Research and Design Recommendations on Crowding in Open-Plan Offices

Background

We conducted a research project with about 600 employees of a large Midwestern insurance company to understand what causes perceptions of crowding in open-office workspaces, and what the effects of crowding are on satisfaction and performance.

Observations

• Crowding is influenced by objective characteristics – density of workspaces and distance to windows.
• Crowding is not influenced by the amount of workspace enclosure.
• Crowding strongly influences satisfaction with the workspace.
• Crowding does not influence employee performance.

Risks of Crowding

Crowding will not negatively impact employee performance; however crowding reduces satisfaction with workspace – which could affect attraction and retention efforts.

Design Recommendations

• Distance between workspaces predicts perception of crowding. Reduce the impact of highly “densified” space by orienting workspace openings to minimize views into others’ workstations while seated.
• High enclosure (height and number of panels) of workstations is not a solution to problems with crowding.
• Perceptions of crowding are related to the distance to the nearest window. Thus the closer each employee is seated to a window, the better. Not everyone can be seated right next to a window, so views to windows are the next best thing.

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