Multi-talker Speech As A Distraction In Open-plan Offices?

Recently, many facilities have completed new laboratories that may be used to assess various measures of Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) in office spaces. Also recently, a new standard, ISO 3382-3, was released for assessing the effects of speech on IEQ in open plan offices. The aim of this report is to assess one room of the IEQ lab using the ISO 3382-3 standard. It is expected that the data gained will be of help to researchers using the facility in the future. Keywords: ISO 3382-3, Indoor Environment Quality, Acoustics

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A Comparison of Psychological and Work Outcomes in Open-Plan and Cellular Office Designs: A Systematic Review

SAGE Open ◽

10.1177/2158244020988869 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 215824402098886

Author(s):

Olivia James ◽

Paul Delfabbro ◽

Daniel L. King

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Social Relationships ◽

Social Relationship ◽

Work Outcomes ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Health Satisfaction ◽

Financial Benefits ◽

Open Plan ◽

Employee Characteristics ◽

Design Factors

A high percentage of information-based work is now conducted in open-plan offices as opposed to traditional cellular offices. In this systematic review, we compare health, work, and social outcomes as well as employee outcomes for workers in the two environments. From a total of 10,242 papers reviewed, we identified 31 papers which met strict inclusion/exclusion criteria of allowing a direct comparison between the office types. The results showed that working in open-plan workplace designs is associated with more negative outcomes on many measures relating to health, satisfaction, productivity, and social relationship. Notable health outcomes included decreased overall health and increased stress. Environmental characteristics of particular concern included noise and distractions, poor privacy, lighting and glare, and poorer temperature control. Most studies indicated negative effects on social relationships and interactions. Overall, the findings showed that while open-plan workplace designs may offer financial benefits for management, these appear to be offset by the intangible costs associated with the negative effects on workers. The study encourages further focused investigations into design factors as well as employee characteristics that might contribute to better outcomes in open-plan designs.

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Precision of ISO 3382-2 and ISO 3382-3 – A Round-Robin test in an open-plan office

Applied Acoustics ◽

10.1016/j.apacoust.2020.107846 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 175 ◽

pp. 107846

Author(s):

Valtteri Hongisto ◽

Jukka Keränen ◽

Laura Labia ◽

Reijo Alakoivu

Keyword(s):

Round Robin ◽

Round Robin Test ◽

Open Plan

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Open space office: A review of the literature and Hong Kong case studies

Work ◽

10.3233/wor-203408 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Lawrence W.C. Lai ◽

K.W. Chau ◽

Stephen N.G. Davies ◽

Locinda Kwan

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Case Studies ◽

Open Space ◽

Emotional Health ◽

Harvard Business Review ◽

Facilities Management ◽

Actual Design ◽

Open Plan ◽

Office Layouts ◽

Sociological Studies

BACKGROUND: Open plan or open space office has become increasingly popular but those who promote the concept selfdom refer to health studies or workers’ perceptions of a change in office layout towards an open space arrangement. OBJECTIVE: To review the literature on open plan or open space office layouts in terms of facilities management (FM) with users’ perception in mind and to obtain opinions of users of open space offices of for a better appreciation of the FM issues. METHODS: A literature search of research papers from 2007 in journals using the keywords “open plan office” and “open space office” plus “health”, first in the titles then in the text, was carried out. Thirty-two of those papers, accessible by the authors’ institutions, were consulted together with 5 other works in the Harvard Business Review. The review consulted but excluded papers and reports published or sponsored by commercial firms that were in favour of open space layouts. Case studies were conducted by face to face meetings in confidence with workers in the middle managements of twelve Hong Kong organisations known as friends to two of the authors. Problems as seen by staff are reported and discussed. RESULTS: The literature review reveals that apart from writing that promotes the use of an open plan office layout, a host of scientific works point to the problems of perceived dissatisfaction with such a layout, the nature of the dissatisfaction tending to depend on the actual design. Most workers interviewed disliked the new style open plan layouts, which points to the necessity of consulting workers when such changes are contemplated, as well as monitoring the results of the change once it is in place whether against workers’ wishes or with their support. There is a need for a number of facility arrangements in making a change to open plan that ensures that worker needs for proper lighting, privacy, and indoor health will be met. CONCLUSIONS: If the aim of a change to an open plan arrangement is to promote collegial communications in office, the study sheds light on the extent to which such arrangements may not in practice be suitable for achieving the aim. It follows that further, more specifically sociological studies of workers’ job satisfaction and emotional health in open plan office settings would be worth doing.

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