Not too long ago, a typical office environment anywhere had a row of cubicles and closed units where employees would sit. The conventional seating plan gave way to open office plans some years back and has been a trend ever since. Peek inside any leading commercial place for rent in Kolkata and you’d find open office seating plans much to everyone’s comfort.
The amount of benefits an open office plan brings to the table are immense; both for employees and employers. Here are some of the advantages of an open office floor plan that will make you reconsider the conventional seating pattern:
1.Smooth Collaboration
By far, one of the hugest benefits of adopting an open office plana and ditching the conventional cubicle plan is because the former facilitates an easy and smooth collaboration. When multiple workers are operating out of an open office plan, they’re more likely to share ideas, inputs, and collaborate in intra-office projects.
Off course there are various digital means of communication like in-office messenger or Skype, but eventually human beings are social animals and there are certain things that even an online communication app can’t cater to. An open office floor plan brings together shared inputs that increase productivity and effective communication at the workplace.
2.Effective Relationship Building
Likewise, an open office plan, much different from the traditional closed one, is instrumental in fuelling effective and lasting relationship building dialogues. A traditional cubicle office is designed in a way that employees are left with no option but to keep their heads down and work. While, on the contrary, a shared and open office space, much like seen at Candor TechSpace’s offices in Kolkata SEZ, employees feel more approachable and connected.
This helps building relationships among employees while initiating a ‘do not disturb’ mode as and when required. Employees end up feeling much more connected and bonded when all of them are working on a single office floor.
3.Improved Employee Health
While this is a no brainer to crack that it is not advisable for employees to be sitting hunched over on their computers all day. An open floor plan office takes care of that aspect as there is a lot of space on the floor to move around. It is physically and mentally important for employee health and wellness to have a mix of physical activity and seating throughout the day.
It is seen in most open floor offices that there is no barrier to natural light and there is plenty of sunlight coming in. This makes the office well illuminated, ventilated, and good for employee health and productivity.
4.Scalable & Flexible for the Future
Nobody knows what the next office design trend would be and having a totally open floor space is actually beneficial as that is more flexible and scalable to accommodate future office trends. This might occur that some new office design trend will emerge after some years which will be more beneficial than the current one. If you’ve an open floor plan office that allows further expansion and customization, you’re always at the plus side. In future, you can easily adopt any office floor trend and keep up with the game. This proposition isn’t just feasible but also financially beneficial.
5.Indoor Plants in Open Offices Improve Indoor Air Quality
A closed office space with closed cubicles doesn’t have much room to place indoor plants. While we all know that indoor plants are very important for improving indoor air quality in an office. Additionally, indoor plants have a positive impact on employee’s health, wellness, mood, and overall well-being.
Those who are surrounded by indoor plants or actively engage in nature are proven to be better performers at work. Only an open floor plan office can accommodate indoor plants that end up reducing stress,
6.Open Floor Offices Increase Productivity
Break out office spaces, or what you may call them generically as open office spaces, are designed in a way that gives employees a sense of real break away from their desk. Employees, for getting up to stretch or take a break, can go up to another desk to have a brief chat and unwind. This helps them return to their desks feeling refreshed and energised. In a way, open floor offices significantly improve productivity.
