The Covid-19 response which moved much office work to virtual has created a natural productivity experiment in the knowledge economy. The favourable early results being reported by firms with employees working from home are challenging the widespread assumptions about the merit of extremely open offices as were frequently adopted in technology companies prior to the pandemic. For companies that will continue to have offices which are now designing re-occupancy plans, social distancing requirements offer an opportunity to revert to potentially more productive forms of office layout.

1. Future Office Layout and Productivity Considerations for Tech Startups and Scale-Ups
Dave Litwiller
July 16, 2020
Keywords
Office layout;officedesign;openoffice; productivity;collaboration;creativity;noise;distraction;
privacy;culture;trust;onboarding;startup;scale-up
Introduction
The Covid-19response whichmoved muchoffice worktovirtual hascreateda natural productivity
experimentinthe knowledgeeconomy. The favourable earlyresults beingreportedbyfirms with
employeesworkingfromhome are challengingthe widespreadassumptionsaboutthe meritof
extremelyopenoffices aswere frequentlyadoptedintechnologycompaniespriortothe pandemic. For
companiesthatwill continue tohave offices whichare now designingre-occupancyplans,social
distancingrequirementsofferanopportunitytoreverttopotentiallymore productive formsof office
layout.
RecentTrends and Challenges
Relativelyhighproductivity hasbeenwidely reportedfrommuchof the techsector duringthe time it
has been operatingpredominantly withemployeesworkingfromhome,forthe pastseveral months.
Thishas raisedanew questionsaboutthe seculartrendsinoffice designashadprevailedpriortothe
pandemic,particularlythe prevalence andformof the openoffice.
The sustained pushtowardmore openoffices intechoverthe pasttwodecades (andinsome cases
evenlonger–like HPand Intel) waslikelydriveninpartsby fashion,emulationof successful tech
companies,the promotional impactof economicinterestsbenefittingfromthe trend (office furniture
vendors,interiordesignfirms,developersandagents), anddirectcost,amongotherfactors.
Countervailingevidence tothe presumeddesirabilityof manyopenoffices asare widelyinuse now is
decisive enoughtorevisittwocore questions:
1. What the most productive formof the future office layoutforstartupsandscale-upsmightlook
like,forfirmsthatretainsome office footprint duringthe remainderof the pandemicand
beyond?
2. How these office design goalscanbe integratedwithoffice re-occupancyplansrespectingsocial
distancingrequirementswhile Covid-19remainsapublichealthrisk?

2. Redux
Despite the popularityof openoffices,there hasbeen asteadystreamof evidencesince the early1970’s
aboutthe coststo productivityfromopenoffice layouts. Difficultiesrange fromthe qualitative, suchas
workersfeelingincreasedstressfromnoise,visualdistractionsandinterruptions,tomore quantitative
such as turnover,absenteeismandjobsatisfaction. Upto a pointof openness, more communaloffices
fostercollaborationincreative interactive groupwork. Butthe difficulties they bringforexecutionin
more individualisticworkare considerable.
Recentcasesinpointof publicationsreportingonthe productivity challengesandconditionsforopen
office successwere awidelypublicizedRoyal Societypaperpublishedin2018,1
anda Harvard Business
Reviewarticle fromlate 2019.2
The findingswere consistent withmuchpastresearch. Theywere more
critical of openoffices thanthe generallyreceivedwisdom practicedinthe techindustry,andthey
provided more highlyqualifiedconditions thanare widely implemented underwhichsuchoffice layouts
are beneficial.
The response fromthe office designcommunitywastypical of earlier similarresearch throughthe years
callingintoquestion manyaspectsof openoffices:Itwasnervouslyacknowledged,thenquickly
forgotten inmostcases.
A poignantreminderof the productivitycosts fromopenoffices astheyoftenare today was offeredby
the presidentof Microsoftafew weeksagoinlate June 2020 at the CollisionConference. Whenasked
aboutthe company’slearningssincethe onsetof the pandemicandthe move tovirtual work,Brad
Smithcommentedthatamongthe company’sfindingswasthatthe highworkerproductivityinremote
workhad showedthe companythatoverthe yearsas itsofficeschangedfromprivate,tocubiclesto
nowoftenwhatamountsto justopentables,thatthere wasan underappreciateddrainonproductivity.
His comments strongly suggestedthatasthe companylooksto the future of itsoffices,the designof its
spaceswill reverttoearlierformsthatwere more productive. A furtherimplicationof hisremarkswas
that while advancesoverthe decades atMicrosoft in technology, tools,trainingandtechniqueshave
yieldedsignificantefficiencygains,thatthose gainshadinfact concealedaregressive force inthe trend
inoffice layouttowardextreme openness thathasnow beenrevealed.
Whenthe Social Science for OpenOffices was Stronger
One of the strongestcasesforopenofficesintechnologydevelopmentandspecificallysoftware
engineeringtoenhance productivity wasinahighlycited IEEETransactionson Software Engineering
paperpublishedin2002.3
Of note though forthe highproductivityachieved,the size of the shared
spaceswas limited,andthe interrelatednessof the workwashigh amongcollocatedteammembers.
1 Bernstein, E. & Turban, S. (2018),The Impact of the ‘open’ workspaceon human collaboration. Phil.Trans.R.
Soc. B373: 20170239
2 Bernstein, E. & Waber, B. (2019),‘The Truth About Open Offices – There are reasons why they don’t produce the
desired interactions’,Harvard Business Review,Nov-Dec 2019
3 Teasley, S. D.; Covi,L.; Krishnan,M.S. & Olson,J. S. (2002), 'Rapid Software Development through Team
Collocation.',IEEETrans. Software Eng. 28 (7), 671-683

