I don’t think open plan in office works without having easily accessible private room or cubicle to use in need.
Like everything else, it’s not one size fits all. How the workspace should be layed out depends on your job.
I thought of this because recently, I have seen several article that says open plan does not work, like this one:Â Open Offices Reduce Productivity and Increase Stress [hivelogic_com]
FUJIKO SUDA 
Personally I think at an operational level (junior staff) it’s alright to have open areas, with at least some mode of simple separation such as plants or semi-partitions along the tables.
But as one gets into roles where privacy is important, it becomes more important to have cabins. Conference rooms and other secluded spaces as an afterthought don’t really work, because the competition to book rooms is an art of warfare in itself in the offices of most global organizations.
Try getting a room on Monday morning–you’ll find God before you find a room. People just end up going off to Starbucks or Tully’s, which is neither good for health nor for employees’ pockets.
Cabins with some sound proofing are absolutely necessary for top performers because they may also have tricks and operational styles that they don’t necessarily wish to share openly. Sharing iinformation and other strategies, sure. Sharing my personal style that makes me successful, not really, thanks.
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Thank you for your comment, Shanx!
Your points are really important ones.
“… the competition to book rooms is an art of warfare in itself in the offices of most global organizations.
Try getting a room on Monday morning—you’ll find God before you find a room. People just end up going off to Starbucks or Tully’s, which is neither good for health nor for employees’ pockets. ”
Love this! We eulolize Starbucks because the environment may be pleasing to 5 senses, but as you say, caffaine nor high calorie sweets are not good for health, and they are as expensive as a pack of cigaretts.
I’m not sure about the personal style that makes one successful though. Are you referring to personalized work process? If you are, then I don’t think personalized work process can be copied. For one to be successful, one needs to maximize one’s own knowledge and experience along with one’s nature. I think the trick is to find one’s own work process by trial and error.
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