The Great Office Space Debate Rages On
Jennifer Merritt
Audience-focused Editorial Leader in Content Strategy and Operations
I’ve worked in just about every kind of office, from old-school traditional where the important people had doors that closed and the rest of us had high-wall cubicles that afforded privacy, to spacious open desks with only computer monitor for privacy from the person facing me, to a bustling newsroom with cramped desk space just big enough for some notebooks and a phone and a colleague on each side.
These days, open floor plans and open doors seem to be in favor as companies remodel work spaces or move to new digs. The International Facility Management Association reports that 68% of North American employees work in an office with an open floor plan or open seating, writes Michelle Goodman in a story for BBC Capital. In Europe, open office spaces have been more common for a while.
My current office is made up of long rows of facing tables with no real dividers between desks and myriad gathering spaces—living rooms with shag carpets and couches or egg-shaped chairs, high-top tables bordered by a bead faux wall, small corners with tables and comfy seats, and plenty of conference rooms.
The gathering spots don’t offer much in the way of privacy and the conference rooms seem to always be booked, but, at least I have my own desk. Some of my colleagues in London have recently begun hot-desking—they no longer have assigned desks, but instead they sit where they can find a spot, connect a laptop and log in to a phone. Sure, people tend to sit in the same general area, but at night, employees are supposed to bring their laptop and other belongings to an assigned locker for the night.
That’s a concept Citrix, a company with more than 8,000 employees in 35 countries, has employed to an extreme, writes Goodman. The company has “converted half its office buildings into more open, collaborative work spaces. In doing so, the mobile solutions company has driven real estate costs to about 4% of the company budget, down from 6.5%.” There isn’t a desk for everyone, but not every employee is in the office every day. (Check out the open concept in photos from Citrix and Zurich Insurance.)
But not everyone is singing the praises of these brave, new work spaces. Many of us spend most of our waking hours each weekday at the office, so it matters—to our productivity, success and contribution to the firms we work for—that the space we work in functions well and presents both the privacy needed to concentrate and the space needed to collaborate and nurture ideas.
Indeed, recent studies indicate more open-plan office spaces aren't great for productivity or worker health. And there's been some backlash against the movement--BusinessWeek even called for ending the "tyranny of the open-plan office."
In the great office workspace debate—is there a better way? Can form really meet function? Goodman explores a few ways that companies find a happy middle, including clustering teams, even if they don’t have dedicated desks.
Then there are some companies that have crafted office spaces—BBC Capital took video tours for a few—that match their creative bent, an interesting idea.
What is your ideal workspace? Has your office moved to open plan or hot-desking? How have you adapted to the transition?
(Photo: Courtesy Zurich Insurance)
Chair, CPA (Australia) Wellington Branch at CPA Australia
7ySome folk belong in a quite space and others in open plan. The work they do is one factor but so too is their personality.
SVP, Head of User Experience and Innovation at HDFC Securities
7ygreat
Making Business Change a Success
8yThis article is sooooooooooooo right! Open plan offices, designed without thought for the "style" of the person using the space is sure to create an ineffective space and loss of creativity and efficiency. I have worked with managers who have finally understood that a badly designed office can reduce efficiency by ten or twenty percent. Equate that to the number of people in the office and multiply by the cost per hour per person, then add the losses of business reduction and the end cost can be huge. How do I know this to be true - simply because I have used psychometric profiling as part of my management toolbox for over twenty years. The answer is really simple it's just that most people do not want to see it. You can lead a horse to water - etc etc
Platform Specialist
9yI hate this new concept of all-out open office space. You cannot even carry on a decent private or semi-private phone conversation, or if you have overly aggressive coworkers trying to rip off your ideas, etc.
Former marketing pro
10yOpen office concept to the extreme....The best of example of a poorly thought through open space was when a CEO bought a full size pool table and pool hall style bar and placed it in the middle of an open office space, the first thing client saw and available for anyone to plan at anytime during the work day. This was his attempt to create a fun culture. Since he enjoyed pool halls and beer, he assumed everyone else did. The crashing of pool table balls and the screams that followed was over the top. Those of us who needed to concentrate or conduct "real" client business via phone were chastise for voicing our concern. Needless to say the majority of skilled staff who complained no longer work for this company and clients are catching on and leaving. #clueless