An open office work space: a boon 'or' bane??

​As we think of Agile and Kanban type of project management methodologies that heavily depend on quick, easy access to team members, open project spaces are specifically welcome. Infact, given the high cost of corporate office rents in most major cities, the concept of open office has become more of a norm instead of an exception. 

Coming back to Agile teams, it is quite a common sight to see an entire team occupy a large work room in a completely open environment. Sometimes they do not even have any separators or privacy walls around their desks!! Is this way of working truly productive?? 

In my experience, I have found that it lowers individual productivity which ultimately increases overall inefficiencies of the project team. Easy access, quick discussions and monitoring boards are all a great way to bring together a project team. But we need to be mindful of the fact that people have different working styles.

Constant background activity and noise which is an undeniable aspect of an open project room or office setting, can seriously impede delivery timeline and adversely impact work quality. Here is a nice article highlighting the many challenges faced by people working in open offices.

You can read it: Why open offices are bad for us
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​#openoffice #humanresources #organizationaleffectiveness #projectmanagement #agile #kanban