Recent trends show a shift towards an open office structure. However, there are conflicting views on whether the open office structure is beneficial to enterprises. Some people think that the open office structure will lead to a decline in productivity, but others may think that the open office structure can improve team cohesion.
In 2015, Oxford Economics conducted research to determine the impact of open work structures on employees. Most importantly, this review helps to identify the factors that employees value most in their work. In fact, the most important factor is that you can concentrate and work without interruption. Therefore, the open office structure does not seem to meet this goal.
But for employees, the second most important factor is the space to work easily and effectively with colleagues. This seems to be two conflicting issues, but it is possible to maintain focus in an open planning space, and team work is also a priority.
How is that possible?
Of course, through a balanced office culture! As we all know, organizational culture has a great impact on employees.
In the long run, organizations that advocate a cut throat and pressure driven culture will actually reduce employee productivity. In fact, in a stressful office environment, social interaction will be disrupted, leading to staff leaving their jobs and increasing staff turnover.
On the contrary, a study by Harvard Business Review in 2015 clearly showed that a positive environment and a good integration culture will bring long-term benefits to employers, employees and the Maginot Line of Defense.
Similarly, an open office environment can not only encourage social interaction, improve productivity, cultivate loyal employees, but also foster stronger social ties. This can not only improve happiness and positive emotional ties, but also improve team creativity and overall productivity.
Obviously, open office space has a positive impact on employee welfare.
However, the open office structure sometimes has the opposite effect, reducing face-to-face interaction. In some organizations, the open office structure reduced face-to-face interaction by 73 percent and increased e-mail and information use by 67 percent.
Again, this depends largely on the culture of the office itself.
An open workshop can create a collaborative atmosphere, but to achieve a perfect balance between work and life depends on the company’s spirit and culture. If the productive forces are encouraged first, the working people will find themselves demoralized, underpowered, and their productivity will decline for a long time. On the other hand, if the culture allows the combination of socialization and productivity, but trusts the individual’s spirit of enterprise, an open office is always beneficial.
In short, it is important for employees to realize that human beings and environmental health are intrinsically linked and require an attractive workspace. Therefore, the current design trend is right to tilt towards open collaboration rooms. They urged communication between management and employees to promote integration and innovation. Although this may be a costly effort, it is a good investment if it can improve the cohesion of employees and create a better corporate culture.
Nevertheless, it is still important for employees to have their own personal space when they leave the working environment. Therefore, when designing an open office space, it is still important to provide a space for individuals to be alone or away from people when necessary.
Finally, the open office can emphasize that because everyone works together in the central area, not only can we maximize the use of space and natural light, but also can emphasize the egalitarian culture, that is, all people can work side by side under the sense of equality.
Therefore, the success of the open office structure seems to depend on the structure and culture of the company. The open office environment is effective for enterprises at lower levels. In fact, the open workspace has a “flat” office structure, which seems to be a good choice for companies with few reporting channels. Open office space should encourage better connectivity and productivity.
In conclusion, the success of the open office structure largely depends on the spirit and culture of each company. In a purely goal oriented company, the open office structure will have a negative impact on the company’s productivity. But for companies that openly encourage social interaction and team building, open office space is an ideal place to cultivate creativity and productivity. But at the same time, it is important to develop space to keep individuals away from the open office environment.
