Open Plan Office - good idea or big mistake?

[PanamaPattie]

My employer (NHS) has made the decision to take down walls and make our office space open plan. Over 100 people will be sharing. Hot desks and lockers will replace the current arrangement of individual desks and drawers.

I don't like this idea at all - I imagine fighting over desks, lack of privacy, heat (we're losing the air con), noise, no eating or drinking at desks.

It sounds like utter misery.

AIBU?

Bad for anyone who has seen occupational health for workstation adaptation (a good way to get a set desk?) And awful for my colleague who uses voice typing software and hates having to disturb others by talking her notes aloud.

OP is there any heating in the office? I wonder if they are ditching that because it's not "green"?

the places I worked where eating at the desk wasn't allowed, there wasn't a place to eat meals. they used to tell us "just go out, there's lots of nice places here" but for those of us eating packed lunches, it was bonkers. Sometimes if it was raining we'd just sit on the stairs. After all, no bright spark had actually specified "no eating on the stairs". Most of the time we just lurked in a doorway, if it was nice we'd try to go the nearest green patch.

with 100 trying to fit in a room for 20, I'd imagine you will be in a similar spot.

really sorry. It's so shite.

Why can't you eat at your desk? Ours is an open plan office, i pretty much get the same desk everyday so no issues. Windows open when its hot

We have been told that the "no eating at desk policy" is to stop members of staff leaving a mess on the desks and because we don't have individual bins there is nowhere to dump food waste in the office. There is a bin in the meal room for food waste.

I'd hate it, I can't cope with people walking behind me so I need a desk that accommodates that. Job hunting is a minefield for people like me.

I don't like open plan offices, so many distractions, impossible to concentrate, no privacy etc. But when I worked in an open plan office with hot desking, I actually liked it. You weren't just forced to sit next to the same people all the time, could go to a "quieter" desk away from the chatters if you wished. Mostly people tended to sit in the same places though. Human nature I guess.

Sounds absolutely awful. I work in a small office because I need silence to be able to concentrate. I would not be able to work in an open plan office. Fight it, it will probably be awful for productivity.

Since our office has been open plan, the illnesses seems to be rife.

I currently work in open plan and it's so much nicer environment than previous small only 3-4 people in so quite can hear a pin drop .
And the no eating at desk that's probably so that can be kept nice but give it a few weeks will be ignored.

Ours is open plan with hot desking. Only 'important' people get to pick a desk.

Noise levels are awful.

We're also wireless so when it goes down our laptops are screwed.

There are also not enough desks for everyone, which works well when you have a reasonable manager who allows you to wfh.

Tuesdays are the worst day and it's literally get in an early as you can or you don't get a desk and most likely no parking spaces on site either.

because we don't have individual bins there is nowhere to dump food waste in the office. There is a bin in the meal room for food waste.

We have a simple solution to this - it's called, walk to the bin. As you should take regular breaks away from the screen anyway, it's a handy excuse for a break and stretch of the legs.

Our open-plan is about 300 people ... I don't like it, but that's the modern big office for you.

Open plan offices are pretty demonstrably terrible. There are plenty of articles and papers (e.g www.europeanceo.com/business-and-management/its-time-to-rethink-open-plan-offices/) highlighting the many flaws with them. I had a private office for 4 months last year after a bunch of downsizing left with us with more space than people. It was glorious. I'm in a room of 12 now, and hate it if I can't get a back corner desk where people aren't constantly walking behind me.

They're a cheap way to cram a lot of staff in though, so I doubt we'll see the end of them any time soon.

I work for the council and they've just done this. We all moaned about it but to be honest it's working well.

We have a roomy locker each and 'breakout' areas to eat and for chats.

Lots of meeting rooms and it's very modern and clean. Only thing is we're the noisiest section and get told to quieten down a lot! 😆

I detest open plan. In my last office I was stuck sitting opposite someone who spent all day clearing their throat, every bloody 10 minutes! I wanted to strangle her in the end. If I wanted to go out and quickly get something for lunch l’d hear a chorus of “where are going? Can you pick me up x/y/z”. I’m someone who needs total silence to be productive so my work definitely went downhill. Everyone’s desk phones ringing all the time. People trying to talk to me when I was in the middle of something.

