不過在 IT 產業實做後效果一直是個疑問。而 2014 年年初時,有人寫文章拿出來討論,並且給出負面的結論:「The Open-Office Trap」。
主要是因為開放空間帶來無形的壓力,同時也容易被干擾:
In 2011, the organizational psychologist Matthew Davis reviewed more than a hundred studies about office environments. He found that, though open offices often fostered a symbolic sense of organizational mission, making employees feel like part of a more laid-back, innovative enterprise, they were damaging to the workers’ attention spans, productivity, creative thinking, and satisfaction. Compared with standard offices, employees experienced more uncontrolled interactions, higher levels of stress, and lower levels of concentration and motivation. When David Craig surveyed some thirty-eight thousand workers, he found that interruptions by colleagues were detrimental to productivity, and that the more senior the employee, the worse she fared.
另外對於健康方面,開放空間互相感染的問題:
An open environment may even have a negative impact on our health. In a recent study of more than twenty-four hundred employees in Denmark, Jan Pejtersen and his colleagues found that as the number of people working in a single room went up, the number of employees who took sick leave increased apace. Workers in two-person offices took an average of fifty per cent more sick leave than those in single offices, while those who worked in fully open offices were out an average of sixty-two per cent more.
而最近 (2014 年年底) 又被提出來,基本上是引用 2014 年年初那篇文章的負面分析:「Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace.」。
文章裡提出幾個 workaround (因為辦公室改建的成本...),包括建立 private area:
For one, they should create more private areas — ones without fishbowl windows.
另外也可以從個人習慣改善。如果被打斷了,就先做一些其他的事情:
For instance, when a colleague has on headphones, it’s a sign that you should come back another time or just send an e-mail.
以及利用一些政策避開問題,像是在家工作降低被打擾的機會:
On the other hand, companies could simply join another trend — allowing employees to work from home. That model has proven to boost productivity, with employees working more hours and taking fewer breaks. On top of that, there are fewer interruptions when employees work remotely.
不過這些方法偏向 workaround,如果辦公室可以在規劃時就避開的話會更好,像是這樣:
Puffin Browser - CloudMosa - 辦公室座位區 @ wens的相簿 :: 痞客邦 PIXNET ::
Peopleware 也有討論到這個問題,也許能翻翻參考一下。
https://images.plurk.com/Mq0JEa72m5XiUwxOEoJWN.jpg
https://images.plurk.com/2CdaiU2bM2yK8TUC65ye5G.jpg
這篇 http://www.targetprocess.com/articles/speed-in-software-development.html 講的 team-size rooms 我覺得最理想。