The Catch-22 of Open-Plan
by Sean Coward, Researcher/Consultant

Article at a glance

The open-plan office affords a number of advantages to organisations, yet the combination of increased density and decreased privacy has introduced an intense social dynamic to the workplace. This paper reviews the literature on social facilitation, a body of research specifying conditions under which the presence of others may serve to either assist or hinder performance, and offers a set of guidelines intended to harness the positive aspects of co-located work—while avoiding the pitfalls.

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