Open Space vs Closed Door Work Spaces

[Mel81x+]

Got into a nice little talk today with a colleague of mine who I had worked with for over 5 years. When we interned at a famous IT company years ago they had a closed door policy where employees were given spaces that had a door which could be closed. These days, however, the same company has ditched this policy in favour of an open space configuration. The discussion we got into was how it actually can hamper work productivity in certain cases/professions. For example, I don't mind an open space configuration but only if its twice a week as I prefer the quiet to actually having any kind of distraction when I am working. On the other hand, in situations where I have to spend more time with the team working through issues I think an open space configuration makes a lot more sense if its a common occurrence. 

Which kind do you like and why? Or, have you only experienced one and not the other? Or ... do you not really care?

P.S. You can consider cubicles as closed Door

[Bluebird Hewitt]

Been in both scenarios (mainly open planned floors and work spaces) and for me, I don't mind either too much as they both have positives and negatives. 

For open plans, I like it because you feel more part of a team, not just in your team but as part of the floor (if small enough) as well. You can also have more of a laugh with colleagues when you're more together in an open planned floor rather than being stuck in a room. 

The downside to it though is as you mentioned in that you don't get as much work done as you'd like, mainly if you have interruptions from colleagues or managers constantly. You can also have either the 'strict' or asshole managers that require almost near constant silence at all times, or the odd person or two that causes issues with others and creates a hostile atmosphere in teams. I previous team I worked with (not under) has gotten so bad that they won't even speak to each other (it's the NHS so nothing will happen of course). 

For closed doors, you can pretty much reverse the above to some degree. You'll get more work done but, as I've had, being stuck in a closed room on your own can be depressing as hell (was going through an organisation restructure at the time and I pretty much was 'the team') hence leaving the door open (makes it more 'welcoming' as such). 

[Dr. Gonzo]

As someone who used to work in an office space that now has his own office... I much prefer having an office, where I can close my door if I have a lot on my plate that I need to handle - or if there's a situation where I've got to talk with someone one-on-one for whatever reason, it's just much easier to do that when you've got your own office and can close your door.

I keep my door open maybe 75% of the time though, it lets people know "hey you can come in here if you need to" - I can also hear what the fuck is going on outside my office, which can be handy.

You do feel more connected and as part of a "team" in a more open space, for sure. But it's also nice to feel like you've got your own space and area for your work, so I much prefer having my own office.

[Mel81x+]

@Bluebird Hewitt its funny you mention being a one-man team because the same thing happened to me years ago (nearly a decade) at IBM and it was horrible. I was in a room that literally felt like it was the end of a maze and I used to leave the door open because I didn't feel like I was working more like punished. And you are right about the positives of an open space, it does foster better team bonding but then again, as you said, it can be distracting when you become too easily available to people and you just need to get work done.

@Dr. Gonzo "I can also hear what the fuck is going on outside my office, which can be handy" - What in the world do you do for work? haha.

[CaaC (John)+]

When I did the security desk in my building it was an open space scenario in an atrium with people (clients) arriving at the atrium desk which sometimes could get very busy but then I was promoted to part of the building management team where I had my own office with a closed door policy and I must admit I liked that, I could get my work done in peace and quietness, though I did get a bit lonely sometimes and would lock my door and wander up to the main desk and have a natter with the security supervisor that took over from me when I was promoted. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 minutes ago, Mel81x said:

 

@Dr. Gonzo "I can also hear what the fuck is going on outside my office, which can be handy" - What in the world do you do for work? haha.

I'm an actuary, so hearing what's going on outside my office isn't so much handy for my job , but more just handy that I can hear what my coworkers are saying outside, so I don't feel completely disconnected from my team. Also keeping the door open generally means they'll always come to me when they're going to get lunch or they're getting drinks after work. And that's nice. Whereas if I've got the door closed, I think people assume I'm busy as fuck and tend to leave me alone.

[Stan]

Only experienced open plan offices. 

Our old office was across 4 floors (and another annex building), probably 50-60 people on each. But our company was growing at a very quick rate so we had to move as we were out-growing these offices. There'd be bays of desks and some meeting rooms; directors and CEO had their own office (closed door space).

So now we've moved to a new office and everything but about 15 meeting rooms, a training room and a board room are all open plan - all levels of staff are sat in open plan, each to their own department still though. And there's hot-desking areas. 

As discussed in another topic though, I work from home so whenever I do go in to the office I use the hot-desking areas but can't stay there for too long (it gets really noisy in the office!). 

[nudge]

Experienced both and prefer closed door by far unless it's a tiny cubicle. Open space is too noisy for me and while I can still concentrate and manage the distractions well, it tires me out and I feel completely exhausted. I need private space. 

As others already said, open plan office can be useful when working closely together in a team but in most other cases productivity suffers, I think. 

[ASF]

Closed doors. 

I'm someone of the opinion that, at work, there's no room for chit-chat convos about random stuff (whether is the fact that your daughter farted in the classroom or something involving your pet), so being in a space where you can be completely focused on what you have to do is definitely better for me.