When open-plan offices first came on the scene, everyone expected great things. Improved collaboration and communication, better social engagement, increased ability and transparency, and a huge boost in efficiency.
Choosing the right office environment is important for workplace culture and productivity. If you are in the UK, there some wonderful offices to let in Kingston upon Thames.
Unfortunately, half a century later, none of those promised benefits have come true. In fact, there’s absolutely no evidence that an open-plan office boosts morale or productivity, and mounting studies that show the exact opposite effects.
At this point, the open-plan office is by far the most common work environment, but the rippling backlash is beginning. The correlations between privacy and productivity get stronger and stronger with each piece of research.
In this infographic, by Reuben Yonatan of Get Voip, we look at the ways the open-plan office can backfire.
About Reuben Yonatan:
Reuben is the founder and CEO of GetVoIP. You can connect with Reuben on Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.
View original infographic here.
Interesting. Facebook’s new corporate hq is an open floor plan.
I think it really depends on culture and if the employees are hired to fit the culture. I have seen a lot of offices switch to open plans and it didn’t work because the employees that were already working there fit the old culture and were not used to working in an open space. I think it is better to have a space to collaborate and work together and also have spaces where employees can work privately and uninterrupted. It can be distracting if you work beside a loud talker who is always on the phone.