Who Moved Our Private Office Space?

The days of self occupation have gone.

Over the past twenty years, many companies have switched to open workplace design, abolished exclusive offices to reduce real estate costs and promote collaboration among colleagues.

But as office space per capita continues to shrink, many employees (and managers) have begun to consider whether we have reached the limit.

"In an open working environment, it is difficult for a person to complete a job that requires high concentration and uninterruption."

Kelly It: Williams, the author of the fine-tuning: Tweak It: Make What Matters to You Happen Every Day, says the flexible workplace strategist.

"It is very painful for people who need to engage in private conversations or focus on thinking."

A recent survey by CoreNet Global, an enterprise association of real estate management, shows that most employers allocate no more than 150 square feet (about 14 square meters) to each employee, much less than 225 square feet in 2010 (about 21 square meters).

Moreover, the per capita area may continue to shrink, as 58% of the companies plan to hire more staff in the coming year.

Most of the surveyed companies (81%) have begun to adopt an open pattern.

The allocated space has half of the time limit, said Richard CoreNet, vice president of strategic communication.

Moreover, reducing office space can benefit the company's balance sheet.

A report by the General Services Administration showed that Att Corporation (AT&T) saved $3000 per office and saved $550 million a year by eliminating office space and integrating workspaces.

The telecommuting scheme of Nortel network (Nortel) saves us $20 million per year in real estate, equivalent to two blocks of 20 floors and 40000 square feet of floor space.

But building a good working environment is not that simple. It is not to demolished office doors, put long rows of chairs to connect employees to laptop computers, or to build a hotel office system to allow employees to book space on demand.

If designed well, an open office should have a specially designed quiet room for "concentrate" work, some small rooms for small meetings or temporary discussions, and larger conference rooms as well as social areas for collaboration and innovation.

Green plants and natural light should also be exposed, whether through windows, skylights or atrium.

Noise is the most neglected factor in open design.

Sound insulation engineers can use white noise and noise absorbing materials to achieve good results, but they must be part of the design team.

The team should also include executives from technology, environmental sustainability, human resources and facilities management.

When Susan Pasnar, editor of Fortune magazine, worked for a trade association in Washington, D.C., only 10 directors had private offices, and the remaining 80 employees shared a large open space divided into small compartments.

"I was very unhappy at that time, because someone told me to let me down a little bit," recalled smail.

"Working in such an environment is frustrating."

There are several small conference rooms, but they are always booked.

Whenever an emergency occurs, she wants to sit down and talk with her subordinates immediately, so she has to check all the private space in order to find a place to use.

The office space also needs to combine remote office and flexible work arrangements so that managers and employees can integrate the work that needs to be done with the available office space and time slot.

For example, if someone needs to focus on a big project, they can move their work time to less noisy office hours or work at home until she can finish the project deadline, Just said.

Moreover, employees also need related training to learn how to manage the location, time and the way of work.

People who believe that the open working environment does more harm than good has a large number of supporters.

Even some real estate professionals believe that many companies create too much space for collaboration, ignoring the need for privacy and focus. 31% agree with CoreNet's findings.

But its cost saving role is quite large.