Having an open office workspace has not just benefits to its dwellers, but disadvantages as well. These can either bring down or improve productivity and thus a well-structured office needs to be provided.

According to an article written by Business, work performance can be improved by having an open office while too much of the latter can negatively affect productivity. Here are the pros and cons of having open spaces in the workplace and how you can balance it out.

Pros

A desirable feature of open spaces in the office is that there are less costs to maintain. For instance overhead costs (i.e. cubicle materials, maintenance costs) are reduced due to the fact that the firm has fewer cubicles and materials to buy seeing as it can be shared in one space.

More people can fit in an open office too and because of that, workers can mingle and collaborate with each other fostering a sense of community in the workplace. Not only will they be able to work together efficiently, but they can also collaborate more, get to know and understand one another, and break down both literal and metaphorical barriers.

According to Business, this sort of environment leads to greater productivity. Moreover, for superiors, they can use the open view to easily observe employees.

Cons

Due to the fact that there are more people in it, open offices tend to get pretty noisy, distracting those who are working and affecting not just the quality of their work but the amount of work that they can get done.

There is also less privacy which is not favorable for some people. There are studies that say a noisy atmosphere can bring down work performance while a sense of privacy can improve it.

In addition, diseases are also more likely to spread in open spaces than in an office that uses cubicles. According to Business, a study has found that open office dwellers take an average of 62% more sick days than private office dwellers.

In order to avoid these disadvantages, one needs to strike a balance between the public and private aspects of the workspace. Business suggests putting up breakout rooms or work bays that would allow workers to be able to concentrate on work, or relax and chat with other employees when they need to.

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