In open-plan offices, employees speak less

Two Harvard professors proved that collaboration was far from being gained by working in an open space. Contrary to popular belief, employees would send more emails, communicating much less by speech.

Two researchers at Harvard Business School and Harvard University proved what many employees were feeling: open space does not facilitate communication.

73% fewer exchanges

Since 80s, gradually this new fashion has emerged. The advent of the start-up has only amplified the phenomenon. Communication was the major goal of the implementation of such workspaces in the entrepreneurial landscape. But a study published by the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society contradicts conventional wisdom: compelling employees to consider themselves does nothing to improve their creativity or their communication.

Ethan S Bernstein and Stephen Turban led a three-month study of 52 employees from different departments (HR, engineers, com …) of one of the five hundred largest US companies. And the result is surprising: 73% less trade compared with employees of partitioned spaces!

On the other hand, another communication flies away: virtual communication. According to the study, the exchanges by mails increase of 67% and by instantaneous messaging, them, of 75%, after the pbadage in open space.

Lack of intimacy

In the absence of a minimum of intimacy in an open space, employees would compensate by building "virtual walls" . On the contrary, in a compartmentalized workspace, going to converse with a colleague would be perceived as a relaxation, "a pause" . The open space would be a false good idea: creativity and collaboration would be favored by enclosed spaces allowing greater physical and cerebral intimacy.

The attraction for the open space would have dissipated over the years. years. Such a workspace should have allowed employees to share their ideas aloud, but the goal would have been reversed. This challenges in an entrepreneurial world largely affected by the lack of chronic productivity, and this for more than a decade. Moreover, the open spaces are constantly questioned by the employees, some seeing a way for their superiors to ensure constant surveillance, the employee becoming the "cop" of his colleague , for the benefit of the enterprise.