Nowadays, open space has become one of the most widespread types of office around the world. Such popularity is related to benefits that this type of office brings to an employer. For instance, it is considered that open space stimulates employees to work harder as everybody can observe their working process. Moreover, such a practice also contributes to the elimination of corruption because there is no possibility to hide in a private office and get money for a particular kind of work.
However, at the same time, open space can negatively influence the general well-being of employees. This kind of office could affect employee’s nervous system as such an openness puts additional stress. But you will agree that you cannot leave the job just because of this inconvenience. Therefore, there is the only solution – overcome the fear of open space and deal with all the difficulties on your way. How to succeed in it? Let’s discuss.
Write Essays to Contribute to Improving Life in Open Space
We all know how hard it is to concentrate on working while somebody is always watching you (and now I am talking not only about colleagues). Nevertheless, you still must work and deal with various working issues. And if you cannot build a wall between you and colleagues physically, then you have to build it emotionally!
Here, you have to remember about the headwaters of open space. The key point of a decision to destroy walls was to give a feeling of freedom. In this case, employees should have gotten to rid of the tension of the walls and focus on that freedom and working process that open space gives to them.
In this regard, I propose you to forget about views of employees and immerge into the atmosphere of absolute freedom! And the best way to cope with this task is to appeal to a writing therapy.
Writing therapy is considered to be an effective practice of relieving all emotions and feelings. Its principle is very simple: you just need to take a clean sheet of paper and write short essays that will describe one or another situation. In our case, you need to be fully encompassed by the writing process in order to distract from stress and pressure. If you need an example, you may ask someone to write your paper for you and use it as a guide. The main thing is to immerse into a lovely atmosphere of freedom.
How Does Open Space Influence Employees?
In general, open space is considered to be an outdated solution. But if you do not pay attention to trifles, then you have to take into consideration pros and cons of open space.
If the workflow is related to routine actions and the consistent implementation of the instruction, then open space is a very good solution, since it allows you to control the actions of employees and, more importantly, makes you constantly feel control even if it is not really available at the moment.
But if the workflow includes at least some creative elements, then open space is "neurotic." The fact is that every arbitrary choice and an independent decision is, to a certain extent, stressful (even a girl who chooses which earrings to wear experiences such a feeling). In open space, this stress increases: a person projects his emotions on all those who can see him or her at that moment.
As a result, a person becomes involved in aggression, shame, guilt, etc. It triggers irrational conflicts in the team and, at the same, time greatly reduces the pace of the employee.
It is almost impossible to fix this situation. To learn more about the concept of open space, you may order a research paper. To mitigate the negative impact of open space, you can adjust the wall so that at least part of your workplace will not be visible. The more the workplace is fenced off, the better it is for your working process.
How to Improve Working Space?
Unlike a separate office, open space does not give full freedom to the design of the workplace. Satisfaction is guaranteed for the person whose boss has worked on the project of workspace with a professional designer and has taken care of the comfort of his employees. However, they will strictly follow the external uniformity. Nobody will forbid you to put on the table a photo or a pair of toys (which I do not welcome, by the way), but still, you have to accept the given conditions. In spontaneously designed open spaces, there are more opportunities for individual creativity, as changing furniture or plants will not break the stylistic chaos that prevails in the space.
If you feel uncomfortable at the workplace, then you must pay attention to what you are sitting on. A comfortable chair is a basis for productivity and well-being. The chair should fit you in height, width and depth of the seat. The angle between the backrest and the seat should be slightly more than 90 degrees, and the back itself should be bent to provide waist support.
The second pillar on which the employee's comfort stays is a large and stable table. If you do not wear mini-skirts, it is better to use a table on four legs. If the open space does not allow each employee to put a spacious table for personal use, you can communicate and unite with a friendly colleague.
And the last one but not least – creativity. You are free to organize your working space creatively. If you are not aware of how to succeed in it, do not panic and go here. You will find lots of beneficial materials.