The cubicle is a great example of a layout that attempts to meet my criteria for a productive workspace yet manages to fall short. In a way, the cubicle is the worst of both worlds, so to speak, because it retains the isolation of a private workspace without actually giving the worker any privacy. There’s a reason why ‘cube farms’ have such a negative connotation – it’s a good way to ensure very little work actually gets done.
Another thought is the open floor layout where there are no offices for anyone. The logic behind the idea isn’t automatically problematic – if people have freer access to each other, there will be more collaboration and it will be easier for a certain type of work to get done. But people have a strong inclination toward privacy for a reason and the benefits of this get lost in open floor layouts.
I also think transparent environments create pressure toward conformity in both appearance and action. What’s the benefit of a collaborative environment if everyone just says and thinks the same thing?
Footnotes / well, endnotes / my null hypothesis would involve some kind of work from home thing…
0. If anyone is aware of the following experiment, please reach out and let me know about it…
It’s worth noting that the authors of Peopleware said the open-floor office layout was implemented without any evidence of it being a better work environment than the alternatives.
