For decades the trend among workplaces has seen employees moving out of individual offices and into open-plan spaces. This has not always been successful, with the open-plan approach receiving significant criticism. The key issues are distraction and noise, which apparently leads to uncooperative behaviour, distrust and negative personal relationships, and the lack of privacy and sense of being universally observed – which are particularly problematic for women.

Now that the internet connectivity is available almost everywhere and thus allows much more flexible working, the question arises: What might the set-up of an ideal workplace environment look like today?

One response to the problems of open-plan spaces is simply to stop using them, as Ikea has done recently, structuring new spaces using its own taste for furniture design. But to be honest, I don’t see much of a difference to traditional workplaces based on the office “cubicle” – have a look and decide for yourself.

A variety of approaches aimed at designing better open-plan spaces include the following ideas: use private offices surrounding a hub of a common area, purchase movable barriers so people can create private space as needed, create larger offices with two or three work areas, install cubicles with cathedral ceilings, skylights and tall windows, or introduce a work-from-home policy – while renting space for group meetings as required.

We had the opportunity to experiment with creating better open-plan spaces at our public university in Denmark when a group of 10 researchers moved offices, so we thought to try and put some of these ideas into practice.

An experiment in open-plan design

We came up with open-plan design for the space and the group’s response was fairly neutral, although some colleagues had doubts they could work in such an environment. We agreed to a six-month trial period, with the following prerequisites:

office space for permanent staff, plus flexible work units for guests;
a combination of working and social (informal) environment;
opportunities for spontaneous discussions, but also quiet areas to do concentrated work, and
generating and maintaining high acceptance within the staff.

We first defined different areas: an office space with desks, a social area containing kitchen and couches, enclosed meeting rooms for discussions, rooms to go and make calls, and silent corners for quiet reading.

This meant the group no longer had fixed telephone lines. Instead, everyone used a VOIP smartphone app, Skype for Business, which meant it was possible to sit anywhere and still make and take calls over an internet connection.

Having passed legal and other requirements, the group were asked about their preferences, and a seating plan was drawn up. For example, it was decided that the course coordinators should remain in their own office, because they are generally involved in a lot of meetings and phone calls which would be difficult to incorporate into an open office space.