Office Furniture and the Demise of Open Plan Offices

A new study from Harvard showed that when employees move from a traditional office with traditional office furniture to an open plan office with modules and cubes, it doesn't cause them to interact more socially or more frequently.

Instead, the opposite happens. They start using email and messaging with much greater frequency than before. In other words, even if collaboration were a great idea (it's a questionable notion), open plan offices are the worst possible way to make it happen.

Any space that’s outdated portrays the sense that it is not cared for. In the business world, not caring for the environment that your staff works in will immediately translate into the notion that you don’t care about the staff. Workers need a healthy upbeat environment to do their best work. Studies show that color and vibrant modern designs inspire creativity. Businesses today need to be agile and think out of the box. Creativity is a necessity to get one up on the competition. Working in a stagnant outdated environment is going to crush the worker’s spirit and their willingness to stay in the space any longer than they are required to. The workers are going to naturally gravitate to the areas of the office space that are most social and communicative. It makes sense because we are social beings and aren’t meant to be working by ourselves behind a lead wall all day. I feel this is especially true of the younger work force, the millennials who went to kindergarten with tablets in their hands.

First, you tear down the walls and dispense with the soulless cubicles. Then you put everyone at long tables, shoulder to shoulder, so that they can talk more easily. Ditch any remaining private offices, which only enforce the idea that some people are better than others, and seat your most senior employees in the mix. People will collaborate. Ideas will spark. Outsiders will look at your office and think, This place has energy. Your staff will be more productive. Your company will create products unlike any the world has ever seen.

Myth of Open Office Collaboration

That is the myth of the open office, a workplace layout so pervasive that its presence is taken for granted, and its promises–of collaboration and innovation–are sacrosanct. According to a 2010 study by the International Facility Management Association, 68% of people worked in an office with either no walls or low walls–and the number has undoubtedly grown.

Where Did Open Offices Come From?

You’re not going to believe this, but the open office pre-dates cubicles. They “were invented by architects and designers who were trying to make the world a better place—who thought that to break down the social walls that divide people, you had to break down the real walls, too,” says author George Musser of the Scientific American.

In 1939, Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Johnson Wax Headquarters, the main office for SC Johnson & Son. The office lacked any partition, but rather was divided up by thin white columns, filing cabinets, and oval desks.

Also, people eventually get tired of being around other people. Everyone has their individual level of "people exposure" - how long you can be around people before you need time alone. Add to mix a coworker who is gaslighting you and sabotaging your career. An open-plan office leads to more potential to mess with your belongings and your work. While one can argue that less sabotage can occur because a coworker is in view of everyone else, keep in mind that the more visual stimuli we have, the less we truly observe. This is the idea of committing a crime "in plain sight."

Hot Desking: Perfect for Stalkers

If you have a "hot desking" plan at work where you are able to sit wherever you want each day, you have less of a sense of structure. Many employees need to feel some sense of "sameness" to have a productive workday. Otherwise they are spending valuable time trying to adapt. Again, if you have someone at your office that is notoriously difficult to work with, or has been harassing or even stalking you, "hot desking" plan can be seen as an opportunity to get close to you.

In an open-plan office, you can never truly put up a physical barrier between you and a toxic coworker. You may feel vulnerable and exposed. You may also be acutely aware that a person is listening to your conversations. Not only does hearing your conversations give a toxic coworker "ammunition" to use in the future, it puts you on the defensive - constantly scanning to see who is within earshot.

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