Open offices, and related concepts like mobility and flexible workspaces, have been the trend for quite a while. Many large companies and even government agencies have ditched traditional private offices for open-plan layouts. However, in recent years, the reaction to this trend has been mixed, at best, and downright negative at worst. Companies that led the open-office trend, like Facebook and Google, have experienced decreases in productivity and employee morale directly tied to their office layouts. And reaction from employees has been equally negative. With such negative feedback, why would managers consider moving to an open-space layout?
It turns out that there are some redeeming qualities about working in an open office and the benefits may indeed outweigh the negatives, especially when balanced with a diverse complement of space types. I should know – I worked in an open office for nearly three years, and my experience was overwhelmingly positive. Here are four things I really appreciated about this workplace trend.
Open Offices Aren’t All Bad
1. Daylight. Daylighting and levels of natural light in an office are things you may not notice until you work in an office that is missing them. While visiting a newly designed open-office space last year, I walked through an area of low cubicles along a line of large windows, then turned a corner and found myself in what I could only describe as a “cave.” The adjacent section of the office had been designed with solid-walled offices along the exterior perimeter, and cubicles on the interior. Though ample artificial light was provided, the difference between this and natural light was staggering. This experience illustrated to me how much more comfortable office space can be with proper amounts of daylight.
With their absence of walled spaces and lower-height partitions, open offices are generally better at providing natural light throughout the space when they are laid out properly. Even in offices where there are a variety of space types, including private offices, newer designs typically include more glass in place of solid walls. Closed spaces tend to be located in the center of a room so the open areas benefit from the natural light along the perimeters.
2. Mobility. The typical complaints about open and collaborative office spaces are that they are loud, distracting, and provide no privacy. That can certainly be the case, but in reality, these are all failures in the design of those particular open offices. The best aspect of the office where I worked for three years was that nearly every workstation was shared and could be reserved as needed. While you lose a dedicated space to call your own, you gain the flexibility and freedom to choose where you work, to suit what you’re doing each day or even portions of the day. Have a loud neighbor, or one that habitually shakes their leg while they work causing your whole workstation to vibrate all day? Pick up and move! Is there a group of people having a loud conference call without closing the door? Well first, go close the door for them, but if that doesn’t work, you can pick up and move to a quieter spot in the office.
3. Collaboration. This word is thrown around a lot about open office spaces, but it really is a benefit. I found that sitting in an open collaborative area while I worked allowed me to focus if I needed to (headphones helped with that, but I often didn’t need them) but also gave me the opportunity to casually discuss ideas and brainstorm with co-workers. I didn’t have to worry about the formalities of leaving my workspace, moving to (and occupying) an entire meeting room, or worry about disturbing other workers by having a longer conversation in someone’s personal workspace.
The open office layout also helped establish protocols about working in a shared workplace, including when to collaborate with others and when to leave someone alone if they were focusing on their work.
4. Adaptability. As an architectural designer, this benefit is something I greatly appreciate in open office design. The office where I worked was primarily based upon a single, modular footprint. No matter which elements were in a space, they could often be moved or replaced with other elements relatively easily. Need more shared offices and fewer collaborative meeting rooms? Add some partitions (or pull out moveable ones already in place). Need more open collaborative spaces and fewer workstations? Workstations can be removed (or relocated) and furniture can be added for a new open collaborative area. Quicker fixes include moving furniture around in open areas and opening or closing moveable, folding partitions to transition between a 10- to 15-person conference room and a larger open area for “all-hands” meetings.
A Trend That is Likely to Last
Despite recent criticisms, open offices are a trend that will likely be around for the foreseeable future because they do provide tangible benefits to companies and employees. In addition, newer design concepts are providing more guidance about how to incorporate best practices to address the needs of a varied workforce.
From a personal standpoint, after experiencing it firsthand for nearly three years, I will be happy to see the open-office trend stick around for a long time!
