Open or Closed Layout?

Pros

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From a productive business perspective, the most beneficial advantage of an open plan office layout is the open flow of communication, allowing easier access to help and information for staff. Generally an open plan office will have specific departments grouped together. By doing this work can be completed seamlessly, along with any issues or questions resolved much quicker.

All employees are considered equal in this style of layout, as well as making management and supervisors more accessible and approach for help. There is undeniably a higher team spirit working together in an open layout; knowing help is right next to you, having the motivation of a group behind and not to mention the creativity of bouncing off ideas between one another.

Then there is of course the bottom line factor; it is far more economical to run an open plan office, with the savings from shared air-conditioning and stationery. This kind of layout enables room for more staff to work in the space, plus the office can be adapted easily down the track if need be.

At the other end of the spectrum though, those in closed offices feel more secure having their own space. The privacy in a closed office allows staff to work more productively, without the distraction of other colleagues.

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Cons

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Anyone who has worked in open plan office knows there are an overwhelming number of disadvantages to this layout. The most obvious being the noise and distractions from fellow colleagues. Whether it’s a person’s phone ringing, people talking around you, or simply losing concentration from what’s going on around you, it makes it hard to focus on the task at hand.

Working in an open plan office can also cause cold & flu’s or other viruses to spread more easily. A news article on news.com.au in 2009 made the claim that this kind of working space is “bad for your health”. It has been found staff suffer from more stress in these environments as well as the relationships being worse between co-workers.

The lack of privacy is also a major concern, particularly when these layouts make staff feel less valued. Having no privacy is problematic for staff when computers are visible for all to see, phone conversation are heard by everyone around you and any confidential material can also effectively be made public. More importantly is the concern that a lack of concentration, along with increased stress levels, will inevitably lead to a reduction in productivity.

Both sides of the argument sure do have some interesting points. The open plan office layout seems to have had somewhat of a resurrection lately, gaining popularity in pioneering creative spaces, such as the Bearstech office in our innovative offices series. Which is option is better though? We’ll let you make that call.

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