There was a time that "open office design" was a new term, but it was a way of organizing your facilities that was reserved for large corporations.
I remember, back when I worked in corporate the move we made from traditional offices to "open space." I have to admit, I was really resistant! However, over time, I came to realize how valuable that open space was for my team.
Today, open office design is for more than large corporate entities. Many small businesses and shared office spaces are using the strategy to be able to stay flexible to the climate's changing business needs.
Dean Stier shares more on this topic today in his guest post:
The two terms are in vogue because they both reflect realities of business as it exists in the 21st century. The terms are also tied together by a common denominator---cost savings. In today's business world, companies are dynamic entities that must constantly be adaptable to changing demands of the modern market and the modern workforce. In order to meet these demands without devastating the bottom line, organizations need to remain flexible and prepared to move people and equipment as needed.
This is where open office planning enters the picture. The positive aspects of open offices just happen to coincide with the issues needing to be addressed by increasing churn rates and the other demands of today's business world. Studies have shown that open office design supports the flexibility needed to accommodate organizational change and can be conducive to new technology integration---factors which impact profit margins in a positive way. But no company worth its salt focuses on cost considerations so intently that it blinds itself to other important components of successful business operations. So a good question to ask is: what are all the impacts, good and bad, of open offices?
Knoll Research conducted a study "The Second Bottom Line: Competing for Talent Using Innovative Workplace Design", in which workers identify the pros and cons of open space design by contrasting the benefits of an open office with the those of a more traditional closed design. The results are enlightening:
Perceived benefits of Open Space Office Design:
- A sense of community among co-workers
- Enhanced collaboration
- Better communication and a greater ability to ask questions and exchange information
- A perception of team support among other people, as opposed to feeling "closed in" or "all alone"
- A feeling of being "in the know" about what is going on with the company
Perceived benefits of Closed Space Design:
- Employee privacy is preserved (9 in 10 workers cited privacy as the number one benefit)
- An enhanced feeling of personal and work-related security
- Much less noise
- A perception of more "personal space"
Employee perceptions are important but from a management point of view, productivity is the metric viewed as most closely tied to bottom line profit margins. However, in many cases worker perception and productivity go hand in hand.
Greater collaboration and good communication are not just feel-good words but also vital production components for today's modern team-oriented workforce. Team members who work within the same auditory and visual space are able to generate the instant feedback that results in an effective and efficient high performance work environment.
Also, co-location can engender much more than just a feeling of unity. Employees who share an open workspace with team leaders and managers are able to communicate and interface with management more quickly. As a result issues get resolved more quickly, which leads to greater efficiency and more productivity.
But according to the Knoll study, there are clear advantages to closed office spacing too. Is it unreasonable to assume that productivity could just as likely flow from this environment? Or put a slightly different way; are there ways in which open office spacing can actually inhibit productivity? Perhaps some of the pros of a closed environment could also be looked upon as cons of an open one. And viewed in this light, we can list some of the side effects of an open space design that could work against productivity:
- Too many distractions (noise)
- Loss of employee morale (lack of privacy)
- Risk of compromising work-sensitive information (less security)
Awareness of these things is a key starting point for companies striving to maximize productivity. Many firms are forging a win-win scenario---instituting open office design but doing it in ways that allow them to retain many of the benefits of a closed environment too. One such example is explored in this article, which describes various ways to deal with problems through the use of the right kind of office furniture. Another article talks about ways of mitigating the noise factor by implementing creative acoustic solutions. Stories such as this one show other measures companies have taken to achieve productivity within an open office framework.
The 21st century workplace is characterized by increasing churn rates and a need for flexibility---conditions best addressed by open space office design. Studies have shown the benefits of this type of environment, both in terms of cost savings and productivity. But maximum productivity only happens when the issues associated with open design are recognized, confronted and proactively addressed. When businesses implement open space offices and do it smartly, their workplace becomes modern and their workforce becomes productive.
Dean Stier is Vice President of National Business Furniture, a leading provider of office chairs, office desks, filing cabinets and other office furniture to businesses, government agencies and other institutions.
