The concept of the open office was originally created by a team from Hamburg, Germany, in the nineteen-fifties to facilitate communication and idea flow. Today, over seventy percent of all offices have an open floor plan.

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Navigating the Open Floor Plan
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2. Introduction
Corporate Learning Institute provides training and
coaching for organizations to get them running
smoothly and effectively, because there is always
room for improvement.
With this collection of our favorite Two-Minute
Reads, you will get some free tips and tools that
will get your organization working just a bit better.
If you would like more of these quick, helpful
reads, visit our website at
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3. The Open Office
The concept of the open office was originally
created by a team from Hamburg, Germany, in
the nineteen-fifties to facilitate communication
and idea flow.
Today, over seventy percent of all offices have
an open floor plan.

4. The Research
• Organizational psychologist, Matthew
Davis (2011)
– Although open offices often fostered a symbolic sense of
organizational mission, making employees feel like part of a
more laid-back, innovative enterprise,
– They were damaging to the workers’ attention spans,
productivity, creative thinking, and satisfaction
– Compared to standard, separate offices, employees
experienced more uncontrolled interactions, higher levels
of stress, and lower levels of concentration and motivation.

5. The Reality
Despite findings such as these, many
companies are moving to open floor
plans to appeal to their younger
workforce
• Young employees found certain types
of noises just as distracting as their
older counterparts

6. THE TRADEOFFS ARE ULTIMATELY
WORTH IT FOR MANY COMPANIES.
WHAT CAN AN EMPLOYEES DO TO STAY
PRODUCTIVE IN THE OPEN FLOOR PLAN
ENVIRONMENT?

7. Set Undisturbed Work Time
• To avoid a “cognitive overload” from employees
continuously helping others in addition to
completing their own work, set aside a block of
time each day to work undisturbed.
• Work to make this part of the company culture.
• Make your block of time known to your
coworkers and respect their set block of time by
holding your questions for another time.

8. Regain Control
• Part of the reason extraneous noise reduces our motivation
is that it is a factor that is out of our control. This lack of
control over the environment can lead us to try harder at
our jobs.
• A 2010 study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology
suggested that absorbing and remembering new
information is best done with the music off. While listening
to music may boost your mood, it can serve as a distraction
from cognitively demanding tasks.
• To regain some control, try wearing noise cancelling
headphones or listening to soft music with no words
(Singing along with words can heighten the distraction).

9. Contact CLI for All Your Organizational
Development Needs!
For CLI’s Library of Two-Minute Reads go to
http://corplearning.com/resources/two-minute-reads/
CorpLearning.com
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1.800.203.6734
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