We can witness the modern work culture where some offices resemble a coffee/café more than a workspace of a business centre, and most of the business owners are searching for more creative ways to layout the office. But are quirky ideas like colourful couches, transparent partitions, and chirpy paintings destructive to productivity? Unfortunately, there is no golden rule, everybody has their choices, but we will talk about some potential options of office spaces and discuss their advantages and disadvantages.
Cubicles vs. Open office space layout
The debate of cubicles vs. open plan was likely the topic of conversation around the corner in the last few years. With most companies preferring the open-plan office, which layout is best for employee productivity? Let’s dig further at the pros and cons here.
The major difference between these two layouts is the level of interaction between teams, and the noise and distractions involved in this. The pro-cubicle workforce will put a point that the open-plan spaces creates too much noise and is very disturbing.
The cubicles eliminate communication – simply because it is not as convenient to talk across walled partitions – and thus reduces the amount of low-level noise and the ease with which one becomes distracted.
Additionally, it also separates your employees and reduces their communication, which could lead to discontent. It creates an unfriendly work culture and lower morale amongst the team, which eventually leads to lower productivity. Additionally, the partitions cubicles can make workers feel bored and isolated.
Conversely, open plan office spaces in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and other metro cities facilitate interaction between employees. It will create an impression of a welcoming office with happier staff in general and higher retention rates. It also makes it easier for different teams to interact face to face with each other, making cross-team projects easier and bringing unity in your entire workforce.
While all the points mentioned above focus on increased morale rather than productivity, the two are relatively linked.
Nests of workstations
As we look upon, one of the main cons of having an open-plan office is the distraction caused by the noise created by neighbouring workers. A potential way to cope up with this, if you desire both the traits brought by cubicles as well as the communal feeling brought by the open plan, is to have customized space with nests of employees, in clusters of desks or separated with cabins.
It is said that the perfect count for a team to be most productive is between six and nine workers. The size means that every professional needs to be counted, while no one gets left behind.
If you set up your office in an open layout but have nests of desks between six and nine people, you might stop the other room’s conversation because it is confined to the clusters. It will reduce the atmosphere noise and allow teams to communicate between themselves, while also allowing conversation with other teams as and when required.
Conclusion
If you are looking for the utmost productivity, then office spaces that offer privacy might work. It could balance the communication and the barriers which is required. Moreover, it also depends on the type of businesses, as creatives are likely to benefit from the open plant while accountancy will probably benefit from private cabins.
