The world of work is evolving quickly, and office spaces are changing alongside it. Real estate costs are at an all-time high, and companies are consistently looking for ways to save money while maintaining and recruiting the best people.
In this changing work environment, long gone are the days of window-lined offices and high-panel workstations. Instead, many if not most companies opt for some degree of open workspace. But is an open, collaborative work environment right for everyone?
The Appeal of Openness
Millennial and Gen-Z workers are quickly becoming the target demographic for company recruitment. As the workforce becomes younger, more progressive, and more flexible, forward-thinking companies are doing their best to keep up. Countless offices across the United States are a physical reflection of their employees’ work preferences—teamwork, informality, and a flattened hierarchy. And, the age of an open work environment has only just begun.
What’s the big idea behind open offices? It’s simple. By removing physical barriers between team members, the psychological barriers are removed, too. A lack of walls is thought to help boost collaboration, creativity, and interpersonal communication. Instead of shrinking down behind their respective partitions, coworkers can easily share ideas, work together, and collaboratively solve challenges. The result, companies believe, is a productive, more motivated staff who enjoy coming to work, and who therefore work harder.
Possible Drawbacks
Are open work environments the secret to a hyper-productive and satisfied workforce? Well…maybe not in every case. The extra activity generated by this openness creates its own unique set of challenges.
According to a study performed by the Journal of Environmental Psychology, open offices lead to an increase in noise, distractions, and an overall loss of individual privacy. All those collaborative discussions can get pretty noisy without walls to muffle them. For those who need silence to focus, the constant buzz of sound…or a couple of very loud-taking co-workers…can be a real challenge to overcome.
The lack of privacy can be a hassle, too. Need to take an important client call? Have to participate in or run an important meeting? In an open workspace, you have to move to another location if you don’t want others listening in—or rolling their eyes because they’re forced to hear your entire conversation.
Research suggests that open workspaces may actually make workers less productive and interactive. A recent study by Harvard professor Ethan Bernstein cites increased psychological pressure as a major unintended consequence.
Bernstein notes that “If you’re sitting in a sea of people, for instance, you might not only work hard to avoid distraction (by putting on headphones for example) but—because you have an audience at all times—also feel pressure to look really busy. Indeed, all of the cues in open offices that we give off to get focused work done also make us less, not more, likely to interact with others.”
Compromise is Key
Open workspaces aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution. A 2019 workplace study revealed that a mere 7% of respondents prefer totally open work environments. Instead, approximately 28% of respondents prefer “mostly open” offices with a few private spaces, while another 20% prefer “somewhat open” offices with a mix of private offices, meeting rooms of various sizes, phone rooms, and open collaboration areas.
In most cases, however, some degree of openness is a much better alternative to restrictive, self-isolating offices. A mix of open space and privacy is a much-needed solution to addressing the needs of a younger, diverse and specialized workforce.
As Thomas Edison said, “Different isn’t always better, but better is always different.”
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