Open offices are office layouts where cubicles are retired, and employees are placed in close proximity—a move that businesses hope will improve innovation, transparency, and collaboration while also reducing real estate costs. Open offices have their fans (large tech companies in particular), but critics worry about privacy as well as decreased productivity caused by excessive noise and other stimuli. 

So, for today’s episode, we thought we’d look into the good, the bad, and the ugly of the open office concept to see how much power IT really has in influencing employee perception of the workplace. How much can IT, by listening to user needs and monitoring end-user experience, affect the success of the open office?

Time Stamps

"The Good" 2:50

"The Bad" 9:35

"The Ugly" 26:35

Solutions 32:50

What Can IT Do About It? 38:40

Tech Pick of the Week 46:10

www.theverge.com/2018/5/15/17357368/google-wifi-feature-device-home-struggling-connect

www.theverge.com/2018/5/11/17346122/youtube-take-a-break-notifications-google-digital-wellbeing

www.wired.com/story/google-and-the-rise-of-digital-wellbeing/ 

Resources & Articles Mentioned

https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/16/17020246/apple-park-headquarters-employees-injury-glass-doors-design 

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/313034 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/work-blog/2014/sep/29/open-plan-office-health-productivity 

https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-open-office-trap 

https://blog.strongproject.com/how-cal-newports-deep-work-concept-will-influence-office-design/ 

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/05/how-to-muffle-open-office-noise/559979/ 

https://theoutline.com/post/4509/open-office-sexist-study?zd=1&zi=qo3gfulo 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/2018/05/15/is-your-open-plan-office-promoting-sexism/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6465a57f0eb8 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2018/05/16/open-plan-offices-loud-distracting-and-ripe-for-sexism/?utm_term=.5c461c38b34c 

http://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/212741/open-office-floor-plan-work.aspx 

https://hbr.org/2018/01/sgc-research-when-moving-to-an-open-office-plan-pay-attention-to-how-your-employees-feel 

https://hbr.org/2016/10/how-microsoft-used-an-office-move-to-boost-collaboration 

https://www.zdnet.com/article/optimising-the-smart-office-a-marriage-of-technology-and-people/ 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-01/everyone-hates-the-open-plan-office-it-doesn-t-have-to-be-that-way 

https://www.bisnow.com/san-francisco/news/office/elizabeth-pinkham-88220 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/12/30/google-got-it-wrong-the-open-office-trend-is-destroying-the-workplace/?utm_term=.86c46b3ef215 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/business/the-office-gets-remade-again.html 

Contact

Twitter: @lakesidesoft, @Heather_Bick, @LindaTsao94