The Benefits of an Open Plan Office

Open plan offices are prevalent across the working world as a result of their many benefits to both employer and employee. The design of an office has a huge impact on the wellbeing of employees and therefore productivity levels and so it’s important to get the design of the open plan office just right in order to maximise on this.

Channels of Communication

Colleagues can simply turn to each other when they need to chat about something without having to schedule a meeting.

This applies to both business-related and non-business-related interactions and can improve the social atmosphere of an office – open plan offices are more sociable than their alternatives. This can improve happiness of employees as they feel more relaxed in their surroundings. This can also help people integrate into the team well which brings us to the next benefit of an open plan office.

Collaboration

To quote Steve Jobs, “Ideas don’t happen in the boardroom, they happen in corridors”. Facilitating spontaneous micro-meetings is a feature of a productive workplace. Collaboration comes more naturally in a workplace where there are no barriers.

Open plan offices foster team spirit and create a social space as opposed to a closed-off individual space. Frequent sharing of ideas is common as people just speak across the room rather than having to organise formal meetings. When teams are working together it is good to have everyone in the same room to get things done as productively as possible.

Happiness

A happy team is a productive team. People feel more at ease when they understand their place in the business and the team. An open workspace can break down barriers which may be put up through use of walls to segment teams. Open plan allows everyone to intermingle, no matter how junior or senior their position.

Budget

Another benefit which may not immediately spring to mind is that of budget. Having an open plan office can save the company money, as costs are reduced on construction, utilities and office equipment. It is more efficient to have everyone in one room in terms of utility bills and office supplies.

For example, fewer walls means reduced cost of materials and time used to create the workspace. Businesses can save on equipment expense as well since communal space enables shared use of resources such as printers and staplers.

Capacity to increase

For growing companies, having the capacity to accommodate more people is a factor when choosing an office space. An open plan space provides the best flexibility to accommodate extra capacity for when the company grows as desks can easily be reconfigured to create an optimum solution.

Forward-thinking space

Open plan offices provide you with a flexible space as a basis for your office design. Often included in a modern office design are break out spaces and different modes of working to suit the workforce. Recent research has demonstrated that traditional offices are not the most productive spaces. Office design is required to meet higher standards of ergonomics and the most recent developments in wellbeing research.

For advice on how to make the most of your open-plan workspace, get in touch today.

And if you can think of any more benefits that we’ve missed, be sure to fire us a tweet or send us a message on Facebook – we always love to hear from you.