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Working in an open-plan office environment - experiences, pros & cons, coping mechanism suggestions, etc...

zone_tripper

In my current job, between October 2004 to January 2007, I shared an office with another colleague.  Since her retirement in January 2007, I have largely been working on my own in my own office.  

Due to moving offices, I am temporarily in an open-plan office, which is a bit of a culture shock!  One way of coping is that I am listening to my MP3 player, so that I can block out other conversations and noise.  

Out of curiosity, may I please ask others of your experiences, pros and cons, and coping mechanisms for working in open-plan offices?  

  • We are allowed earphones/MP3 players too, I am really glad as it allows me to focus on work. 

  • I've worked in open plan a lot in the past, as well as sharing offices, and in my last 18 months before I retired my employers stuck us all in open plan. I was intrigued by colleagues' opposition and defence, as I thought they would enjoy it. Instead they acquired extra cupboards and put up ridiculous fences, and bought earphones that blanked surrounding noise. 

    The worst thing about open plan is that there are always office pyschologists and bullies who get overly interested and spend too much of their time analysing colleagues suspected of "not being all there". So I got interviewed a lot by people trying to "fathom out" who I was. The amount of pointless conversation trying to lead me into saying things they wanted.

    Phones are a nuisance especially when they go unanswered, and people walking past. Strangely, though I find complex noise and movement disturbing, I tended to settle in to open plan. The noise is predictable after a while. Other humans aren't unfortunately, and I've had some rotten company in open plan.

  • When I was self-employed there were times when I had to go into an open plan office to work on their system. It took at least twice or three times as long and before I went I 'rehearsed' with my copy of their system writing a check list of every single action. If I came across something that was not the same I used to have to take their copy home and return with it the next day because I couldn't think through a problem in that environment. Sometimes it only took five minutes when I got home. It was much better when I got secure access over the internet from home.

    I think we have difficulty screening out the sound. I also don't feel relaxed enough to think. All my energy is with monitoring the environment - even with people I like and have known over many years.

  • Its depends on the surrounding proximity and stimulas environment of the open plan office. Is your defensive space area maintained or encroched. I worked in an open plan office for many years,, it was hell for me. It helps if your colleagues are nice and you have a sufficient amount of personal space around you. If your back is against a wall and you can look outwards, so there is no people coming up to you surprises.

  • The only time I have worked in an open plan office, was when I did work experience for the Council. I did very mundane tasks, such as filing, and putting letters in envelopes; it was only for two weeks.

    The worst aspect was the heat; the office was like a sauna, even with a window open! - this was in February.

    Because I had set tasks to do, I just got on with them, but I do prefer having my own office. I am afraid I can't really offer any coping strategies, but I actually quite enjoyed listening to the office conversations as an observer, never a participant. I like collecting information about people, and analysing them. I should be a psychologist!