Why Open Concept Offices Could Be Bad for Your Business
When the pandemic first struck and those who could, began to work from home, the world observed a few stark revelations. Amongst those was the realization that employees may be as productive, if not more, working from home. Though many held the belief that the pandemic would slowly but surely go away, the progression of 2020 and 2021 saw many companies offering employees a permanent option to work from home, start-ups are no longer opting to pay for exorbitantly priced offices, and co-working spaces are seeming increasingly attractive to many. Open concept spaces focus on community-building and sustainability, boasting a free, open layout which is shared with other members of the space. There are usually no cubicles or separate offices. On the other hand, private offices resemble traditional office spaces, providing individual spaces or spaces for smaller teams within a company. While open concept offices are designed to boost collaboration and promote a more comfortable culture to enable adequate idea flow, they are often counterproductive, especially for small businesses and solo-preneurs who require more focus, privacy, and concentration in order to operate effectively. This kind of privacy cannot be accomplished in open concept offices, which can often be crowded and hence distracting, and do not offer the option of personal branding.
Here are a few reasons why open concept spaces might not be the best idea for your business.
Lack of Privacy
A recent Forbes article disclosed that 31% of workers stated that the lack of privacy inherent in open concept spaces leads them to withhold their opinions and thoughts while on the phone so their colleagues do not hear. This lack of privacy can prove detrimental if workers are surrounded by people who are unproductive or toxic, impacting others’ work ethic. Privacy in such a context also inevitably means silence, which is significant to many individuals in their working environment, as noise and other sensory overload can be extremely distracting. In today’s world, where many meetings are conducted over platforms such as Zoom and MSTeams, this privacy becomes all the more necessary. Conducting virtual meetings requires privacy, silence, and perhaps even confidentiality, none of which can be achieved in an open concept office setting. In these cases, expecting workers to relocate for every such meeting may not be the most effective solution.
Decrease in Productivity
Open concept spaces are said to kill worker productivity, or at least, severely impact it. A study in 2018 suggested that open architecture caused employees to withdraw from face-to-face interaction with others in the space, resorting to digital interaction over email and instant messaging. Moreover, open spaces are associated with distractions, noise, and a general sensory overload, slowing people down and resulting in lower productivity. The lack of privacy further contributes to a reduction in productivity, as colleagues can constantly distract each other from working.
Lack of face-to-face interactions
Although it is intended to increase collaboration and team building, a lack of spatial boundaries in open concept offices has in turn resulted in individuals attempting to draw such boundaries for themselves. They feel a reduced need to interact with others, since they are all already in the same space. Finding themselves alone in a private space in fact compels individuals to frequently socialize and interact with others, contributing to productivity.
3 Ps of Private Spaces: Privacy, Personal Branding, Individual Productivity
Private offices are an ideal solution, especially in today’s world, for executives and teams that require short-term office space. Since COVID-19 has resulted in many businesses transitioning completely or partially, to work-from-home setups, the requirement for long-term permanent offices has decreased. But what if you do need an office space? In that case, private offices offer unparalleled benefits that cannot be replicated as well in open concept spaces. Privacy: Of course, the very title ‘private space’ suggests the obvious factor of privacy. Private spaces typically consist of cubicles and offices, designated conference rooms for group meetings, and some even contain specific rooms to hold meetings with clients, investors, or any other individuals who are not employed at the office itself. The separation between these various areas of the office allows for quiet, professional environments, that do not suffer from any other distractions such as noise or the presence of other employees not required to be present. Beyond just these meetings, the privacy factor also plays into individual employees’ environment. In an open concept space, employees find themselves in one large open space that does not allow for privacy in the daily course of their work. Evidently private spaces avoid this, providing employees with a space to work individually or within smaller teams.
Personal Branding: There is a notion of personal branding featured in private office spaces; open concept spaces do not allow for individuals to define their roles in relation to the company. For instance, take a tech start-up – evidently, the HR department of the start-up functions differently and defines themselves distinctly from the engineers and developers. It is difficult to accomplish such branding in open concept spaces, as the entire idea underlying such a space is one for all and all for one.
Productivity: Everything that hinders productivity in open concept offices – noise, distractions, lack of confidentiality and privacy, interruptions – is easily avoided or reduced in private offices. Having one’s own space that allows for the freedom to decide when to leave, when to interact with others, to schedule meetings accordingly, and to work at one’s own pace and avoid interruptions, all leads to an increase in worker productivity. Individual productivity inevitably increases with such independence, which is easily achieved in private office spaces.
In Summary...
While open concept spaces work in the short term and may seem appealing because of their recent revamp in times of the pandemic, private offices are a more efficient solution, especially for those businesses that seek to portray a professional impression, invite clients over, hold meetings, brand their offices according to their vision, and maximize on privacy and productivity. Open concept offices work for those individuals seeking to get some work done, away from the distraction of their homes and everyday lives, but are not necessarily the best solution for running professional businesses. ZEMLAR OFFICES strives to establish a space promoting privacy, productivity, and professionalism. With its various office sizes and locations, ZEMLAR OFFICES has an option for everyone, providing consumers with the best of both worlds; you no longer need to lease permanent office spaces for long-term contract periods, and you maintain your business through renting spaces for a short term at affordable rates. As you focus on promoting your business, ZEMLAR OFFICES takes care of the rest. Click here to learn more.