I now work from home in total silence all day long. Bliss!

If there's a hell, it's not composed of fore and brimstone.

It's open plan offices all the way.

"Our open-plan is about 300 people ... I don't like it, but that's the modern big office for you"

I refused a second interview at one place because the number was similar. It was quite a few years ago and I did have a couple of other interviews lined up.

but I still remember the lift doors opened, I saw that they had no walls basically for the whole company and immediately thought "argh". I think I imagined them being in sections or something but this was literally just a sea of open plan. Horrendous. I knew the company was that size, but expected some division of some kind....

I’d had my own office for about 10 years. I moved to another job, and it’s open plan; I was told I’d get used to it..... 6 years ago. I’m still trying. It’s grim.
The woman opposite me talks to herself constantly, and the one next to me can’t make a decision without checking it with me.
Nightmare.

Hot desking is becoming the norm. Been doing it for 8 years. Resistant at first, like it now. Lockers have got smaller over the years, I don't miss the stuff, don't need it. The beauty of hot desking is you can move away from colleagues you don't like. The annoying things are people trying to cling on to working in the old way in a new setting. The moaning, leaving markers on "their" desks by leaving work and personal effects on the desk. It can be amusing watching people sulk when somebody is sitting in "their desk".

I have always worked open plan, wouldn't like to work in small offices. Headphones are a must have for those days you need some head space. A noise reducing app called Noisz is great, although I like to listen to music and the radio too.

A lot of the time the intro of hot desking brings flexible working. I work three days from home, two in the office. Better than 5 day week at the office. I am a convert. (We can eat at desks but most people move to a dining area.)

I’ve done both and there are pros and cons to each. I’ve worked in several open plan offices of differing sizes (20 through to about 60), and I now have my own office (older building so lots of small unused offices and I have an unusual job, there is only one of me).

I liked open plan for general socialising, getting to know/understand the people I work with (usually in breakout space or kitchen area), and being able to quickly sort issues/minor queries etc.

I like my own office because it’s quiet and tucked away, but it’s in a new department for me (been there 2 years) and I’ve found it difficult to integrate in the department in the same way. It’s good for getting things done when I’m feeling productive but sometimes counterproductive too.

I wouldn’t be put off by an open plan office.

We went to hot desking a couple of years ago, everyone hates it. Most people try to sit at the same seats but the you get some random and it makes for a funny atmosphere.

NHS here too and also getting used to open plan. I hate it. I loved having my own drawers with my supplies of goodies, now I have a bottom row locker so I have to bed down to sneak a packet of crisps to nibble quickly as no eating at the desk.

I find the no eating policy time consuming. I've always cracked on whilst having my lunch. Now I've to fight for space in a small kitchen. Then there's the issue of changing the chair positioning every time. Argh!

The NHS doesn't have money to waste on individual offices or people who can't cope with change or work in a modern environment. Sorry. There should be break out spaces and quiet working areas though.

It's completely normal now but completely shit for productivity. Multiple loud voices on Skype calls are very disruptive. It'll be done on the cheap as well so you'll be sharing dirty keyboards, people taking mouses and cables, having to rearrange your screens/desk and chair heights every day etc. Some people - the extroverts - love it as they can talk to people all day.

But most people naturally retreat more as they're forced to "collaborate" and reclaim their space. More collaboration is a myth. [[https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/new-harvard-study-you-open-plan-office-is-making-your-team-less-collaborative.html New Harvard Study: Your Open-Plan Office Is Making Your Team Less Collaborative
This puts the final nail in the coffin of the idea that open-plan offices boost interaction and collaboration]]

I've worked in open plan offices for 30 years and have no issue. I would hate to go back to having offices

I hate the idea of hot desking though, think it's crap. Fortunately my job has meant I've never had to do it

I don't like working in an open plan office, much prefer a more traditional layout. I feel like I can't speak to anyone normally because it's all so public. It's basically just so they can squash more people in and use the same desks all the time.