our design decisions. We had two things in mind as focal point: design and practicality. 

​We wanted our space to feel nice, but we didn’t want anything superfluous and unreasonably excessive. 

After a couple of months of fitting out, our office was ready. The place was something industrial and modern looking, but not too expensive.  We had a few bumps in the early part due to usual construction issues, but eventually we came up with something that people in the office loved.

photo via Ariel/Legalmatch

Here are few nice things we did which you might consider when designing your space.
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• We considered future headcount to determine the physical size of the office space.
• Before starting, we created a design guide for architects to use when designing. It contains business requirements for the office space, including a profile of who will be using it, team size, required functions. 
• We made sure the entire space is well lighted. We used daylight LED bulbs in work areas and warm lights  in the reception area to make the space look cozy but welcoming.
• One of the conference rooms is located near the reception area so applicants can be routed there easily.
• Our office is designed for 70 people. We have 2 conference rooms, both of them enclosed and sound proofed.
• The Production (Development) area is facing East, and with only glass walls separating it from the outside world, we found ourselves with a lot of light. This is can be good or bad depending on time of the day.
• Roll-up blinds solved some the light problems. In the morning, we roll down the blinds; in the afternoon until night time, we roll the blinds up, exposing a beautiful view of the outside.
• Wires and cables can be an eyesore. We had our engineers route them underneath the tables so the space won’t look cluttered.
• Chairs are the same for everyone regardless of position. 
• We installed (and are still currently installing) lots of white boards. We want lots of space for story walls, diagrams, scrum boards, meeting notes, and etc.
• Table space for everyone is huge, about 1.5 meters wide per person, so people have enough room for double monitors. Spaces between the back of chairs are at 2 meters each so people can easily leave or go back to their seats without distracting their seatmates.
• The pantry area is overlooking Ayala area, so there’s a good view of the business district, the mall, and the trees around it. People can relax and unwind while drinking coffee.
• There’s a projector in every conference room as people in the office like to make presentations or do Lynda trainings on video.
• We’re using Rise internet with PLDT as backup. So far we haven't had any network downtimes. Yet. :D

We’re still planning to do more, like install cork boards for announcements and birthday greetings. I’m excited about the next phase. Every day, we see new things in the office, and people are motivated. I observe that a lot of people stay long in the office now. While we only require people to be physically in the office 6 hours a day (they work 2 hours from home), I see people now spending longer time in the office.

​We have lots of deadlines and bugs to resolve for our next sprint, but people are working with their teams to get them done. What’s important is that they’re relaxed and are comfortable brainstorming with one another.

photo via Sioy/LegalMatch