Essay: Open Plan Offices' Impacts On Management And Workforce.

Overview of the problems

Evaluate the different issues that are faced by the management over the benefits through the implementation of an open plan office.

The management of the organizations helps in maintaining the different levels of change in the systems of the same. On the other hand, the identification of the different issues that are faced by the employees helps in maintaining the proper management of the organization in the market. The open- plan offices provide a working environment with no distinct private cabins, which helps the employees to approach the management of the organization, as there are no physical barriers. The open plan offices help in improving communication and collaboration within the employees. However, other cons affect the management of the organization with an open- place office.

Overview of the problems

The issues that might be faced by the management of  organizations while applying the open plan offices are:

• Distractions due to frequent interactions
• Reduction of the productivity through frequent absenteeism due to spread of viral diseases

Aim and objective of the research

• To examine the different issues that are faced by the management while working in a open plan office
• To determine the role of the management in empowering the employees
• To forecast recommendations depending on the identification of the issues relating to the open plan offices

Research questions

• What are the issues that are faced by the management while working in a open plan office environment?
• What strategies can be applied to resolve the issues relating to the open plan offices?

Literature review

The identification of the different elements that might affect the management of the organization due to the implementation of the open plan offices helps the same in undertaking efficient management. The key ideas of the changes that are undertaken by the organizations are dependent on the identification of the issues that are faced by the employees. On the other hand, open plan offices have certain cons that affect the manage4ment and performance of the workforce as per the objectives of the same.   According to Smith (2013), the open plan offices helps in enhancing the internal communication among the employees. It helps in the proper functioning of the workforce through the enhancement of the collaborative functions of the same. On the other hand, Lottrup et al. (2015) stated that the organization faces issues in the productivity as the frequent interactions affects the concentration and focus of the employees in their work.  The proper functioning of the workforce is facilitated through the communication and collaboration within the same and the management. The Open plan offices offer the employees with the opportunity of undertaking interactions with the management without haste. However, the frequent interaction tends to distract the employees and thereby affect the productivity of the same while working on their respective job roles. It affects the smooth functioning criteria that are undertaken by the workforce.

The differences in the performance of the business are generally dependent on the functioning of the workforce and the manner in which they are motivated to bring in changes in the systems. Hatch (2017) stated that the open plan offices help in integrating the workforce and thereby bring in changes in the performance of the business. Alternatively, Mulville, Callaghan  and Isaac (2016) argued that the frequent interactions affects the functioning of the workforce due to noise and havoc in the work environment. Been  and Beijer (2014) stated that noise and havoc are the agents of miscommunication which might bring forth degradation of the processes.

Aim and objective of the research

According to Parry  and Straker (2013), frequent absenteeism is one of the chief factors that affects the proper functioning of the workforce as per the objectives of the organization. Absenteeism may e due to the viral attacks that might spread n the floor indiscriminately which might affect the productivity of the organizations drastically. On the other hand,  Morrow,  McElroy  and Scheibe (2012) holds the view that the open plan offices helps the organizations to bring in collaboration among the members of the same to enhance the productivity. However, there are instances where the viral attacks affected the functioning of the workforce and thereby affected the rate of productivity. It brought in changes in the systems of the businesses. For example, Microsoft’s productivity was affected through the spread of a certain viral infection that affected the nasal passages of the employees, which created a situation of frequent absenteeism in the year 2016 Bodin Danielsson et al. (2014). The result was a drastic fall in the productivity of the business while operating in the international markets. Healy et al. (2013) stated that absenteeism affects the performance of the employees while the objective of the organization is identified. Leadership style is greatly affected through the open plan offices as the management of the organization and the employees shares the same platform and thereby transformational leadership plays a major role in integrating the workforce. De Been  and Beijer (2014) stated that the accessibility of the management is made simple for the employees without any physical barriers through the implementation of the open plan offices. However, Hatch (2017) argued that the psychological barriers play an important role in maintaining the proper functioning of the organizations in the market. The identification of the needs of the workforce and the issues that are faced by the employees while performing their respective job roles helps the management of the business to bring in changes in the performance of the business.

Myerson  and Bichard (2016) stated that the management of the organization might also face legal and ethical issues while applying the open plan offices due to the exposure of the confidential plans. The management of the organizations is greatly affected through the revelation of the confidential ideas. De Been  and Beijer (2014) argued that the involvement of the employees in the management processes will be helping the organization to bring in continuous innovation. The involvement of the workforce in the processes also helps the same to undertake informed steps to meet their corporate goals. However, Mak  and Lui (2012) stated that the disclosure of the confidential strategies of the organization might create a risky venture where the information might be leaked. The performance of the organization is dependent in the confidentiality of the strategies that are implemented by the same while operating in the international markets. However, the open plan offices undertake open discussion with the employees, which creates a vulnerable position that affects the functioning of the business in the market.

