How to optimize productivity in an open office space

Addison Anthony, Associate Content Manager at Innovation Department

First, they were the cool replacement for the grey, soul-sucking cubicle. Then, they were the scourge of the modern workplace, depleting the very team productivity that they were meant to be boosting — and leaving a barrage of harsh criticisms in their wake.

So what are the main issues with a walls-free workplace? Well, for one thing, it can feel like a total invasion of personal space. According to one study published in Frontiers in Psychology, employees who work in an office with an open floor plan feel a loss of their sense of privacy, making them all the more sensitive to perceived intrusions by their co-workers.

Another study, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, noticed that employees in an open office space were more likely to avoid face-to-face interactions — as these would happen in front of an office-wide audience — and would instead resort to email as the preferred method of communicating with colleagues. Not surprisingly, this tendency leads to a steady decrease in face-to-face engagement and quick uptick in the volume of emails sent between coworkers.

Still, despite the (many, so it seems) reasons why an open office space might not make the most sense for a smooth-operating company, they don’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Here’s how to survive (and even thrive in) yours without burning down the building.

Create a digital barrier.

Noise-canceling headphones are the most important ingredient for creating focus in a hectic environment. Music streaming platforms are loaded with Mozart and other classics to help keep you focused while stimulating all the wires in your brain, but if you need to get hype for that big afternoon presentation, Spotify’s carefully-curated playlists are there to save the day.

Even if you can’t master that complicated spreadsheet with Drake rapping in your ears, there’s always the option to crank up the white noise and pretend like you’re on an airplane heading to a two-week vacation and you’ve just got to finish that last email. Rinse and repeat.

Turn off notifications.

It’s hard to check things off your list when emails keep quite literally popping into your screen and breaking your concentration. Instead of constantly being at the beck and call of the Gmail envelope or Slack triple knock, schedule times throughout your day to read and respond to the important things. If you need to ping someone else about a non-sensitive subject, maybe take a stroll to their desk to stretch your legs and hash it out in person.

Be a ‘busy’ bee.

Before you choose to pop in, however, check your colleague’s calendar and make sure they’re at least somewhat available. Scheduling out ‘busy’ times in your calendar for when you really need to dive in and focus will help facilitate appropriate communication between coworkers, and also makes sure everyone is respecting everyone else’s time. Plus, you won’t have to dive in and out of that giant project ten times in an hour, so you can wrap it up sooner and increase your own efficiency.

Make some face time.

To help combat the over-digitization of the workplace, schedule face-to-face meetings whenever possible. For example, you can plan a 1:1 at the beginning of the week (Monday afternoon) with your manager instead of Slacking back and forth for hours about things that could be easily wrapped up in a 20-minute chat. Taking breaks from your desk and workload are also important, so try to fit in a walk around the block when you have a conference call, or go pick up a coffee with a coworker when there’s no need for screens.

Be a socialite.

Make an effort to socialize with your coworkers when you don’t need to be cranking out that report an hour before the deadline — then there’ll be less to catch up on during crunch time. Staying friendly with colleagues keeps everyone more willing to collaborate and problem-solve like they’re on the same team, so don’t disregard the importance of the water cooler chatter.

When all else fails, create a physical barrier.

If the open office floor plan is just unbearable to you, talk to your manager (and maybe HR) about investing in some physical barriers — there are plenty of studies and articles around to back you up. Who knows, maybe 2020’s biggest trend will be the return of the cookie-cutter cubicle?