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Open work environment is good if you have -
- Less people in the space say 10-15
- All the people belong to same project or team
- Meetings areas are separate then work space.
This is a very popular these days in agile and digital acceleration kind of work environment, If above 3 factors are met, I have no issues against open work environment.
An open office environment should still have certain zones that are dedicated for different types of work or interaction. For instance
- Quiet zones: no talking, no calls
- Talking zones: take calls here, meet colleagues here
- Creative Zones: white boards, high tables etc. Whatever generates creativity
Then these spaces can be very effective, and cheaper to maintain. To me, the advantage of working in such a space is that sound / conversations in bulk are easier to block than individual noises you may be exposed to in your secluded environment.
It's more about discipline than environment. If one can't focus then cubicle or open plan won't make much difference.
Robert - I've worked in both open office layout and in a private office. In my line of work (CHRO), the conversations I have routinely require privacy (benefits, compensation, employee or manager issues) which necessitate me in a private space. I find it more efficient to work in an office rather than slog back and forth between cubicle and conference room. Additionally, I have sequestered the HR team so that all have private space when speaking to employees.
The open office layout is increasingly being challenged as disruptive, not accommodating to those who need more privacy or quiet for their work and those more introverted. I find a combination of open, collaboration space coupled with work space that affords some degree of privacy to be optimal.
I worked in a “Google-like” open office in Silicon Valley. Even if you can focus in this environment, there are a lot of people who don’t want to hear your conversation with co-workers. I found it to be disruptive and lead to a lack of diversity in thought by stifling open conversation.
In addition to the constant murmur of voices in an open office space, many companies play music into the room. This adds a second level of noise that one's brain has to filter out.
Studies by Harvard Business School professor Ethan Bernstein show that people wear/buy noise cancelling headphones so they actually interact less than they would if they had cubicles. Also, the stress levels increase dramatically because people feel they are being observed all the time.