Traditional versus Open Office Design

Abstract

Research in open office design has shown that it is negatively related to workers’ satisfaction with their physical environment and perceived productivity. A longitudinal study was conducted within a large private organization to investigatethe effects of relocating employees from traditional offices to open offices. A measure was constructed that assessed employees’satisfaction with the physical environment, physical stress, coworker relations, perceived job performance, and the use of open office protocols. The sample consisted of 21 employees who completed the surveys at all three measurement intervals: prior to the move, 4 weeks after the move, and 6 months after the move. Results indicated decreased employee satisfaction with all of the dependent measures following the relocation. Moreover, the employees’dissatisfaction did not abate, even after an adjustment period. Reasons for these findings are discussed and recommendations are presented.

Individual Control over the Physical Work Environment to Affect Creativity

“…As slugged by previous studies the role of environmental control is like a "lever" within an organization by which individuals, groups and firms can optimize their workspaces in order to serve their business goals (Paciuk, 1990, Sargent and Terry, 1994, Sargent and Terry, 1998, Veitch and Newsham, 2000. Open-plan offices is the most growing type of office design in today's industries are mainly famous because many employees are placed in a giant space and work individually or as a group; this situation can enhance their communication and creativity (Brennan et al, 2002;Rashid et al, 2009). Back to the nature of these types of office design they get a group of people with different needs working in same condition, therefore some ambient conditions which normally are flexible such as room temperature and lighting are fixed to a certain level without much opportunity to modify and personalise them.…”

“…Lack of privacy and uncontrollable working condition affect employees through decreasing their concentration, increasing stress (Rashid et al, 2009) and inclination to work in private rooms (Lee and Brand, 2005). So, as suggested by previous studies environmental distraction as a negative feature of uncontrollable environment in open-plan offices is expected to be negatively associated with individuals' satisfaction with the physical work environment (O'Neill, 2008;Brennan et al, 2002) and decrease their performance (Veitch et al, 2007;Roelofsen, 2008).…”

“…However, easily accessible workspaces do not necessarily lead to better interactions and communication (Brennan et al, 2002;Kaarlela-Tuomaala et al, 2009). Due to lack of privacy, the amount of social interaction and communication between co-workers may go beyond the optimum level and employees might feel crowded and difficult to concentrate.…”

“…Therefore, the level of satisfaction with the environment among people occupying open-plan offices is lower than people occupying closed or private offices based on the above mentioned problems (Brennan et al, 2002) which may affect people creativity at work. Previous studies indicated that there is a significant relationship between individual well-begin and creativity (Shalley et al, 2000).…”

“…The first reason is financial which relates to the idea that many employees can be placed in a giant space, so the workspace can be used more effectively. The second reason refers to the notion that open-plan solutions increase communication among co-workers, promote knowledge sharing, creativity and support teamwork (Hua, 2007;Brennan et al, 2002;Hwang and Kim, 2013).…”