Open plan offices can make you MISERABLE: Seeing colleagues all day leads to distraction and irritation, say scientists.

Open plan offices can make you MISERABLE: Seeing colleagues all day leads to distraction and irritation, say scientists

Researchers from CTF, Service Research Centre at Karlstad University in Sweden have found that open plan offices are counter-productive and bad for staff morale (stock).

The article.

Do you agree?

I know that I do not like open plan office and they make me miserable.

Parents
  • Another open plan office hater here!

    One thing that some managers of open plan arrangements seem to like to do is shuffle people/teams around every few months, so everyone has to get used to new positions in the office (never an easy thing for autistic people at the best of times).

    Many years ago, the section I worked on moved halfway across the floor very close to the entrance doors and main gangway into the office.  My new position meant that there was a constant flow of people to the side of me and behind me throughout the day.  My job needed high levels of concentration (checking other workers output), but I found it really hard to keep concentration due to the flow of people so close to me.

    In the end, I went to the section manager and explained the problem, and to their credit they were very sympathetic, and arranged for me to swap places with another worker who didn't mind the switch of positions.  This was a long time before I was diagnosed with ASD, but I now know why this was such a problem for me at the time.

    I'm not currently working, but as and when I do return, I think I will definitely have to ask for allowances to be made for this.

    Perhaps that report from Sweden might make office planners think twice about open plan in future.

Reply
  • Another open plan office hater here!

    One thing that some managers of open plan arrangements seem to like to do is shuffle people/teams around every few months, so everyone has to get used to new positions in the office (never an easy thing for autistic people at the best of times).

    Many years ago, the section I worked on moved halfway across the floor very close to the entrance doors and main gangway into the office.  My new position meant that there was a constant flow of people to the side of me and behind me throughout the day.  My job needed high levels of concentration (checking other workers output), but I found it really hard to keep concentration due to the flow of people so close to me.

    In the end, I went to the section manager and explained the problem, and to their credit they were very sympathetic, and arranged for me to swap places with another worker who didn't mind the switch of positions.  This was a long time before I was diagnosed with ASD, but I now know why this was such a problem for me at the time.

    I'm not currently working, but as and when I do return, I think I will definitely have to ask for allowances to be made for this.

    Perhaps that report from Sweden might make office planners think twice about open plan in future.

Children
  • Thank you very much for the post.

    I have exactly the same problem. I also found it really hard to keep concentration due to the flow of people so close to me.

    It is good to know that I am not the only one who experiences this.

    Hope this also helps to you. You are not alone, .