The open concept layout is more than merely the physical structure. It is a philosophy of the business and commitment to openness. It offers many benefits compared to the standard based office plan. Some employees greatly prefer and open office plan while others do not like it at all. It’s ultimately up to you to decide what kind of office floor plan works best for your business, but here are a few of the benefits that come from an open office plan.
Enables collaboration
The open office plan enables co-workers to know the current status of the organization via communal osmosis. The openness of the environment allows employees to better understand what the company is going through. It also allows the employees to ask questions and provide instant help, whenever others in the company need their assistance.
Compared to the standard office design, an open office promotes collaboration. The standard offices make employees fall into uncommunicative behaviors and often lead to isolation from coworkers. Employees report to work and close themselves in their offices. These make them become uninformed of what other employees are tackling, their challenges and successes.
Eliminates the office hierarchy
In business, every person matters. Providing managers and other workers with offices over other employees interferes with the collaborative spirit that the organization is trying to build. Providing offices to certain people can create the notion of elitism in the company. Therefore, the open concept layout removes this type of hierarchy, since the employees work together in the same environment.
Facilitates communication
Another benefit of the open office design is its ability to enable communication between workers who might not usually interact. It eliminates the notion that if an employee wants to speak with another worker, they must first seek approval from their supervisor. The constant seeking of consent from the superior to talk to another person is unproductive and wastes a lot of time. Through an open concept layout, companies can achieve various levels of information. They can also attain a free flow of data between their employees.
Enables flexibility
The other advantage of the open space layout is the fact that it allows flexibility. If the organization finds out that something is not functioning in accordance with their plan, or they discover that there is a better design, the company can easily change it around. Compared to the traditional office design that limits changes in layout, the open office is very flexible.