It seems to have become the accepted wisdom that open plan offices are best for building strong teams at work. It is assumed that when everyone in the organisation is seated together, removing the trappings of hierarchy, relationships will naturally blossom.
But shoehorning 60 people into one room does not make a team. Physical proximity is not guaranteed to unite people, nor to encourage creativity or enhance productivity.
Open to debate
Open plan working certainly creates a "buzz". That's often helpful for groups such as sales teams, but also leads to frustration and disruption, whether it's a daily battle over the air conditioning or being unable to concentrate while the marketing team brainstorms at the next desk.
There is something of a backlash underway against open plan working, with research and surveys beginning to show that both employees and managers are unconvinced of the benefits. A study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology questioned 42,000 US office workers from 303 buildings, some based in open plan and others in smaller private offices. Researchers concluded that open plan layouts that are disruptive due to "uncontrollable noise and loss of privacy" were outperformed by enclosed private offices. Another study found extreme antipathy to the noise and distraction of open plan. What people valued was the ability to focus on their jobs with as few distractions as possible.
The organisations and roles in which there is scope for free-flowing creativity are limited. For many the priority is simple delivery. Too much collaboration and consultation can simply get in the way and may even lead to the very opposite of creativity: groupthink, conformity, mediocrity and poor decision-making.
The way forward
Given that organisations always need to contain their office space costs, existing layouts are not about to change any time soon. For some, the response is to avoid the fray or opt out. They seek to work from home or offsite. They start earlier or finish later to get some quiet time. Or they simply retreat behind their headphones. Sometimes disengaging is the right thing to do.
But there are things that we can change: first, the way that the office operates, and second, our own behaviour.
Setting the ground rules
Establishing some operational ground rules and social protocols is the constructive way to get the most from open plan while avoiding the pitfalls. If the temperature is an issue, thrash out some procedures to deal with it so it is not a continuing battle. If meetings at desks are a constant distraction, campaign to get sufficient meeting spaces and agree procedures for using them.
Develop a culture of consideration and respect
The issue of confidentially in an open plan office can be particularly tricky. Glass-walled meeting rooms are not the place to display slides or flip charts of confidential plans. Some meetings, such as performance reviews or disciplinary meetings, should be away from the public gaze in different parts of the building or offsite.
Taking control
Behaviour is something that is under our own direct control. Being in a shared office space does not mean we have to be available to others at all times. We can remain aware without rising to the bait. For example, if we take a puppyish interest in everything that is going on, people will see that as an invitation to come and distract us.
However, we can make ourselves inaccessible without being offensive. If we choose to maintain our focus and draw in our space to concentrate on the task at hand, we give a clear non-verbal message that we are not open for distraction. We can choose which interruptions to allow. Sometimes it will be appropriate to respond now; other times we'll ask someone to come back later.
Jo Ouston is founder of Jo Ouston & Company, and the former head of advisory services at the Institute of Management
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