Changing from closed offices to open plans is one of the more challenging workplace transitions to make, as it frequently involves political and emotional difficulties. Managing that transition will necessitate addressing three aspects: personal concerns about status and territory, noise and disturbance management issues, and meeting functional requirements. A communication plan that explains the reasons, anchored in what desired behaviors the open-plan would foster and what the workers will “get out of it,” not just what the economic value will be to the organization, will be necessary for a successful transition.
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The Benefits of an Open Plan
The most frequently mentioned advantage of an open plan is that it encourages better levels of cooperation, which is widely seen as crucial to corporate efficiency.
Knowledge work is supported by assisting workers in seeing and finding each other in order to solve problems together or simply have a brief interaction, overhear their teammates, and be more aware of what is going on.
The Problems
We can all recognize the significance that comes with having a private office. Many people associate it with achievement and prestige, especially in businesses that use a range of open to closed individual work zones that are allotted based on rank. It can also be a haven or the only domain they have control over – the freedom from interruptions or visual or audio distractions to do their best job or handle that particularly delicate client phone conversation. Historically, we also assumed that the vast bulk of a worker’s day was spent in that office, with the exception of a significant meeting held in a conference room that was booked in advance. Cubicles were reserved for lower-ranking employees whose jobs required more processing and for whom privacy was not essential.
There are three factors to consider while “unpacking” all of this: status, control, and function.
Status
While there is certainly a personal element to this, it is frequently driven by organizational conventions. To put it another way, if the company I work for employs offices to distinguish between different levels of employees, I’ll desire what my rank entitles me to. I can live with it if the rules change and my level no longer receives offices, as long as everyone in my rank is treated equally. And I can’t really complain if no one gets an office anymore, can I?
Control
Workers can manage interruptions by closing the office door, which often indicates the occupant’s willingness to be interrupted. Their four walls also shield them from the distractions of their neighbors.
Those organizations committed to open plan should address these very real issues in a variety of ways, including using high-performing ceiling materials and/or white noise to reduce distracting ambient noise and providing quiet rooms for those times/days when a worker is not working from home and needs a distraction-free space to write that report, analyze data, or make calls. Those quiet rooms can be made for one or several people, as long as everyone follows the rules about no talking or using telephones.
Function
We have tended to believe that the space allotted to an individual is where they do the great bulk of their responsibilities: heads-down work, short meetings, phone calls, and paper processing tasks, in addition to the traditional rationale that we distribute offices to signal status. However, it has been discovered that, on average, offices and cubicles are only occupied around 40% of the time. Regardless of industry or space type, this average rate of occupancy appears to be the norm.
Dealing with the Trade-offs
The case for change is difficult to make. Many organizations, on the other hand, have succeeded by listening to the concerns of those affected, designing spaces that are more closely aligned with the way work is actually done.
