Tuesday 19 November 2013

Will demonising “open plan” lead to its demise?

There is a witch hunt on in the world of workplace. “Open plan” has become a dirty word (okay phrase) and the national press are leading the mob in vilifying this so-called scorn on workplace society. The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail and Business Week have all recently reported that “we can’t get anything done in an open-plan office” as it affects our concentration, our performance and our health.

These news items are all pretty damning but not as damming as the Wikipedia entry on open plan which states:
 

“A systematic survey of research upon the effects of open plan offices found frequent negative effects in some traditional workplaces: high levels of noise, stress, conflict, high blood pressure and a high staff turnover… Most people prefer closed offices… there is a dearth of studies confirming positive impacts on productivity from open plan office designs”.