Redesign an Open-Space Office to Improve Productivity - Research Paper Example

Disadvantages of Open Space Office. Research has also shown that the open space office settings can limitations with significant implications on the business and employee productivity. First of all the open office can result into a noise working environment with detrimental effects. Some individuals are usually distracted by noise and activities going around them and as such may not work well in the open office setting. Studies done recently have pointed at a lower people productivity in the setting of open space office.

This is because some persons prefer working in quiet environments and as such is frequently distracted in open offices, which makes them frustrated hence less motivates. A study published in the journal of Environment & Behavior recently showed a negative correlation between noise and cognitive performance. This effectively means distractions such as noise which are common in open office settings lead to a reduction in performance of workers. Another negative aspect associated with open office is lack of confidentiality in the work place.

This can be evident and prevalent especially if there are customers coming in and requiring discussions involving private information. This can be a real challenge in the setting of an open space office where many workers are working simultaneously and therefore private discussions can’t be achieved effectively. Some customers may also feel uncomfortable discussing their queries in offices where other people are likely to listen to and get to hear their private information intended just for particular officers.

A research done at the California University established that over a half of people working in offices are not satisfied with open offices mainly because of the limited amount of privacy. As such the issue of privacy has become a major complaint among office workers subjected to the open plan kind of working environment.