Changing the Landscape with Cubicles and Open Floor Plans. The impact of cubicles on the workplace has had impact on office design and culture. Many may agree that cubicles have come to symbolize the old way of doing business. Last, year marked the 50th anniversary of the cubicles. Fast forward to today, many
The impact of cubicles on the workplace has had impact on office design and culture. Many may agree that cubicles have come to symbolize the old way of doing business. Last, year marked the 50th anniversary of the cubicles.
Fast forward to today, many corporations have moved into more open floor plans; in order, to nurture more creativity and teamwork. A 2010 survey by IFMA states that more than 70 percent of workplaces are in open plan offices.
There are many positives and negatives sides to the idea of an open plan offices verses private offices.
Lower productivity: reduces the amount of work that gets done, but also the quality of work produced by an employee because of difficulty to focus on the task at hand.
More Sick days: Studies have shown that workers in Denmark found that employees working in a two person offices took 50% more sick leave in a single person office.
Deflated Morale: Reported lower levels of job satisfaction. For instant, feelings of helplessness in the workplace such as not being able to control the temperature and lighting.
However, there are many times that an open floor plan still out weights it many benefits. Here are 3 main elements of making a successful hybrid office model to have great teamwork without losing privacy.
Collaborative Common areas: Offices area should have space where employees are able to meet and have casual gatherings. People want diversity, such as, conference and break rooms, or a lounge area.
Conference Rooms/Private Offices:These are rooms where employees are able to have small meetings or offer privacy as needed.
Conversation-friendly corridors: In order, for employees to maximize interactions with each other the layout of the office should be in a circular or rectangular layout. It’s all so important to spread out amenities thought out the office, so people aren’t walking by the same areas each day.
Incorporating these ideas can create a work environment that provides the same ideas of open office while removing the headaches caused by companies modeling after the open plan concept
The implementation of these elements creates a workplace that offers the same level of collaboration as an open office while simultaneously eliminating the headaches caused by offices that took the open plan concept too far.