Research questions

Data collection process

The data collection procedure that will be undertaken by the researcher will be Secondary Data Collection and Primary data collection. The secondary data collection will be helping to structure the literature review on the topic which will be helping the same to take efficient steps to evaluate the peer- reviewed journals, blogs, newsletters, websites, books, press releases and the like. On the other hand, the researcher has taken steps to conduct a survey of a small working team through Primary data collection. It will be helping the researcher to conduct an efficient research to understand the impacts of the open plan offices on the organizational performance and leadership approaches. The evaluation of the different data sources will be helping the researcher to conduct the research more efficiently.

Research findings and analysis

Reflection on the findings

I believe that most of the employees in the survey have agreed to the fact that the noise and distractions have increased through the implementation of the open plan office. On the other hand, the issues that are faced by the people, specifically P5, have reflected the manner in which the distractions have affected the smooth functioning of the job roles that they are into. The viral attacks and its influence on the smooth performance of the workforce is mostly affected through the implementation of the open plan offices.

Recommendations

Therefore, it can be concluded from the research that the identification of the issues that might be faced by the management of the organization while operating in an open plan office will be helping the same to bring forth changes in the systems of the management of the business. The identification of the issues will be helping the management to bring in changes to enhance the functioning of the systems.   

Recommended actions that might be undertaken by the management of the organization are:

• The companies must formulate policies to forbid the utilization of mobile and cellular devices on the floor. It will be helping the management to reduce the noise levels and thereby enhance the functioning of the same. The policies must also include the steps to control; the noise levels in the office. The management of the organization must create a separate room from the office floor to conduct meetings and seminars with the different departments. It will be helping the management to reduce the levels of noise in the office environment.
• The management of the organizations must also take steps to create a different room for the sick employees to prevent the spread of infections in the office environment and thereby affect the productivity of the workforce.

References

Agha-Hossein, M.M., El-Jouzi, S., Elmualim, A.A., Ellis, J. and Williams, M., 2013. Post-occupancy studies of an office environment: energy performance and occupants' satisfaction. Building and Environment, 69, pp.121-130.

Been, I.D. and Beijer, M., 2014. The influence of office type on satisfaction and perceived productivity support. Journal of Facilities Management, 12(2), pp.142-157.

Bodin Danielsson, C., Chungkham, H.S., Wulff, C. and Westerlund, H., 2014. Office design's impact on sick leave rates. Ergonomics, 57(2), pp.139-147.

De Been, I. and Beijer, M., 2014. The influence of office type on satisfaction and perceived productivity support. Journal of Facilities Management, 12(2), pp.142-157.

Feifer, J.A.S.O.N., 2013. Offices for all! Why open-office layouts are bad for employees, bosses, and productivity. Fast Company.

Hatch, M.J., 2017. The symbolics of office design: an empirical exploration. In Symbols and artifacts (pp. 129-146). Routledge.

Healy, G.N., Eakin, E.G., LaMontagne, A.D., Owen, N., Winkler, E.A., Wiesner, G., Gunning, L., Neuhaus, M., Lawler, S., Fjeldsoe, B.S. and Dunstan, D.W., 2013. Reducing sitting time in office workers: short-term efficacy of a multicomponent intervention. Preventive medicine, 57(1), pp.43-48.

Kim, J. and De Dear, R., 2013. Workspace satisfaction: The privacy-communication trade-off in open-plan offices. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 36, pp.18-26.

Lottrup, L., Stigsdotter, U.K., Meilby, H. and Claudi, A.G., 2015. The workplace window view: a determinant of office workers’ work ability and job satisfaction. Landscape Research, 40(1), pp.57-75.

Mak, C.M. and Lui, Y.P., 2012. The effect of sound on office productivity. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, 33(3), pp.339-345.

Morrow, P.C., McElroy, J.C. and Scheibe, K.P., 2012. Influencing organizational commitment through office redesign. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 81(1), pp.99-111.

Mulville, M., Callaghan, N. and Isaac, D., 2016. The impact of the ambient environment and building configuration on occupant productivity in open-plan commercial offices. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 18(3), pp.180-193.

Myerson, J. and Bichard, J.A., 2016. New demographics new workspace: Office design for the changing workforce. Routledge.

Parry, S. and Straker, L., 2013. The contribution of office work to sedentary behaviour associated risk. BMC public health, 13(1), p.296.

Smith, A.D., 2013. Online social networking and office environmental factors that affect worker productivity. International Journal of Procurement Management, 6(5), pp.578-608.