The Glass Office: Pros and Cons

Tweet

 

The Pros and Cons of Working in a Glass Office

One of the most heart-pumping scenes in the movie The Social Network occurred when Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin stormed out of a glass-enclosed conference room, confronted Mark Zuckerberg and angrily accused Zuckerberg of cheating him out of millions of dollars of Facebook stock. Saverin—or the actor who played him—then grabbed Zuckerberg’s laptop and smashed it into many little pieces of plastic and metal, as dozens of co-workers watched, mouths wide open.

This scene was for all to see because Zuckerberg was hard at work at a little desk, which was pushed up against other little desks in a wide open space, where there was no privacy to be found.

The fact is that the office depicted in the movie looks like a lot of workplaces today. Nearly 70 percent of all offices in the U.S. have an open floor plan, with glass-walled conference rooms and desks separated by no or low walls, according to a report by the International Facilities Management Association.

So many companies use this “open seating design” because the benefits are pretty obvious:

• Communication between co-workers is easier and quicker—and better because it’s eye to eye.

• Better communication leads to better collaboration, which leads to higher levels of productivity.

• More natural light in the workplace improves employees’ moods.

• Fewer offices and cubicle walls reduce build-out, maintenance, and energy costs.

• An open floor plan also gives more employees views of the outside, making them feel less confined and putting them in a better frame of mind.

• Employees will use their time more wisely if they know it’s more likely they're being watched.

But there are downsides, as The Social Network suggests:

Employees sometimes need privacy that their work stations don’t provide, so they need to get up and borrow a vacant office, or go to a conference room, which takes time and can hurt productivity. 

Open floor plans make noisier work places, and all but the most expensive glass walls allow more noise to pass through.

Some companies realize after the fact that their open floor plans are too open, and they end up spending money on frosting glass, erecting or lengthening cubicle walls, or replacing glass with sheetrock.

So do the pros outweigh the cons? Employees who like to doze off at their desks after lunch would say no, but a growing number of companies say yes.

Enhance productivity and cohesiveness with TribeHR. Please subscribe for e-mail updates from the Workplace Tribes Blog.