Open-plan office: the benefits – better than a private office?

Open-plan offices offer advantages that companies can make use of. Good furnishings and clear rules that make collaboration possible in the first place are essential. Organisation at the workstation as well as organisation of the office space itself both play an important role.

Too loud, too many distractions, not a good atmosphere (literally and figuratively): open-plan offices are not popular everywhere. Working with focus in the office – What can I do? is often difficult here, because the desk is right next to your neighbour’s, the office chair creaks, and the air feels stuffy. Originally, one large office for everyone was meant to encourage communication among colleagues and within the team. Short distances, help and advice always at hand – these are admirable ideas. And open-plan offices really do offer these benefits. But for it to work properly, a number of things need to be considered. First, open-plan offices are not an advantage in every company, and second, the right furnishings are crucial. Clear rules must be observed so that all employees feel comfortable and can work productively.

• Open-plan office: rules, organisation, structures
• Do open-plan offices have advantages? Which ones?
• What are the arguments against an open-plan office?
• Conclusion: Office organisation tips: How big can an open-plan office be?

Rules, organisation, structures: an office with lots of workstations is not enough

Small changes often make working in an open-plan office much more pleasant. From the employer’s side, room acoustics should be given special attention: sound-absorbing elements can greatly improve the working environment. The office organisation can be adapted with tips and tricks: noise-intensive devices such as printers, scanners and photocopiers do not belong in the office, but in the corridor or a neighbouring room. If it does get too loud, there are several options:

• A quiet room allows individual employees to retreat and work without disturbance.
• Earplugs can help block out annoying keyboard clatter. But not everyone gets on well with “foam earplugs”, because the sounds of your own body can also be distracting.
• Headphones and a basic selection of calm music without lyrics can block out disturbing noises and help improve concentration.
• Flexible working hours can make the office a little less crowded at certain times, and working from home is also an option to ease the burden on large office spaces, at least on some days.

OPEN-PLAN OFFICE RULES

Clear agreements between employees prevent friction (open-plan office rules ): Agreements on room temperature and ventilation are just as much a part of it as clear rules on loud phone calls, eating at the workstation and more. An open-plan office with rules works; hoping for mutual consideration generally does not.

EVERYONE WORKS IN THE SAME OFFICE – AT THEIR OWN WORKSTATION

In an open-plan office, everyone may sit in one room, but there should still be separate desks. The individual desks and workstations must allow for personalised office organisation. After all, everyone works a little differently, needs their own order at the workstation and uses a filing system that differs from others. And that is still important today, because far from everything is handled 100% digitally. Documents are still used, notes are still taken, coffee mugs are still needed, and so on.

Where each person has their workstation should be decided according to individual needs. Desks and chairs can be moved if an employee needs a different workstation. People who get cold easily should ideally not sit in a draught by the door, but closer to the radiator. People who often let their gaze wander into the distance while thinking and need this short break for their brain should be able to look out of the window from their workstation. On the other hand, anyone who wants to avoid every distraction should be seated in a quiet corner. In the office, organising individual workstations, assigning them and making any changes only works if everyone talks to each other and treats one another with respect and appreciation.

A completely different topic, once again, is the furniture. The office must be furnished practically and cost-effectively, no question. But that must not come at the expense of employees and their health. Ergonomic chairs and desks, perhaps even a few optional standing desks, bring all work surfaces and seating surfaces to the required height. The office furniture should be height-adjustable, and of course the electronic equipment should also be ergonomic. Depending on personal anatomy and working style, standard computer mice can cause tendonitis and tennis elbow, while keyboards can lead to postural problems and back pain. A comfortable and ergonomically designed workstation for every employee in the open-plan office has nothing but advantages and creates a more pleasant atmosphere.

Does the open-plan office have advantages? Which ones?

Not every company benefits from an open-plan office. For example, where people work with intense concentration on their own projects and are largely independent of their colleagues, it makes little sense. But that is rarely the case. In most cases, the employees involved in a project need to communicate with one another and support each other in one way or another.

So where exactly does the open-plan office offer advantages? Better communication thanks to the physical proximity of colleagues has already been mentioned. Other advantages of the open-plan office are:

• Better exchange of ideas: Teamwork is not only faster, but also more intensive.
• More creativity: When working together, ideas are often picked up by colleagues and developed further.
• More motivation: Thinking and working together is simply better, and moods can easily rub off on others.
• Stronger cohesion: Teams pull together and support one another more when everyone is in the same room and physical proximity is a given.
• Efficiency: You can of course schedule a meeting for an exchange of ideas and arrange appointments by phone, chat or email. But it is quicker and easier when everyone is simply in one room and can talk to each other at any time.
• Better flexibility: Office organisation can be managed more economically when an open-plan office accommodates many employees. From security and communication to shared resources, the open-plan office offers advantages.
• Lower costs: The costs of designing the office space are lower in an open-plan office.

Open-plan offices do not only offer advantages: what speaks against an open-plan office?

Keeping the office tidy should be easier for employees when they share the space with others. But that is not the case, and forced proximity in particular often encourages conflict. After all, everyone has a different idea of what keeping an office tidy means. Other disadvantages include:

• Little privacy: As already mentioned, there is no privacy in an open-plan office. From organising your workstation and the smell of herbal tea to a call from your daughter's school, everything is out in the open. According to psychologists, this leads to increased aggression.
• Declining productivity: When everyone is rattling away on their keyboard at the same time, a phone rings here and there, the air conditioning hums, a colleague scrapes their feet under the desk and someone else hums while working, productivity drops. Distraction is caused not only by the high noise level, but also by movement in the room, smells and temperatures. This is completely natural and has nothing to do with being "sensitive".
• Less job satisfaction: When aggression builds, stress levels rise and people constantly have to deal with potential conflict, it has a negative effect on employees' health and motivation. Mental wellbeing also suffers, work is perceived as a burden and enjoyment decreases. This in turn affects the working atmosphere, which pushes satisfaction down even further.
• Poor air and poor lighting: Air conditioning systems may regulate the room temperature, but not according to individual needs. In addition, the often overly dry, stale-smelling air from the system is less well tolerated. Then there is the artificial light, which cannot replace daylight in any way. Both can lead to discomfort and even health problems.
• More sick leave : Studies have found that 90% of employees in open-plan offices report negative effects on their health. In open-plan offices, employees are more frequently absent due to illness, and more people are affected overall. According to surveys, 50% of people in single offices had not been ill at all within the last year, compared with 38% in two-person offices and only 30% in open-plan offices. Flu viruses in particular spread quickly.

Conclusion: office organisation tips: how large an open-plan office can be

There is no exact size, and so far no one has been able to draw a clear line. The illness figures mentioned above already suggest that anything above 5 people can be problematic – but does not have to be. Perhaps the solution is not how many people should work in an open-plan office at most, but in the alternatives available. If companies offer open-plan offices while also allowing home office, setting up quiet zones and rooms with individual workstations, and switching the office to flexible working hours, that may be one solution.

Employees can then choose according to their needs whether they currently need to exchange ideas with colleagues or prefer to work from home with their own office organisation and filing system. However, the likely frequent changes of location place high demands on keeping the workplace organised.