Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by n1 on Wednesday December 31 2014, @01:19AM   Printer-friendly
from the can't-hear-myself-think dept.

Lindsey Kaufman writes in the Washington Post that despite its obvious problems, the open-office model has continued to encroach on workers across the country with about 70 percent of US. offices having no or low partitions. Silcon Valley has led the way with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg enlisting famed architect Frank Gehry to design the largest open floor plan in the world, housing nearly 3,000 engineers with a single room, stretching 10 acres, where everyone will sit in the open with moveable furniture. Michael Bloomberg was an early adopter of the open-space trend, saying it promoted transparency and fairness. Bosses love the ability to keep a closer eye on their employees, ensuring clandestine porn-watching, constant social media-browsing and unlimited personal cellphone use isn’t occupying billing hours. But according to Kaufman employers are getting a false sense of improved productivity with a 2013 study showing that many workers in open offices are frustrated by distractions that lead to poorer work performance. Nearly half of the surveyed workers in open offices said the lack of sound privacy was a significant problem for them and more than 30 percent complained about the lack of visual privacy. The New Yorker, in a review of research on this nouveau workplace design, determined that the benefits in building camaraderie simply mask the negative effects on work performance. While employees feel like they’re part of a laid-back, innovative enterprise, the environment ultimately damages workers’ attention spans, productivity, creative thinking, and satisfaction says Kaufman. "Though multitasking millennials seem to be more open to distraction as a workplace norm, the wholehearted embrace of open offices may be ingraining a cycle of under-performance in their generation," writes Maria Konnikova. "They enjoy, build, and proselytize for open offices, but may also suffer the most from them in the long run."

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by dcollins on Wednesday December 31 2014, @02:17AM

    by dcollins (1168) on Wednesday December 31 2014, @02:17AM (#130433) Homepage

    What kind of work is it? (I'm trying to imagine any kind of work where that situation wouldn't be obviously catastrophic.)

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Wednesday December 31 2014, @02:23AM

    by dyingtolive (952) on Wednesday December 31 2014, @02:23AM (#130435)

    That's the best part: It depends, and there's no method of organization to that extent.

    I do dev work, and so does anyone behind me. The guys who sit on the other side of me do data center ops or something. They're on conference calls literally all day, and I make out bits and pieces about change requests and network settings and the like, so that's what I assume anyway. But it's not very fun trying to be focused in on something, and have people around you constantly talking, even when it's "approved" talk, and not just bullshitting.

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 31 2014, @02:54AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 31 2014, @02:54AM (#130439)

      Yeacchhhh. You have my enormous sympathies.