New workflow trends challenge the value of traditional, closed office spaces. Open office planning takes on new forms and principles of operation, which led to the emergence of the term “coworking”. Along with this, the audience of supporters of the concept of home workspace is growing. This trend is actively fueled by new technological opportunities in the field of communication and the expansion of the freelance segment in the labor market.
Against this background, many progressive leaders are seriously thinking about the possible reorganization of jobs. The same question is directly facing the workers. What to prefer - an open-plan office or work at home? According to experts and, in particular, the head of GitLab, Sid Sidbrandia, remote work outside the office provides more advantages. But for starters, it’s worth it to separately deal with the nuances of the two forms of work organization.
What is an open office?
There is no clear technical concept for this workspace, since much of the layout depends on individual conditions. In principle, this means that in a medium or large area a group of employees will work without a strict separation of their jobs. There can be several such spaces in one company - as a rule, division into zones is carried out according to the functional tasks of different groups, teams and departments.
What is remote work?
First of all, one should not directly associate this form of work organization with the classical concept of “work at home”, which means that a person is involved in an optimized production process at home. The fact is that modern communications make it possible to perform a huge array of complex tasks without being in the office. Even managers allow themselves to establish remote control channels while being in another country, for example. That is, an employee can organize a workplace right at home and carry out his tasks, periodically sending results to the company through corporate communication channels.
Pros of an open office plan
Among the arguments in favor of this concept, experts single out two main factors - economic and psychological-communication. In the first case, the same head of the company can save a lot of money on renting an office, when compared with traditional premises. Spaces with an open layout in different variations are often cheaper in terms of content. As for the psychological and communication factor, we are talking about an atmosphere of direct interaction between employees. There is a feeling of unity, comfort and mutual support, which also contributes to the development of creative and innovative ideas in solving work problems.
Lack of open office space
Like many of the rapidly growing trends of recent years, the concept of free workspace in the course of practical use also showed a number of disadvantages. Research by experts from Harvard University, in particular, draws attention to the interference caused by employees working close to each other. Phone calls, discussions and negotiations create a noise that makes it difficult to concentrate on complex tasks.In order to solve this problem, special booths and conversation booths are being arranged, but this practice also creates difficulties of a different order, without essentially changing the situation.
Why is homework better?
In terms of financial costs for the organization of the workplace, the head in this case does not bear any costs at all. The employee uses home equipment and communication tools, already for his part saving time and money by eliminating the need for regular visits to the office.
Problems of work at home and their solution
The main disadvantage of remote work is the lack of necessary psychological conditions to increase productivity. Still, the home environment does not contribute to the workflow as such, while an open office, through free communication, creates an atmosphere of involvement in a common cause, stimulating each member of the team to effectively perform their functions.
However, the example of organizing the working conditions at home of Sid Sidbrandia's company showed that this problem can naturally be overcome. GitLab practices daily online video calls through online services. Such meetings, on the one hand, strengthen the team spirit of employees, and on the other, relieve them of a sense of social isolation.
Experts note another positive factor in this approach. All contacts between employees are exclusively business in the framework of the established rules of work ethics. Negative interaction factors such as harassment, psychological pressure and the spread of gossip are completely eliminated.
Conclusion
The organization of work at home for their employees poses a lot of ambitious tasks for managers, requiring solutions at a new technological level. However, the benefits of the introduced practice are already evident in the first months - both in the financial part and in production indicators. But also a lot will depend on the willingness of the employees themselves to such a format of work.