People may not realize that where you work and what kind of office setting you thrive in can make almost as big of a difference as the actual work you’re doing when it comes to whether or not you’re happy at the office.
Are you the kind of person that likes the privacy of your own office, where you can get on with what you need to do without being distracted? Or do you prefer being surrounded by people who you can constantly bounce ideas off of?
Whether you’re looking to start a new job and want to know if the office setting will work best for you, or you’re unhappy in your current job and are looking to make a change, then here are some things to consider. No matter where you’ve applied, workplace setup will be an important factor, so I’ve outlined what I consider the pros and cons of working in an open plan office, versus a partitioned one.
Atmosphere
Image by cnewtoncom
One of the biggest pros of an open office plan is the feeling of freedom and space that employees get. They don’t feel as though they are cooped up all day. This feeling is emphasized when an office has multiple windows, so if you’re the kind of person who gets restless being indoors too long, but happen to be looking for an office job, than a placement with many windows might make it easier for you.
Communication
An open plan also encourages communication between the people working there. This can either be a good or bad thing however. If you work in an advertising company or a social events planning firm than perhaps this is a good thing, having people bounce ideas off each other and come up with creative projects.
Image by nateOne
If your employees often need to work as a team then an open plan is probably the best idea. But, if your employees are mainly doing individual work then an open plan may just encourage non-work related chatter, which isn’t productive. You may want to consider something like glass offices in the style of Applied Workplace if your employees need to do some team work, but also need to work individually.
Distractions
One of the biggest cons of an open plan office is that it is much more distracting for people who sometimes have trouble focusing. It can lead to more procrastinating and less work getting done.
This is where a closed, partitioned office works better; people are much less distracted and focus more on their work, therefore elevating production rates.
What are your thoughts on open versus partitioned office plans?
James Duval
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