Fairly certain he means it as "be in the same room", "be present", "don't be in your high and mighty office". It's a phrase that doesn't actually mean shouting.
People standing up and shouting across two rows, for the sake of their own convenience.
I'd be careful in the use of such a description. And, overall, the OP reads as a pretty vacuous and narrow-minded post. He's looking for the like-minded, for all the "openness" to which he pays lip service -- that's how it comes across to me.
Not much value in my comment, I suppose, other than to point out that, for a fair fraction of us, "within shouting distance" is a quite literal (and unpleasant) experience.