An open-plan office space means that the most day-to-day business activities with everyone working in the same room. Generally, it’s an office floor plan that excludes the most private offices and meeting spaces. An open-plan office space has become a modern design trend which supposed to help increase innovation and creativity of the team.
Open Plan Office Idea
Open plan office does not have to be one large room with many tables spread, even many seem to use that concept for office design. The open-plan office space idea has the primary goal of inspiring collaboration and communication. Accordingly, personal space is kept to a minimum.
Facebook and Google are trendsetters for big companies to have key executives working alongside the rank and file employees. That is why the open plan office is a design idea that highly touted by many technology innovators. It is quite common to observe employees sedulously working at computers with headphones on when requiring concentrating on a task without the outside interruptions. This is something Mark Zuckerberg is famously quoted as being “wired in”.
Open Office Environment Benefits
The reason why companies favour open office space because of a leadership style trend to build teams where no one is sitting on the hierarchical stairs in the organisation.
Even if some companies follow traditional hierarchies, the setting seems to put people at ease feeling that they are in a collegial setting rather than having managers sitting on a top floor office.
Apart from that, bringing people together facilitates faster learning for new employees with others. It also builds trust and helps for the new ideas flowing. This filled with more brainstorming in a natural way that creates innovative ideas that companies are relying on.
Open Office Space Disadvantages
Every organisation should consider some things before removing all designated spaces for personal offices in the company’s floor plan.
Open Office Space floor planning can bring the chaotic feel that happens when too many people are in the room. Some tasks are required to concentrate on, errors can creep into work because people get easily distracted.
Another issue which might come up with the open-space floor plan is the damage of actual leadership where employees no longer see superiors as superiors.
The other disadvantage is personality issues among workers. Some people are not able to perform well in large groups or they seek privacy when doing their work. For example, an introverted accountant who just wants to go about business crunching numbers in a quiet room. In this case the open floor plan is not friendly for an efficient performance.
For people with shy, quiet personality offices can be overwhelming, considering that between 30 and 50 percent of office staff are introverts. It’s also about feeling physically and emotionally safe.
The Solution
Bring on the heads-down space and increase the number of meeting-space seats. There are a wide range of personality types, accordingly there should be a wide range of work spaces to match. Employees in open offices need an escape: a place where they can focus, to make a personal call, and to rejuvenate.
Also, management should proactively encourage to use heads-down spaces, because employees are afraid to leave their desk. Companies often think modern offices are all about the open space, but, it’s all about balance. If the company has the such goals as flexibility, collaboration, productivity, engagement and innovation, then giving and encouraging “choice” will go a long way in achieving these goals.
Glass office walls encourage communication because employees can see each other. But in the same time glass is acoustically sound. With the absence of distracting noise, office staff can keep their focus and have confidential phone calls. Apart from that glass-walled conference rooms are unified with the rest of your office too, rather than looking secretive.
Glass can also supplement the partitions in panel-based workstations if you are not fun of open space office. Replacing modular portions with glass reduces the depressing feeling of cubicles and creates attractive atmosphere will fuel staff motivation.
Kova Partitions specialises in delivering innovative and perfectly designed office glass partitioning systems for the best interests and preferences of clients, whatever you prefer – open office style or cubicles.
Using Kova Partitions` quoting calculator, you can get an estimate online instantly and see how you can create a unique and modern design to transform your space at great prices.