More than the presence of other people, I find the noise, the chatter, distracting. OTOH, there is some truth to the &quot;collaboration&quot; argument, IMO.<p>So, what we have done at our office is to just have to more or less equally size open spaces: one library-silent, one meeting-room-noisy. It&#x27;s not perfect, but cheaper than individual offices, while still allowing you to concentrate when you most need to.