Open Workplace Design Can Really Suck, Do It Right!
July 09, 2015
- Open, flexible, collaborative office plans have captured the attention of companies ranging from tech giants like Google and Microsoft to financial firms including American Express and Goldman Sachs.
- Currently, approximately 70% of American workplaces are open plan, and managers are struggling to realize the promised benefits.
The common wisdom is that such workplace arrangements deliver the double bonus of lowering cost and improving efficiency. Instead, what managers have found is that open plan workplaces offer too many distractions.What seems to work best are workspaces that incorporate features and opportunities so workers can accomplish both focused tasks and collaborative ones effectively.
Here are three ways to help workers maintain needed focus in open plan environments:
- The nature of open plan workspaces encourages interruptions, which lower productivity. Even worse, workers who battle constant interruptions have higher stress levels. Every workspace needs to incorporate private spaces where workers can focus, free from interruption. Knoll, a leader in office systems design, has developed the concept of “refuge spaces” where employees can retreat to focus. Another possible solution for jobs that require intense focus is offering flex time, staggered hours or telecommuting options.
- While the intent of open plan arrangements is to increase collaboration, the pervasiveness of other people’s conversations decreases workers ability to focus on their own task. One answer to this problem is to create designated “quiet zones” within the open plan where there is no conversation or other distraction allowed. Collaboration spaces should be separated from quiet zones as much as possible.
- Encourage employees that to create their own focus space by listening to music, white or pink noise with headphones. Recent research has found that employees who listen to music report increased focus and reduced stress. In addition to delivering sound designed to increase focus, putting on a headset will also serve as a visual clue to others that focused work is in progress which may decrease interruptions.
In spite of recent research revealing that the open workspaces offer significant challenges, their ubiquity indicates that they are here to stay. However, with thoughtful planning, open workspaces can achieve the sometimes contradictory goal of fostering collaboration and providing the privacy needed to reach productivity goals.
How have you encouraged productivity in your open office environment?
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