An office should be designed to fulfill both.Īn open office is typically viewed as benching systems, where employees tuck in next to each other to work without escape. Our brains react positively to landscapes, natural light, and other living beings. We also like to see what the world has in store for us.

We’re naturally drawn to shelter that keeps us safe from the elements and predators…but not total isolation. That’s why business owners should consider flexible designs when outfitting the company office.Ĭubicles and open plans speak to our prehistoric human needs. When improperly designed, an open office just might kill the spirit of your more introverted employees while the office gossip reigns supreme. According to Ethan Bernstein, a professor at Harvard Business School-or anyone who’s sat next to a particularly chatty colleague-open offices kill productivity because they’re loud and visually distracting. It’s a good thing those walls have come down.Ĭubicles vs open office? Open offices were seen as the antidote to isolated cubicles. Contact is made by peeking over carpeted walls. Then it hits me: in cubicle life I’m separated from other human beings. Three walls that are just mine, where I can decorate with family photos, make my sport affiliations known, and spend a few minutes zoning out without anyone checking up on me. Sometimes I find myself pining for a cubicle to call my own.

Open office setup