It may only be for an instant, but it is a distraction. We immediately look up and see what is going on. We have all been in a coffee shop reading a paper or something on our computer, and out of the corner of our eye, someone comes into view. Also, people will be moving around in the line of sight of coworkers. Noises like coughing or sneezing, your coworker’s nervous foot-tapping habit, and peoples’ phones vibrating on their desks-all can be heard by everyone. It makes people feel more exposed because it’s impossible to have a private conversation on the phone or in person. When workers can hear everything that coworkers are saying or doing, it can be distracting and hard to focus. Clearly, this was not the intended outcome.Ĭanada Everyone can hear everything, and there are visual distractions, too. Shockingly, face-to-face interactions decreased by a whopping 70%, while email usage increased substantially as well. They tracked 150 people for three weeks prior to the office space redesign and for three weeks after. This clever study was based on two Fortune 500 companies who were each adopting an open office plan. Positive workplace interaction can be hampered: “Adopting open offices, therefore, appears to have the perverse outcome of reducing rather than increasing productive interaction.” This seems to refute one of the major “benefits” of an open-plan workplace. In fact, in this study, people in open offices often chose to send an email rather than approach a co-worker. It seems like open office spaces would encourage people to collaborate and solve problems collectively. An open office doesn’t necessarily promote interaction. We encourage you to keep these negative impacts in mind when considering the architecture of your next commercial property. A July 2018 study has concluded that not only does open office architecture fail to produce open interaction, it can actually reduce organizational productivity, mental focus, and positive social interaction. New evidence shows that it may be time to stop building open offices-or at least approach them with caution. But in practice, the benefits just aren’t as great as they may have seemed a few years ago. And, as a bonus for those of us in real estate, these spaces are visually attractive, versatile, and cost-effective. A few years ago, the appeal of the open plan seemed simple: it would allow workers to collaborate and interact with one another easily, increasing socialization and promoting a close-knit team. Open office spaces have been trending over the last few years.
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