> Open offices were popularized in the 1980s as a scheme to lower real estate costs and break down divisions between teams; with fewer walls, bosses can claim t

> Open offices were popularized in the 1980s as a scheme to lower real estate costs and break down divisions between teams; with fewer walls, bosses can claim they’re emphasizing transparency and collaboration while maximizing their square footage per employee. Smokescreens. It was never about collaboration, it was only about cost. Fewer physical divisions mean fewer build materials means fewer costs. Nobody who has set foot in an open plan office can believe that an arena like atmosphere is conducive to collaboration or communication, because the need for separated meeting rooms proves the opposite. If you tell me your open office plan is due to economics I would believe you. If you tell me it’s for productivity, I will assume it’s a lie, or you don’t understand how people actually get stuff done.