Before the modern day open-plan office was created in Germany, workers would usually sit down in regimental rows facing the front of the room, while senior staff had separate offices. After WWII employers rejected the Fascist work ideal (hierarchical, structured and mechanical) in favour of a more individualistic way of working – i.e. valuing each employee and facilitating creativity – and thus the open-plan office was born.
Desk pods and open spaces were designed to engage employees in spur-of the minute discussions, while encouraging juniors to mix with seniors in a buzzing, innovative atmosphere.
But did it really work out as well as designers hoped? BBC World Service reporter William Kremer says: “Proximity to our colleagues makes it easier to have a spontaneous micro-meeting, but it also means we have to sit through their deconstruction of the previous night’s TV.”
In 1998, a study published in the British Journal of Psychology stated that background noise containing irrelevant conversation topics impacted other workers’ ability to remember things or do mental arithmetic.
UCL University professor Alexi Marmot believes the noise issue can swing the other way too, with deadly silent offices putting people off from having conversations because they don’t want to be overheard. This can in turn create a stifling, uneasy office environment.
A 2009 report found that 90% of studies looking into the impact of open plan offices on employee health found that they increased the prevelence of work-related stress and high blood pressure.
Office architects in Northern Europe (Germany and Scandinavia) design with the ethos that all workers have the right to a window they can open, a door they can close and a wall they can ‘beat upon’. However, with office space costing so much here in the UK, chances are the open-plan layout will continue to prosper over private offices.
If work-related stress is affecting your productivity or happiness levels, it may be worth finding out how a counsellor can help you. Please visit our Work-Related stress page for more information.
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