Forum: workplace.stackexchange.com
Tags: <work-environment><startup>
Title: Open space vs offices. Which one is better for a new team according to studies?
Question: I want to create a new workspace for a small software development team (4-15 developers).  Is there any research into whether open workspaces or small offices make for a better working environment?

Answers:
sents: text: The problem is that different people work better in different environments.
text: What you should do is have plenty of private spaces and a few usable public spaces for groups.
text: Your spaces will not effectively work at 15 people; try to design spaces for 6 or fewer.
text: I’ve worked in cubicles, a private office, a shared office, and a open area.
text: I disliked the open area because of a lack of privacy.
text: And basically all the open space pioneers backed away from the idea quite long ago.
text: EDIT; Here are some interesting reads: Harvard Study Chicago Tribune Forbes
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/29396/UnhandledExcepSean
score: 58
sents: text: Contrary to the original (claimed) intentions behind the open-plan office philosophy, namely the improvement of collaboration and communication research has shown that they actually cause a significant decrease in both face to face interactions and productivity.
text: They also appear to lead to a negative impact on employee health, one study showing a staggering 62% increase in the number of sick days taken by employees in an open plan environment vs having closed offices.
text: The only real benefit to open-plan is that it allows for reduced expenditure on office space, now in some locations where space is at a premium this trade off may actually make more financial sense: An approximation for the cost savings in using open-plan can be done: (Square feet per person saved via open offices *
text: # of employees * Cost/square foot of office space)
text: So as the number of employees goes up - so does the value of potential cost reductions.
text: If the lost productivity of the open-plan model results in lost revenue of less than the additional cost of having closed plan offices then it can still make sense.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/64903/motosubatsu
score: 44
sents: text: 4-15 developers..
text: that's a lot of variance, it's difficult to get something liked by everyone.
text: To add to what has already covered by UnhandledExcepSean's answer , I'd say, even for the same person, not everyday work requires same working condition.
text: Example:
text: In a design review meeting, I'd like a open workplace where I sit face to face and discuss.
text: Same me, would like to have a semi-private workplace when I'm trying to read, understand and debug someone else's code.
text: What I'd say, organize the available place into three categories
text: Open working space : For collaborative works Head-down cubicles : Semi-private space for small period of high-focus individual work. AV Room (Audio-Video Privacy Room)
text: : For Conference calls.
text: Even if you can't get the third one, it's okay.
text: Have spaces for both 1 and 2, and let people choose what they prefer.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/61983/Sourav Ghosh
score: 12
sents: text: This is just my experience about what I found worked best.
text: In one company we were in an old big house.
text: Each room was large enough for 6 people, so each team had a room to themselves.
text: The volume and "fun" were controlled for how busy each team were.
text: The team members could just ask a question to the room and the correct person could now answer.
text: Without disturbing other teams to who this question was irrelevant.
text: I now work in one room with the entire company, not a single sound barrier.
text: Everyone is sat with headphones on, so nobody can add their own information which is relevant but you didn't know existed to ask about.
text: But i guess they are cheaper for the company.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/82278/WendyG
score: 11
sents: text: Anecdotally: I've worked at companies that have had shared offices (usually 2 people per office) and that have had an open office arrangement.
text: Ironically, I've found myself collaborating less in open office arrangements.
text: To deal with the extra noise created by open office layouts, many people end up wearing headphones all the time.
text: However, by wearing headphones, they provide a (possibly unintended) cue that they don't want to be disturbed.
text: I avoided talking to them.
text: I want to avoid disturbing bystanders, so I usually avoided talking to people in general.
text: In contrast, with private offices: There is a clear visual cue whether the occupants are okay with visitors or if the occupants don't want to be disturbed: whether the door is open or closed.
text: I worried less about disturbing others since if discussion in the office gets too loud, we (or the people disturbed) could close doors.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/32890/jamesdlin
score: 5

Summary of the answers:
An open-plan office has been proven to decrease productivity face-to-face interaction.
Some research indicates that open-plan offices, despite their original intentions actually lead to reduced collaboration and productivity.