Cubicles were out of fashion, but now more than ever, we need our Cubicles back. For years, maybe decades, Corporations have wanted to get rid of the Cubicle. The Cubicle, much complained about, that has defined most corporate offices for years. Why? Because they wanted to squeeze more people in to less space.
Oh, the reasons the Corps gave for this people-squeeze were many. The need to promote collaboration between workers was always mentioned. The need to create more Energy and Innovation.
The myth the Corp Execs brought to such plans were that start up companies were great at innovating. And when the offices for start up companies were examined, the new, younger, fresher company very often had an open work space. Therefore, the Corps decided that Open Work Space Offices = More Innovation. What the Corps did not realize, is that new start up companies often had only a few bench like tables, because that picnic tables were all that they could afford. The open style work tables had nothing to do with innovating. Big Businesses thought that if they had picnic tables too, they would also become innovators again!
Open Plan is one of those business fads, that needs to go away. It has been promoted by Corp Execs who know the cost of everything, and the value of nothing. The Corps thought that if only they had Open Concept Offices, with everyone sharing a plain, flat table, not separated from their co-workers, that they too would suddenly create more Innovation, more products, more profits. One part the Corps failed to think through, is that at least 8 out of 10 start up companies fail within a few years. Having Energy and Innovation is not a guarantee of great success. And using picnic tables instead of cubicles is not a tool, it is just a fad.
The Open Space office carried an assumption of increased productivity and increased communication and increased collaboration. It did not end up this way. Studies show the true results of Open Space Offices:
---Reduced Productivity (not increased, as assumed)
---Issues with Proximity to others (too close, too many people)
---Noise per no cubicle walls or dividers is distracting
---Communication is reduced (use of Email/IM increases by 67%, while the conversations and interactions that were supposed to happen were reduced)
---Employee Focus is Reduced because they can’t concentrate with so many distractions and interruptions, and so much noise
The bosses saw the dollar savings (tables are cheaper than cubicles, and the amount of floor space needed would be reduced) and started inventing excuses to get away with Cubicle Land, and replace it with an Open Space Desert, lacking in communication or innovation. And we haven’t even touched on how many individuals need different levels of lighting, different amounts of heating and cooling. In a cubicle, you can get a small heater, or a small fan, or a small lamp, or a small shade, and adjust the office lights and temperatures to suit what you needed to be the most productive employee. AND standing up, signaled to others that you needed to interact or ask a question, or that you were available for interaction. This led to spontaneous communication and conversations, which the Execs love to call Collaboration.
I wrote all of the above, about 18 months ago, when my office, a very large Corp, decided to get rid of our cubicles, and replace with open style shared tables. Very similar to picnic tables. Even though we all used 3 or 4 monitors at each station, and the office lacked any storage area for coats, purses, and backpacks. Cubicles were the only places we had for our gear. (In the Denver area, you come to work ready for snow, no matter what the weather was like in the morning.)
We tried to advise our Corp Execs that open space would not work for us, as we needed space for coats and boots. The Execs (based in London and Dallas) did not understand this. We tried to advise how our clients, usually on our screens via video, would not appreciate that their faces, conversations, logos, etc might be seen by other video screens. (That they could see and understand more than just a suggestive image, is almost impossible. Like watching the news, on a TV screen 36” wide, from 20 feet away, the imagery is there, but you can’t make sense of it) However, merely the suggestion of their privacy not being protected would cause great angst with our clients. Again, bosses did not care. They had seen the latest fashion in office design, and they wanted to spend money on it. Whoever keeps insisting that for profit businesses make the best decisions, has not worked for a Corporation. Anyone who is the Boss of a small company, or the CEO of a large Corp, all have rose colored glasses on, and have the image of themselves as always making the best choices.
The photo I included above? The one on the left, shows how most Execs imagine the Open Space style will be. And the one on the right, is an example of how Cubicles can be more open in style, and still keep everyone safe. Think of the Plexiglas as a maze of sneeze guards! It can be done, but does take some money, and does take more floor space, so probably most Execs will never allow this style.
About 6 months ago, my office got laid off (not because of Covid, but because of Technology changes, and a reorganization RIF based at the Corporate level), and our offices now stand empty, except for a few remote Engineers. I know the offices for the same team, in other countries (UK, Hungary) will keep their Open Space, because they had already been remodeled. So what is the Corp doing, to keep those employees safe, as they return from quarantine? They have to spread everyone out. A table which held 6 employees, will now hold 3. Or so they say. No cubicle walls, though, no screens, no plexiglass dividers, just a little more space. I suppose it is better than nothing. So much for reducing the amount of floor space needed. Irony? The Corp is going ahead with the redesign of our Denver office, even though there will be no employees to sit at the new picnic tables. The few engineers left at this office, all worked from home anyways, and when physically in the office, they all had real walls.
I just do not know what it will take, for Corps to bring back cubicles. Maybe some office design space can come up with walls out of a material and color that are so crazy new, that the fad will be to have cubicle walls again. I won’t hold my breath. I feel sorry for my ex-coworkers in UK and EU who will have to come back from working at home, and be at those picnic tables. No privacy, your backpack out of sight in some locker down the hallway. No place for your coat. No place for a picture of your dog, no way to add a fan or a heater. All that shared noise. Pretending, at least to the boss’s face, that they have “no problems”, with the shared spaces. Or risk going away like the Denver office.
Now, after Covid, every sneeze, every cough, will be another anxiety. Now instead of just annoying and horrible productivity reduction, not having a Cubicle can kill you.
I liked my Cubicle. I had my name on the entry. I had a place for my coat and backpack, and a place to keep a spare set of shoes, in case I didn’t wear boots and it started snowing. I had pics of the kids, and a few reference materials. If I wanted to participate in a conversation, all I had to do was stand up, or lean over, and get involved. If I needed privacy, and had to concentrate, all I had to do was keep my head down. I miss my Cubicle.
Here are references to people with more statistics and such. I can’t provide fresh links, if any of these do not work. Just google “why open space offices are bad” or “employees want their cubicles back” and you will get lots of hits.
Wiki article on Proximity of other people
NPR article of how workers yearn for cubicles
Fast Company's article on Why Everyone Hates Open Spaces
Forbes article on how open space offices lower productivity
BBC article on how open plan offices are bad for our memory
Harvard Business Review on The Bad Truth about Open Offices
