The New York Times moved into a brand-new office building this week, and already rival news sources are jumping at the opportunity to point out the weaknesses, including mice and poor office design.
Putting aside the thought that this is sour-grapes reporting from journalists who might be unhappy with their own digs, it seems that the Times has chosen a newsroom layout that emphasizes collaboration over concentration. According to Thomas H. Davenport’s Harvard Business Review article “Why Office Design Matters,” this is a common, yet often misguided, choice.
Davenport explores the tension between the two primary needs of knowledge workers: concentration and collaboration. He notes that these workers prefer closed offices, which facilitate concentraion, but they communicate better and build trust more easily in open offices.
The article cites other interesting nuggets about office design. For example, one study found that workers won’t communicate with coworkers who sit 30 meters or more away, so if you want your staff to talk to each other, seat them near each other.
When your office moves or is renovated, think carefully about the right balance of collaboration and concentration for your employees. If you find that more and more of your employees are working from home to get their work done, you might want to extend those cubicle walls a bit higher to swing the balance more towards individual productivity.
