RE: The perfect work space
I really get tired of this "open space" idea of people being able to collaborate more easily. As if thin cubicle walls, or even offices, meant people couldn't communicate. Nearly every technical advance I hear about today is supposed to draw people together from all over the globe!
This is just a distraction from the fact that businesses are looking for ways to jam more people per square foot into a building. Reducing space from offices to cubes, and then to "open space" or should I drop the "o" and say "Pen Space". It reminds me of cattle jammed together in stockyards. Or an airline's approach to maximizing passengers per flight.
As an IT pro and later a manager, I've worked all the environments in the article as well. The tendency to work collabratively is a positive mind. People with that mind set are not impacted by environment. Try and teach it to staff if possible. It isn't hampered by physical surroundings. What is hampered is the need, time to time, to get out of the "dull roar" of noise in open space or cubicle environments.
