Osorio Ramos, the managing director of workspace specialists Giant Leap, has seen the great open-plan phenomenon infiltrate our South African shores. Picture: Supplied Osorio Ramos, the managing director of workspace specialists Giant Leap, has seen the great open-plan phenomenon infiltrate our South African shores. Picture: Supplied
Johannesburg - Extroverts make up almost 50 percent of the workforce who thrive in the hustle and bustle of an energetic open-plan office, but what about the other half?
The open-plan office comes with many benefits for all to enjoy but it also has its downfalls, starting with the basic needs and requirements of the introvert personality type.
According to Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Thinking, introverts are quiet individuals who shy away from the limelight and who have difficulty working in a team.
They struggle to reach their full potential in the modern workplace because they are placed in physical and cultural environments that tend to favour the extrovert.
Introverts radiate astonishing strengths including originality, innovation, focus and even leadership. More sensitive to external stimuli than extroverts, the introvert has to face an even more exhausting active day, often seeking an hour or two away from their social colleagues to work effectively.
Osorio Ramos, managing director of workspace specialists firm Giant Leap, has seen the great open-plan phenomenon infiltrate our South African shores.
“Open-plan offices break traditional hierarchical structures, increase collaboration, boost creativity and reduce overall space costs. The shift, however, has left introverts to adopt extrovert behaviours in order to endure their new company cultures,” he says.
Ramos has seen a new breed of open-plan workspaces evolve, defined as a middle-ground where both types can work and play in balance and harmony.
“A recent space that incorporated these principles was Grant Thornton. We created an environment that accommodates both the introvert and extrovert with open-plan areas shared with private break-away zones, quiet rooms and ‘phone booths’ for when employees need some alone time. The quiet rooms also vary in size.”
Ramos believes the shift is about acknowledging the differences in people, about providing spaces that recognise staff and employees by their personality type, and not just their job title.
So how can companies help introverts do their best in today’s typical open-plan office? Here are some tips to help create a balanced space for both worker types:
* Staff should be allowed to detach and isolate themselves and be able to break away when needed, to concentrate without disruption.
* It’s about sensory equilibrium: Workers can take control of their sensory stimulation rather than being a victim of sensory overload.
* Interaction etiquette: allowing staff to decide on when interaction should be limited. This can be done with desk flags, for example, when certain staff are on deadline.
* Psychological privacy and safety: by giving staff a choice of areas to be seen, or not, by their colleagues.
* Consider incorporating individual furniture items such as AngelShack’s Speak-Easy Booth which provides acoustic foam, internal lighting and sensor air-conditioning, allowing staff to take private calls without having to leave the office.
* User control over their environment: Give employees a certain amount of control in their workspace: noise, temperature, lighting.
Ramos doesn’t predict that there will be a mad rush back to the corner-style office, since few are reluctant to give up their open-plan office completely, but to save space, increase employee communication and cut costs, we need to design workplaces that provide introverts and extroverts with private and public environments.
He says the modern workspace is about finding solutions to the paradoxes of the open-plan office. For example, we all want collaboration among staff, but the open-plan layout can inhibit personal bonding for the fear of being overheard.
“South African corporates definitely favour the open-plan layout. Senior management and decision-makers need to remember that closed spaces are also needed to counteract the open, to accommodate the introvert, and ultimately give half our workforce a sense of control and choice in their environment and surroundings.”
* For more information, visit www.giantleap.co.za.
THE STAR