We have an Open Plan office with around 200 employees in very different roles. This includes everything from Software Engineers to Sales.
While we’d love to have enough meeting rooms, we never do. We have some “noise pods”, but they only go so far Noise is a real problem. Either people are getting distracted or frustrated by the people around them. What are some creative solutions to this problem?
We’ve created different types of spaces for different types of work away from open plan desk areas to try and solve this problem. Creating different work zones can help take the pressure off collaborative work/pairing happening at desks and distracting others. There’s a library for quiet individual work with several cozy nooks to hid away in. There are sound insulated call rooms for those who spend a lot of time on calls with customers and prospects. And we’re testing out some booth seating for 2-4 people who have the need to huddle together with their laptops and get some work done together.
We’re also looking at creating soft screening using plants and planter boxes between team areas to help with visual noise as well as sound.