An open-plan office may create a poor working environment, according to new research from the US.
The report, which was collated by design firm Gensler highlighted that for employees to focus, they need to have a bit of peace and quiet, often difficult when colleagues have to sit close together. Some 90 per cent of respondents stated that their jobs required intense concentration, whether it was programming, writing or reading, and that this often took 55 per cent of all the time they spent at work. This was a rise of 14 per cent since 2007, before the financial global crisis.
Furthermore, one in four had revealed that the current place they work is less than ideal for their concentration, when compared to other private spaces, whilst partition walls in offices continue to pose a problem for those wanting to relax in their workplace.
To conclude, the report suggested that frustrated workers were less likely to socialise with others, learn and be productive in their work. This has become even more relevant in a digital world where workers are communicating with each other over e-mails rather than face-to-face interaction. These "virtual walls", as the report calls them, should be focused on by any business.
Executive director Diane Hoskins said: “I don’t think it would be going too far out on a limb to say we are at the beginning of a new era in workplace design. Not only is the focus mode not functioning optimally in most office environments, we found statistical evidence that the effectiveness of collaboration, learning and socialising suffers if the ability to focus is diminished."
The findings are based on a sample of 2,000 workers across the US.