What Is An Open Plan Layout Office And The Pros And Cons?

An open plan office layout is an office floor plan that does away with private offices and meeting spaces. There may be one or two meeting rooms to facilitate private meetings. But for day to day operations, it operates with everyone in the same room.

This open plan office layout offers innovation and creativity. It encourages the ability to work and network at the same time.

This is no cubicles and partitions; desks are arranged in rows in an open area. Though many companies use this design, open plan office layout does not need to be just one large room with rows of desks. Senior workers may be assigned space with low-level cubicles to offer limited privacy. Open plan office layout derived with the goal of inspiring collaboration and communication, so the personal space for each worker is kept to a minimum.

Open plan office is a popular choice with fast-paced and flat hierarchy organizations like startups and technology companies. Google and Facebook are pioneers in this office space concept, having key executives working alongside the employees.

PROS

More affordable

There is no need to build rooms and partitions. An open plan office can accommodate more work desks in a given space. Costs to fit out the office are significantly reduced and restoring the office to its original condition is also cheaper and faster.

Encourage communication

The lack of barriers between workers encourages communication. This speeds up decision making, resulting in prompt action and increased work efficiency.

Encourage teamwork

It is a leadership style trend to build teams where no individual is sitting on the hierarchy ladder in the company. This layout puts one at ease, feeling that everyone in the office is equal.

Conducive for brainstorming

When workers sit next to each other, it promotes faster learning, especially for a new employee. He will be able to get help easily from colleagues sitting around him. It makes getting feedback easier, one colleague just needs to check on others around him to get feedback on an idea. The open sitting arrangement makes brainstorming easier and more natural, ideas flow quicker with a bigger group of people.

CONS

Prone to errors

With the open-plan office layout, it gives one a chaotic feel when there are too many people in one room. If an employee needs to concentrate and focus on a task, the risk of getting an error is higher as the employee will be easily distracted.

Loss of leadership

When all the people are sitting together, one will feel at ease as everyone is equal but there may be issues if subordinate no longer sees superior as superior. Instructions might not be followed and the chain of commands might get broken leading to inefficient human resources management.

Increased personality issues

Not all people perform well in large groups. Some people require privacy in doing their work. Some job nature like balancing account entries need a quiet setting to ensure accuracy. The open plan layout office is not conducive to optimal performance.

For a situation like there is tension between two colleagues, tension is higher in an open office plan than a closed office plan, adding to the chaos and demoralized staff morales.

An efficient office layout keeps staff morale high, increases productivity, and improves workflow.

More than just fitting a group of people into a room, the choice of office layout depends on the job nature, workflow, the communication needed.

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