The rapid shifts in workplace arrangement under the influence of recent events have prompted new perspectives on how workplace interiors might be improved and diversified. Indeed, the difference in the interior design of a given workplace implies changes in employee productivity, job satisfaction, goal achievement, creativity levels, burnout, and overall organizational performance.
The distinction between traditional private offices and the newly emerging open office plans has been at the center of scholars’ and organizations’ attention. The implications of workplace interior design for organizational and employee accomplishments have produced a variety of opinions. However, this paper will concentrate on the discussion of the benefits of open office plans over traditional private offices. Open offices yield more productivity, corporate communication, motivation, creativity, and cost-effective organizational benefits in comparison to high-cost and less interaction-involving traditional private offices.
In order to support the claim of the predominant benefit of open office design over the traditional office, one should investigate some recent research findings. Notably, the scholarly sphere is rich in evidence demonstrating the pros and cons of different workplace interior designs. On the one hand, Van Marrewijk and Van den Ende (2018) state that study findings prove multiple benefits of open offices for companies in terms of employee accomplishment. In particular, the findings suggest that “bringing people together in open-plan offices maximizes communication, increases knowledge sharing activities and, consequently, increases collaboration among employees” (p. 1121).
Therefore, when designing an interior of working space, organizations striving for collaboration should pursue open offices. On the other hand, designing specific physical spaces of open-plan offices intends to shape collaboration by promoting unplanned, spontaneous encounters” (p. 1121). On the other hand, other studies have shown that not particularly the spatial unity but the “demarcation of group territory” was decisive in collaborative efforts (Van Marrewijk & Van den Ende, 2018, p. 1121). Thus, research proves the benefits of open offices for company performance.
In particular, when analyzing the research findings, one might attribute the benefits of open offices to employees’ positive outcomes. Indeed, while traditional offices promote separate achievements, open offices induce unplanned creative solutions, communication, and cooperation between different professionals. When observing others’ work, employees are motivated to perform to the best of their potential, which ultimately boosts company success.
Consequently, organizations at large benefit more from open offices since they help advance unity and collaborative decision-making in organizational culture. Notably, the implementation of open space interior design requires fewer materials and construction efforts which is cost-effective for the company budget and long-term financial goals. Indeed, when creating an open space office, one should not invest in planning different rooms or cubicles where separate items of furniture and technical appliances are required for each employee.
Conclusively, when comparing open office plans with traditional private office designs, one might identify multiple benefits of the former over the latter. Indeed, creative employee solutions, cooperative efforts, productivity, motivation, and accomplishment are significantly better when they work in open offices, as informed by research findings. Moreover, such a design helps advance a more collaborative and creative organizational culture where teams work in unity. Another important insight is the cost-efficiency of open offices over traditional ones, which is reflected in positive financial outcomes in the long run. Thus, open office plans have more benefits in comparison to traditional private offices.
Reference
Van Marrewijk, A., & Van den Ende, L. (2018). Changing academic work places: The introduction of open-plan offices in universities. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 31(5), 1119-1137. Web.