Open Plan Offices - Boon or Bain?

LONDON - Nov. 18, 2013 - PRLog -- Open Plan offices may be a convenient (and allegedly more cost-effective) method for business owners and managers to supervise a greater number of staff in the least amount of (often costly) workspace, but recently published research from a prominent Australian University has shown that this modern `trend' is in itself one of the major causes of stress in the workplace. (Due to the often noisy, cramped, too hot/cold conditions, lack of privacy, mismatched personality types, etc. - plus many more reasons too numerous to mention here.)

'Sick Building Syndrome'

And if this situation isn't scary enough, there's also the often misnamed, and much misunderstood `Sick Building Syndrome' (SBS) with sufferers experiencing, in extreme cases, physical symptoms such as:

* Headache
* Eye, nose, and throat irritation
* Dry cough
* Dry, itchy skin, rashes
* Dizziness and nausea
* Sensitivity to odours

Both conditions, either separately or together, have resulted in the unprecedented escalation in the number of `sickies' being thrown every day resulting in billions of pounds worth of lost productivity.

Can anything be done about it?

The good news is, yes! But, rather than just accepting this situation as a natural result of `progress' there is a lot that can be done to alleviate, or even eradicate, these problems.

A first step, if the latter condition is suspected, should be to report the situation to your landlord, office manager, or whoever is responsible for the building and ask them to have an inspection carried out. If they are unwilling to cooperate then you may have to get local authorities such as an environmental health agency involved. (Or, if you'd prefer, contact an outsourced expert who would handle the matter delicately on your behalf.)

After a thorough environmental health inspection has been carried out on a building to determine possible causes for the occupants' health complaints, there are many measures that can be taken to rectify the situation. A combination of some of the factors mentioned above will usually be involved and all will have to be tackled. Measures taken may include an overhaul or replacement of the ventilation system, structural repairs to prevent leaks and damp, a review of chemicals used in the building, a review of cleaning practices and professional mould removal.

The Hidden Side Effects of Open Plan Working

Here's a brief explanation about the modern trend for open-plan working and it's effect on the people who have to work in such conditions; because we humans all have different characteristics it's difficult to generalise too much but clearly if a workplace has been designed poorly where too many bodies are crammed into too small a space then problems are bound to arise. People will become more easily stressed which in turn will give rise to more workplace conflicts. There is also the delicate matter of privacy and our need to be able concentrate fully on the task in hand.

The above mentioned Australian University research - as well as a recently aired ITV documentary – was also able to clearly demonstrate that productivity dropped dramatically in poorly designed open-plan work spaces. With the following examples being cited:

Say you are sitting at your work station in a mainly open plan office and you hear a door bang at the other end of your floor, your sub-conscious brain will register it momentarily but you will be able to carry on with what you were working on uninterrupted.

However, if you hear an unanswered phone ringing on the next desk and you either wait for it stop or get up to answer it yourself your brain will need at least 15-20 minutes to recover to it's previous levels of concentration to enable you to get back to where you were in the task you were working on.

Or, as is so often the case during the course of your working day, your line manager or a colleague sits down beside you and goes through the details of the next project you're to work on, then you'll need up to an hour to recover your concentration before being able to return to your original task!

Feeling tired, stressed and worn out after a long day 'sitting down'?

Is it any wonder then that a lot of open plan workers feel tired, stressed and worn out at the end of each working day wondering where the time went and also irritated that they were unable to finish that important project within the allotted time. The important thing is to take action to have a suspected 'sick building' investigated as soon as possible as it is likely that the problems will only get worse if not addressed.

So, if you're a business owner or manager charged with the responsibility of arranging an office fit-out or office refurbishment don't put your business - or the well being of your staff - at risk by ignoring the symptoms. Do get early expert help - the earlier the better.