by Matthew J. Geiger

Created on: March 05, 2010

Teamwork is essential in an office environment and an open office plan can help promote the work community; however, not all businesses should utilize this layout.  Beyond limitations of available space, the open office plan can create security issues and distractions.  In turn, employees cannot reach peak performance and the company will not be as successful.  Like any workplace strategy, the disadvantages of an open office plan need to be weighed and addressed before embracing this setup.

With a lack of boundaries, employees are far freer to interact.  Managers want their staff members to cooperate and build strong relationships to improve business operations, yet they need to avoid inappropriate behavior such as time theft, sexual harassment, and gossip. An open office plan in worse case scenarios could potentially lead to situations like those seen on NBC’s hit comedy, “The Office.”  If subordinates socialize too frequently versus doing their work, productivity can suffer, thus a clear disadvantage exists.  

Meanwhile, a lack of control in the open office environment can lead to insurgent behavior on behalf of subordinates.  Where the boss can hide away in his or her own little corner, weak leaders will eventually create a faction of subordinate employees intent on undermining the authority of their supervisor.  When employees fail to see their boss as a leader and a member of their group, they will often not respect that individual as an authority figure.  The open nature of an office can lead to gossip and other harmful behavior in these cases.

Furthermore, security might be a big concern when an employee needs to keep his or her work private.  Depending upon the nature of an employee’s position or assigned tasks, company secrets or disruptive news can be leaked by someone simply walking by a desk.  If outsiders have access to the office, all work areas are insecure.  Certainly, computers can be protected and desk draws locked, yet keeping sensitive material a secret is quite a challenge in an office where everyone has access to everyone else’s stuff.

Although an open office plan may be right for some businesses, it can undermine the performance and productivity of others.  Additionally, the available space may force the need for such a format, thus the disadvantages of employees working in plain sight of others need to be addressed. Certainly, there are also advantages that businesses should investigate and weight.  For staff members, who must work as a team, the open office plan is probably very useful, but it is not right for every business.

Learn more about this author, Matthew J. Geiger.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.