3. Theywere notopenofficesasthe meaningof the termhas morphedincommonusage today;the
reference thentoopenoffices wasmore like whatinthe pastwere sometimes knownas“warrooms.”
The openspaces profiledinthatresearch providedforroughlythe size of asprintteam,withindividual
workstationsanda large conference table:
There has beenaremarkable driftsince thattime tothe form of openoffices. The more circumscribed
earlierconcepthasnow beenoverdriventothe extreme openoffices of today. The assumed benefitsof
the modernformsare largelybasedon presumed contributionsratherthanempirical evidence gathered
withadequate experimentalcontrols.
As techfirmslookto revampthe layoutof theiroffice spacesforre-occupancyinthe Covid-19era,itis
an apt time to revisitthe more qualifiedandnuancednature of the productive formof openoffices,vs.
the momentuminoffice designthathasdriventhe trendline inmanycasesto counterproductivelevels
of excess. Whetherusedforsprintteams,taskforces,projectteams,departments,orevenasa vehicle
to helpinculturationduringonboardingtobuildtrustandchemistry,more limitedscale openoffices
offera reconfigurationopportunityinsociallydistancedre-occupancyplans thatmaybe able to help
boostproductivityandimpact forcontinuingoffice spacesfortechfirms.
What the Office of the Future Might Look Like
Most office re-occupancyplanscall forbetween30% and 50% of pre-pandemicworkerdensitylevels
while still maintainingsocial distancing. Inthisrange of repopulation,the opportunityexiststorevamp
spacesinline withthe higherproductivityformsof openofficesaswere demonstratedinthe past. The
layoutsofferedinthe 2002 IEEE papershownabove provide astartingpointforcompanyexecutivesto
consideralongwiththeirothercorporate goalsforin-personcollaborationmovingforward.
Future office layoutstoenhance productiveinteractionof collocatinggroups willbe particularly
importantforlimitedsized teamsworkingonhighlyinterrelatedwork,usuallywithanapproaching
deadline andsignificantmutual propagationof change orlearning. Inthese situations,the benefitsof
intensivemutual communicationandawareness will likely outweighthe costs(noise,visual distractions,
lack of privacy).

4. Conclusion
The publichealth andeconomiccrisesof Covid-19have forceda rapidchange in habitsand
expectations. Asmanystartupand scale-uptechfirmslooktopartiallyre-occupyofficesinthe months
ahead,an opportunityexiststoresettoa higherproductivityformof office layout. Withthe rightoffice
design,the benefits of appropriateopenness canbe renewed notonly forcollaboration,creativity and
serendipitousinteractions,butalsotobuild trustandculture inway that much more easilyhappensin
personthanvirtually. Atthe same time, itisfeasible formanytomove awayfromthe overreaching
openoffice layoutsthatwere commonbefore the pandemic andshedthe underappreciatedcoststhey
oftenimposed.
Paul Romerfamously said,ashave manysimilarlybefore andsince:A crisisisa terrible thingtowaste.
The office reconfiguration elementof sociallydistancedre-occupancyplansprovidesafavourable
circumstance formany techstartupsand scale-upstoexperimentwithpotentiallymore productive
formsof collocationthanthe extremesof openofficestowhichmanytechfirmshad reachedpriorto
the pandemic.
Author Contact
dave.litwiller@communitech.ca
CEO Coach and StrategyMentor