General office space: why there are more minuses than pluses

If you read us at work, your colleague, most likely, can look over your shoulder. Almost certainly he knows about everything you do. This is life in an open office. Such spaces were created to save space, and also to provide ideal opportunities for joint work. Unfortunately, work in the office, where everyone sees and hears everyone, is far from ideal and has more flaws than advantages.

Employee Opinion

On this occasion, a lot of judgments were expressed. And all of them, as a rule, are based on personal experience of employees. Rory O'Brien says that at work directly opposite his desk is the desk of the immediate superior. Often he has to hear something that is not meant for his ears, including the insinuating conversations of the boss with his mistress and the stormy clarification of relations with his wife. Open office terms do not provide a choice. Personal space of employees is not protected. In any case, you will have to deal with constant noise and scraps of confidential phrases.

Most employees hate this atmosphere

Sometimes information that does not target your ears can make you feel uncomfortable. You can hear gossip that affect the new members of the team, or even information about the company's policies. But in most cases, colleagues are engaged in secular conversations and talk about life. Not everyone is ready to hear this on a regular basis. Sometimes I want to get up and make an escape. Well, the authorities each time responds to complaints with the crown answer: "Do not like it? No one here is holding you! ".

In order to save space

Carter Thompson tells what happened in the structure of his firm after the reorganization of space. Under the old system, his department, consisting of six people, was located in a "moderately enclosed space." With a new layout at a distance of 50 meters from each other. Of course, there are no partitions between the employees. From morning till night, there are phone calls, animated political discussions, disputes and secular conversations. "Many of us hate these conditions and feel like they are working in a call center," says Carter.

Initially, employees in this organization were located more or less apart, in each of the offices, separated by partitions, the members of one team were concentrated. Someone really likes to chat more than others, nevertheless a member of a group working on the same project is always located nearby. When the reorganization was announced, all the members of the labor collective were faced with the fact: now no one will be allowed to personalize their space.

Lack of protection against germs

In addition to constant noise and distractions, one important factor of open space is the lack of protection from microbes that spread by airborne droplets. People are forced to take additional protection measures in seasonal exacerbations of respiratory diseases and influenza. If your superiors do not particularly favor those who like going to the hospital, be prepared to cough and sneeze with the entire office.

Ways to solve problems

Open offices will continue to be popularized, but confidentiality is still needed for employees. To increase productivity, some people have already begun to take work at home. The scheme is simple: in the office environment, colleagues work together to develop strategies, and work on the project itself takes place in quiet conditions. But if the heads of companies continue to rely on budget savings, forgetting about the emotional well-being of employees, the productivity will drop noticeably. According to experts, this problem will help to solve a new design of an open office, where a combination of common and private spaces will be provided, as well as an appropriate background. The culture of the open office should be structured. Unfortunately, initially this important aspect was ignored.