Open Plan Offices - Not Such A Good Idea?
Open plan - originally
hailed as the answer to a more productive environment - are starting to show
that, in some ways, they may not actually be all they’re made out to be.
Open plan offices are cheaper to build and allow
organisations to fit more people into less space - crucial in today’s
cost-conscious world. Those who get
offices of their own are generally CEOs.
Whilst great for
collaboration and communication it’s not suitable for everyone, especially when
they need to focus. Despite more workplaces designed to support,
collaboration, Gensler’s 2013 U.S. Workplace Survey found that time spent in collaboration has
dropped by 20%, whereas time spent on focusing has increased by 13%.
An
interesting survey by Canada Life in 2014 found that people who work in open
plan offices are likely to take up to 70 more sick days than those working from
home… Those who can focus tend to be
more satisfied, higher performing and see their employer as more innovative.
One of the distractions
is noise: apparently, this can hurt recall ability, whilst privacy increases
job performance. One major issue
can be a lack of meeting space. Teams
hold their meetings at their “cluster” and distract others. Have plenty of breakout places visually removed from work
clusters.
Interior
design can have a significant effect on productivity and well-being. Essentially, people need a place where they
feel as “effective” as possible.
Decoration may be one way of helping, but whatever is chosen must be
something that people don't object to.
Light plays a critical role: Lockheed Martin saw a
15% decrease in absenteeism when they moved employees to a building with plenty of
natural daylight. This may be why the
height of cubicle walls is being reduced - to let in more light (but providing
more visual/aural distraction?). The
same effect can be achieved by being next to a window, with the added benefit
that you have a view.
From
all this, it seems that a balanced
workplace is the way to go. Not only
will people get more done, they will also feel more satisfied in their job and
are therefore more likely to remain.
Visual privacy is perhaps a less understood issue: if
employees feel that others can look over their shoulder, they can be up to 50% less productive, according to the Visual Privacy Productivity Study
conducted by the Ponemon Institute in 2013 on behalf of 3M.
In “sensitive” industries (e.g. banking), those who feel
their privacy is compromised are less willing to disclose sensitive
information. This could be costing organisations considerable sums.
Conversely, they are twice
as productive when their visual privacy is protected. One way around this is to allow them to fit
privacy filters on their computers.
Interestingly, sex and age also impact productivity if people feel
their visual privacy is compromised, with women and employees aged over 35
valuing privacy more.
Organisations need to develop policies on working in public
places (open plan offices and airport
departure lounges, train stations, etc).
Not only might this improve productivity, it would also reduce the exposure
of sensitive information.
Comparatively few organisations appreciate the impact of
“mobile technology” (smartphones, tablets), which gives users the choice of
working literally anywhere. They need to
focus on providing workspaces that support individuals who want to decide when,
where and how they work. Again, the Gensler
2013 U.S. Workplace Survey found that
people tend to be more satisfied and more effective across the focus,
collaboration, learning and socialising spectrum if they have a choice.
An unexpected finding was that
employees who have the choice of
“workplace autonomy” still spend up to 70% of their time in the office. They just have the choice of making decisions
based on their need to connect with others and to resources.
The conclusion seems to be, in fact,
that we need to focus on supporting the individual
through a balanced workplace that
offers flexibility if we want to gain
and maintain competitive advantage in the broadest sense of the word. A simple “barn” of an open plan office may be
cheap to build, but may cost more in lost productivity and employee
dissatisfaction.
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Leadership, Productivity, Strategy, Teamwork
posted by William Martin @ 08:19
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