1. Open Office Concepts Point CounterPoint

2. Agenda The definition of Office Concepts What’s good What’s bad
How to make a change work
Ode to Dilbert

3. Office types Enclosed Offices Open Space Concept Cubicle Farms
Alternative

4. Why Getting out of Offices is Great
More and better Communication amongst team members.
More direct contact – you end up knowing people better
Space can be modified quickly and easily
Usually people have more access to natural light
Some companies have found it reduces cost because you can put more cubes per floor than offices. (Cisco reduced costs by 37%)
It’s harder for employees to slack off.

5. Why it Sucks
Reinforces negative notions of hierarchy when some are in cubes, and others in offices.
It’s not possible to close a door for privacy.
Meeting in your “office” is more difficult
Constant noise and disturbances
To do it well, isn’t really any cheaper than building offices
It lowers morale and productivity
Unless the work environment requires a high level of interaction with others, the lack of privacy is a distraction that negatively impacts productivity

6. Making it Work
Over communicate any office-space change. This is a very big deal to people
Be very clear about your reasons for making a change, and make sure you consider the pro’s and con’s.
You need much more meeting space in an open concept than with offices
Hire someone to help you through the transition
Ensure white-noise
If you go open – everyone must go, from the CEO on down.
Research it well – there is no shortage of information arguing both for and against open office space.

7. One Solution:
If employees spend the majority of their time working individually, put them in offices
If employees spend a great deal of time collaborating, put them in an open office configuration. Perhaps in offices of four to eight people.
If you want you employees to spend most of their time reading Dilbert, put them in cubicles.

8. Last Word From Robert Probst:
Before his death, the inventor of the cubicle apologized for his contribution to “monolithic insanity”