Respect what people communicate about their needs. Measure the results. Don't prescribe. And, in "our" field, presumably you are dealing with "professionals.

Respect what people communicate about their needs. Measure the results. Don't prescribe. And, in "our" field, presumably you are dealing with "professionals." Treat them as such. If they say they need a resource (including, peace and quiet to concentrate), provide it. Finally, as others state and I agree, offices do not necessarily mean isolation. If your offices are really soundproofed, impromptu meetings are frictionless with regard to timing and space. Socializing can also take place without people constantly looking over their shoulders to see whether they're being noticed or surveyed. Provide some common spaces --separated from the offices, so that their are no "losers" who are unwillingly stuck in the noisy offices adjacent. And if people want to work in a shared space? If you have the room, provide that, too. Let them work in the common spaces, if they like. Let them do what works for them. Monitor the output. Lose the ego (speaking generally, not to the parent post nor anyone in particular, here). Open the eyes. (And ears, as it were.) P.S. In my case, people were repeatedly pleased and sometimes astounded with my work. But I could never get past "the way we do things" and the separation from Management who kept to themselves the actual authority to make any changes that might vary from "the way we do things." In retrospect, and if my life hadn't deal me a series of crippling blows, early on, I should have become a consultant. Better pay, and the built-in ability to walk away from bad environments. If you need to; sometimes, since you aren't part of the organization, they will just give you what you ask for. Not part of those internal politics.