Turns out everything you ever believed about open plan offices was true
Someone shared the findings of 8 research papers into working in open plan offices and the findings will ring true with anyone who has ever worked in one (so, everyone then).
Open-plan offices have been found to reduce productivity and impair memory. They’re associated with high staff turnover. They make people sick, hostile, unmotivated, and insecure. Open-plan workers are more likely to argue more with their colleagues. pic.twitter.com/fkz2g87iuu
— Alina Manda (@comp2sch) April 7, 2018
It clearly struck a chord, shared 10,000 times on Twitter and prompting quite a debate online. Here’s the best of it.
1.
So people complain about cubicles…. Then they complain when they are taken away.
It isn't the environment, its the person.
— Nigel Williams (@sniperpenguin) April 8, 2018
2.
A cubicle farm is just an open plan bullpen pretending it isn't one. Neither one is proper offices fit for grown-up human beings.
— Large monstrosity, very stable (@zgryphon) April 8, 2018
3.
If the people who designed environments had to spend a year in them, environments would suddenly start being fit for humans.
— GrailSnail (@grailsnail) April 8, 2018
4.
do you ever notice how the people responsible for these types of environments have their own offices with a door and everything?
— high tech lowlife🔮 (@erythromancy) April 8, 2018
5.
Ours don't.
If fact, most tech startups have a CEO working in a common open space. Normally a meeting room for private discussions / calls.
— Nigel Williams (@sniperpenguin) April 8, 2018
6.
Maybe that's why many tech startups make poor decisions. The human brain can't operate at optimum level with multiple distractions. It's a fact.
— Sandearl persists (@sandearl) April 8, 2018
7.
Hot desks are even worse than open plan. I have unique keyboard and trackball to keep my hands healthy, I literally can't hotdesk without carrying loads of stuff around. Plus people like "owning" a space. Somewhere to keep nice tea and a toy duck.
— Matthew Walton (@maw) April 8, 2018
8.
To the shock of absolutely nobody who has ever worked in an open office plan.
— Madison Keller (@maddiekellerr) April 8, 2018
9.
And yet, management loves them. They can see everyone, verify that they are working and then bounce back behind their own office doors.
— Marian D Moore (@EzekielsOldest) April 8, 2018
Could be worse though …
I hate my open plan office. My desk is connected to a desk thumper. Ruins my concentration constantly.
— sore AF (@andrewfergusson) April 8, 2018
A desk… thumper?
— The Insatiable Fuzzbox (@foppishdrunk) April 8, 2018
A desk thumper is someone who bangs their desk while talking to other people. Not like slams. But forceful enough to shake monitors.
— sore AF (@andrewfergusson) April 8, 2018
This person seems to sum it up pretty well …
Our open plan office has been brilliant for cross-department development and sharing practice. However, I can't get any actual work done and revert to a nearby coffee shop
— Richard Nelson (@geordie_online) April 8, 2018