To Cube or Not to Cube



My phone booth

 Working in an office furniture showroom has shown me a lot of different set-ups and layouts for a company's work environment. My station has my back to the cube door (yes, my cube has a door) with super high walls and very muted colors (gray slate wall w/ this silvery green upholstery) which creates a sense of privacy, but gets pretty drab/dark. The rest of the showroom, for the most part, is open. Different heights of panels and spaces to create an environment that allows for more collaboration.

Some businesses still hold on to the 6ft high cubes for their workers (I know my old job did) - but with such an emphasis over the last few years to allow for more collaborative workspaces, the trend has been moving forward. In a recent Steelcase article, they write, "The shift toward collaborative work has dramatically changed the topography at many workplaces. More than half of the companies in the CoreNet/Steelcase study say they’re reconfiguring individual workspaces to make more room for team spaces". But by taking away more private space, you're removing the individual's ability to work in a quiet "me" space. Not everything is group oriented, and the noise and distractions can get overwhelming.

How do you feel about the more open spaces? Does your building still have private offices and higher cubes or has your company opened up the space? Let us know!



The center of the showroom (right behind my work area)



The big table in the back set up for group work