谁动了我们的私密办公空间

    自占一隅进行工作的日子已一去不返。二十年来，很多公司已改用开放式的工作场所设计，取消专有办公室，以便降低房地产成本，同时促进同事间的协作。但随着办公室人均面积持续萎缩，很多员工（和经理）开始考虑，我们是不是已经达到了极限。

    “人在开放式工作环境下很难完成需要高度专注、不受打扰的工作。”《微调：一天一天实现梦想》(Tweak It: Make What Matters to You Happen Every Day)一书的作者、灵活工作场所策略师凯利•威廉姆斯•尤斯特说。“它让需要进行私密谈话或专注思考的人们非常苦恼。”

    企业房地产管理专业协会CoreNet Global最新的一项调查显示，大部分雇主给每位员工分配的面积不超过150平方英尺（约14平方米），大大低于2010年时的225平方英尺（约21平方米）。而且，人均面积可能还会继续缩小，因为58%的公司计划在未来一年增聘员工。大部分受调查公司（81%）都已经开始采用开放式的格局。

    所分配空间有一半的时间限制，CoreNet的战略沟通副总裁理查德•凯迪斯表示。而且，缩减办公空间可让公司资产负债表受益。

    美国总务署（General Services Administration）的一份报告显示，美国电话电报公司（AT&T）通过取消办公室单间以及整合工作空间，平均每处办公室节约3,000美元，每年节约5.50亿美元。北电网络（Nortel）的远程办公计划每年节约2,000万美元的房地产费用，相当于节约了两座20层、每层面积40,000平方英尺的办公楼。

    但打造一个良好的工作环境并没那么简单，不是拆掉办公室的门、放入长排椅子让员工连接笔记本电脑，也不是建一个酒店式办公系统，让员工按需预定空间。如果设计得好，开放式办公室应该拥有特别设置的安静房间用于“专心”工作，有一些小房间用来举行小型会议或临时讨论，还有较大的会议室以及用于协作和激发创新的社交区域。还应当能接触到绿色植物和自然光，无论是通过窗户、天窗或中庭来获得。

    凯迪斯表示，噪音是开放式设计中最常被忽视的因素。隔音工程师可以利用白噪音和噪音吸收材料实现很好的效果，但他们必须成为设计团队中的一员。这个团队还应该包括来自于科技、环境可持续发展、人力资源和设施管理的高管。

    《财富》杂志编辑苏珊•派斯纳尔当初效力于华盛顿特区一家行业协会工作时，只有10位总监有专用办公间，其余80名员工共享一大片被分成小隔间的开放式空间。“我当时的日子很不好过，因为总有人告诉我，让我小点声，”派斯纳尔回忆说。“在这样的环境中工作让人沮丧。”  

    So much for having your own little corner at work. For two decades, companies have been shifting to open workspace designs and eliminating dedicated offices in a twin effort to reduce real estate costs and encourage collaboration between colleagues. But as the per-person square footage of the typical workplace continues to shrink, many workers -- and managers -- are beginning to wonder whether we've reached the limit.

    "In open workspaces, it's hard for people to get their work done if it requires uninterrupted concentration and focus," says Cali Williams Yost, a flexible workplace strategist and author of Tweak It: Make What Matters to You Happen Every Day. "People who have jobs that require private conversations or uninterrupted thinking really struggle."

    A majority of employers allocate 150 square feet or less per worker, down dramatically from 225 square feet in 2010, according to a recent survey by CoreNet Global, a professional association for corporate real estate managers. Space per person is likely to continue to shrink, with 58% of companies expecting to increase employment in the next year. A whopping 81% of companies surveyed have already adopted an open-space floor plan.

    Assigned space is unused 50% of the time, says Richard Kadzis, CoreNet's vice president for strategic communications. And cutting out that space can benefit a company's balance sheet.

    AT&T (T) eliminated offices and consolidated workspace with savings of $3,000 per office for a total of $550 million per year, according to a General Services Administration report. Nortel's (NTL) telecommuting program saves $20 million a year in real estate, the equivalent of two 20-story office buildings with 40,000 square feet per floor.

    But creating a decent workspace isn't as simple as tearing out office doors and putting in long rows of benches where employees can connect laptops, or putting in place a hoteling system for people to reserve space on an as-needed basis. Done right, an open floor-plan office will include strategically placed quiet rooms for "heads down" work, huddle rooms for small meetings or impromptu discussions, larger conference rooms, and social areas where all that collaboration and innovation can take place. There should also be access to plants and natural light, whether through windows, skylights or creative use of atriums.

    Noise is often the most ignored factor in open design, says Kadzis. Acoustical engineers can do remarkable things with white noise and noise-absorbing materials, but they must be part of the design team. That group should also include executives from technology, environmental sustainability, human resources, and facilities management.

    When editor Susan R. Paisner worked for a Washington, D.C. trade association, only 10 directors had dedicated offices, and the remaining 80 staffers shared one big open space divided into cubicles. "It was difficult for me because I was frequently being told to be quieter," Paisner recalls. "It was a very frustrating, difficult environment to work in."