Open Offices, Closed Communication

A new study shows that open offices could mean decreased communication among employees. The empirical study was conducted at OpenCo1, a Fortune 500 multinational company, which had recently redesigned their headquarters with the intention to increase collaboration.

By studying the amount of hours employees interact with one another through microphones, face-to-face (F2F) sensor monitoring, body movement sensors and bluetooth for spatial recognition, the results proved opposite of the expectations. After the redesign, although the employees were closer to one another physically, the number of emails sent to one another increased by 56% and instant messaging increased by 67%.

Electronic communication replaced face-to-face interaction. Furthermore, research shows that in open offices, when an employee can’t concentrate, they communicate less and become more indifferent to their coworkers.

Perhaps, rather than a simply traditional or fully open-plan design, offices need to strike the right balance so that employees can find their desired workplace based on the task at hand.

For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Daniella Soloway