4 ms·

I'm part of a development team that resides in an 'open office.' One member of my team has told me that he likes the open plan so much that he'd quit if forced

• cookiecaper 10y ago
  The employees often prefer open office layouts because they get less done. There is a lot more distraction and a lot more hob-nobbing. Little things that someone would've solved on their own after a few minutes of troubleshooting become a group troubleshooting session, etc. People who are not actually interested in their work but just like to hang out with the people they work with (probably at least 85% of employees) tend to like open plan offices because they make it "more fun". Productivity does decline because any work that requires concentration is substantially more difficult to perform.
  • mojoe 10y ago
    When you say categorically that "Productivity DOES decline because any work that requires concentration is substantially more difficult to perform," you're assuming that the majority of people have a harder time concentrating in an open office environment. Based on my own observations, I don't think that's true of every sub-population. It would be interesting if a researcher tried to quantify this with volunteers from different companies with differing floor plans.
    • blub 10y ago
      There are multiple studies which confirmed that background noise impairs concentration, increases stress levels and disrupts clear thinking. Interestingly, even if one consciously ignores the noise, its effects are still visible in the body through blood pressure spikes, increased stress level hormones, etc.
      • mojoe 10y ago
        Sources? I'd be curious to see sample sizes and if this was true for 100% of study participants.
  • drstewart 10y ago
    >People who are not actually interested in their work So, by that vein, do you prefer having lunch breaks where you eat at your desk or do you not care about your work? Which is it? Because clearly working through lunch is more productive, so if that's not your choice then you are lazy and not motivated.
    • blub 10y ago
      Going through lunch will be more productive short term, but longer term one will become sick. My guess is that it's due to not taking breaks (one needs to unwind when eating) and stress levels building up.
    • cookiecaper 10y ago
      That's a false dilemma. Break time is break time, and it's probably better to take it away from your desk for a variety of reasons, no matter how productive you want to be. However, open plan offices make it so work time is always noisy and you have to work to avoid making eye contact with others. That's going to make it much harder to be productive, regardless of how much productivity one desires to achieve. Employees who prefer chit-chat to productive work are going to prefer open offices because it decreases productivity on the whole, which means they'll have to compete less with others to appear useful, and because it makes it much easier to start a conversation and otherwise engage in non-work social activity. To clarify, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with preferring chit-chat to productivity per se (again acknowledging that this is the preference of the vast majority of employed persons), especially when management is sending a clear endorsement of that perspective by literally removing all barriers in the office and throwing everyone into a giant single room. I'm just saying the people who are usually annoyed by open plan offices are usually people who come to work to concentrate on a task and get it accomplished, rather than people who come to work mainly for the external social engagement.
    • loco5niner 10y ago
      Not true. Your brain does need a break now and then. It actually helps (given the right timing) to leave and talk a walk now and then.