Known to many, but for those who are
new to the term "Open- plan office," it means the design for any
office plan that makes use of a large, open space minimizing the need to
building distinct rooms known as private cabins or private offices.
There has always been an argument,
whether open-plan offices will make for the best work environment or reduce
productivity. If you are one of them who is confused, whether to adopt this
design for your office or not? Below are the pros and cons of open-plan offices
that will help you decide what’s best for your company.
Pros
From staff point of view
1- Easy to interact
With an open-floor at large and with
no physical obstacles, makes it easy and quick for employees to interact with
each other, while at work. This can include eye-to-eye contact and sign
communications too, from a distance. The floor, if divided, includes movable
elements which can be customized as per business needs.
2- Advise/assistance on-the-go
With no walls or physical barrier
across the floor, an open-floor plan makes it easy for employees to bounce
ideas around and get help from relevant departments on-the-go. This means
employees can call out each other for advice or assistance without having to
knock on the doors.
3- Call for discussions
In an open-plan office, interactions
are more easy and casual than a closed-office plan where most of the employees
have a separate cabinet. Having an informal work environment, you can call for
discussions anytime, especially when there is an important announcement or
message that you would like to convey.
From business point of view
1- Flexibility
Adopting an open-plan office for
running your business, you don't need to squeeze employees, or build small,
congested cabins to accommodate employees forcibly like that seen in many
closed-office structure. You can accommodate few or many employees in a
single room at large, as well as divide the floor into customizable partitions,
if required.
2- Reduce cost
Having a closed-office plan design
will incur you hundreds of dollars, even if you plan to shift a wall slightly
to different angle that you wish. Also, if you business flourishes in a short
span of time, you'll have to invest in a new office place that can allow you
accommodate more employees to manage your business growth. An open-plan office
will be the cheapest solution when it comes to renovations and accommodation
for new employees.
3- Best use of resources
Not
only an open-plan office will be cost-effective when it comes to renovations
and space required to accommodate new employees, it also becomes less costly to
heat or cool an entire floor rather than multiple cabinets. Also, it
saves the cost behind printers, scanners and photocopiers as it becomes easier
to share and use them in one room.
Cons
From staff point of view
1 - Noisy atmosphere
An open-office plan creates a free
and informal environment. This means the high level of interactions between
employees can be a major issue. Apart from the staff’s voice, you'll
continuously experience the disturbance of phone calls, keyboards, and other resources
than you use in the office.
2 - Health issues
There are many health issues that
spread easily, therefore any outbreaks of flu can result to many of the
employees catching the same disease. This will result to a high productivity
loss as most of them will be on an off from work.
3 - Internal conflicts
An open-plan office no doubt
encourages an informal environment, but there are chance when an introvert
employee can be overpowered by obstreperous employees. This creates a mix
feeling amongst the shy employees to have their own workspace, just because
they won't to be away from those ugly internal conflicts.
From business point of view
1 - No confidentiality
The level of privacy is very less,
equivalent to negligible in an open-plan office as there are no partitions or
walls on the floor at large. This means sensitive material/information are hard
to keep confidential. This includes private calls, emails, messages over chat
and much more.
2 - Hampers productivity
The
open-plan office may offer employees a free environment to work, but at the
same time the noise and distraction caused amongst them can lead to decreased
productivity.
To end with, from one side an open-plan office creates a refreshing environment, but on the other side the chances of decreased productivity increases. Currently, this type of design is trending in the market, however still not rated as the most ideal office solution. With the above pros and cons, you can decide whether to introduce an open-plan office design to your office, or not.
