Open-plan offices may not be the answer
FOR MANY years there has been an office revolution towards high-density open-plan offices, driven by the perception that it is cost effective. But is this really the case?
Erik Lucken, a retired architect who now develops research and client strategies for work practices for office retail and city design firm Gensler, says: “The human need for space tends to be well understood in other areas of life. Cars are marketed as roomy and comfortable, homes as spacious and airy, high-end grocery stores as having wider aisles and first-class airline seats offer more space per person.
“When was the last time a hotel advert bragged that they had smaller rooms? In most spaces, many people in a small area is called congestion; in workplace design it’s called efficiency. It’s time we question that.”
Jenny Seddon, design partner for Paragon Interiors, an office design firm in Sandton, agrees. “Companies make the mistake of thinking that high-density open plan layouts, with little to no choice in terms of where different tasks or types of work take place, are good for their staff and business.”
Fortune Magazine recently published an article speaking about these issues. According to the author of the article, Edward Brown, more companies are embracing open office layouts with the goal to improve communication, increase collaboration and cut back on overheads by packing more workers into less space.
“This might sound well and good, but every change has unintended consequences.
“Workers in open-floor plans are more exposed to interruptions by others who unwittingly interrupt you and steal your time. These people make it almost impossible for you to focus at work, as they constantly bombard you with conversation and other activity,” he writes.
Seddon points out that although routine workers are less affected by open-plan environments, such spaces are problematic for knowledge workers, those who spend the majority of their day performing conceptual tasks. Research on the disruption of tasks by speech and office noise shows that the productivity of knowledge workers is reduced by 66 percent in noisy office environments (Banbury, S and Berry, DC, 1998).
At management consulting firm Cohen Brown Management Group, office workers at all levels reported losing three to five hours of productive time every day due to unwanted, unneeded and unproductive interruptions.
What’s more, 93 percent said “yes” when asked if they were “often interrupted” at work. And of this group, 68 percent said those inter- ruptions came from within the company.
When employees were asked how their inability to avoid interruptions affected them, 80 percent said it created more stress for them, while 66 percent said it reduced their productivity. 60 percent said it diminished their job satisfaction, and 41 percent reported they made more mistakes.
“The design of the office environment should meet the needs of the business and staff.
“Examples include the inclusion of alternative work settings in open plan, such as phone booths, quiet rooms and library areas. These have been global standards for some time, but we are slowly starting to see South African clients understand the importance of these areas.”