It’s been a long-winded debate for a while now, but there still doesn’t seem to be a clear answer. Is it better to have an open office or to go with traditional seating? Traditional seating had a long run as the king of office design until the open-office, invented in 1950’s Germany, took hold. Over the last decade, a huge portion of businesses converted to the open-office concept in the hopes that it would increase collaboration, productivity, employee wellness, and creativity. Now, a lot of those companies and their employees are saying it did exactly the opposite. But many companies still stand by their open-office concepts, many companies did see the beneficial results of switching to a design with fewer obstacles and walls. So which one is right?
The answer is: both of them. It’s easy to look at the huge variety of companies across the world and realize they’re all different. So, why is it that we assume one office concept is right for all of them?
Open-office seating is great for companies that have high levels of constant collaboration and feed off of the ability to move around and work with different people in different spaces. It’s an incredibly cost-efficient option for companies that are growing rapidly and rely on teams communicating freely with each other. But it can be harmful for companies or employees that need more quiet contemplation and don’t collaborate as often. That’s why it’s important to really evaluate the type of company you run and the type of employees you work with before hopping on the next office design bandwagon.
In many cases, it might be hard to take an objective look at your company to find the right working environment. If that’s the case, make sure you’re asking your employees and coworkers for their opinions. Let them know that you’re considering switching up the seating arrangements and put out an anonymous suggestion box (you can do this online through sites like https://www.suggestionox.com/ ) to encourage them to speak honestly about their current and prospective work environments.
Keep in mind, a one-size fits all solution might not be effective for your company as a whole. You might get a lot of different feedback that doesn’t all add up to one type of office. It’s important to also take a good look at specific departments, teams, or employees individually to see what kind of work environment is right for them. Perhaps your marketing team works best with an open-seating design that enables close collaboration and creativity while your HR team works best with traditional seating that offers low noise levels and privacy.
Every company and every department is different, so it makes sense that their work environments would reflect that. No matter what form of office you think is best, make sure that you’re taking into consideration the needs of your entire company on macro and micro levels. Truly the best office designs are the ones that cater to the needs of their employees and help them meet their individual and collective goals.
Thinking about redesigning your office space to better suite the needs of your employees? RSC offers a number of useful services for just that! From space planning, building specifications, and on-site furniture management, our teams can help you get it done! Send us a message on our Contact page or upload any project files you have to our Hightail site for a free quote!