In recent years, the technology office has undergone two parallel, divergent trends.<\/p>\n
On the one hand, the decentralized, mosty-remote team, connected by phone, web conferencing and instant-messaging applications, has gained respectabilty.\u00a0 For two of the past three years, I’ve worked nearly 100% from home, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.\u00a0 With the right team, it’s an incredibly productive way of doing business.<\/p>\n
The other extreme is the current officing fad the co-located team.\u00a0 Forget about offices; don’t even think about cubicles (themselves seen as a\u00a0Metropolis-<\/em>level destruction of individuality 30 years ago.\u00a0 \u00a0Not only are cubes being replaced by tables, and the dividers between tables tossed, but the idea of\u00a0assigned seats<\/em>, with personal space of any kind for storage, is out the window.\u00a0 \u00a0The newest management fad is a bunch of tables, assigned to a design or development team, with chairs first-come, first serve; just grab an open seat and open your laptop – after you’ve found somewhere to stash your coat.<\/p>\n