Do agencies hate collaboration?
A new year is almost upon us. Which can only mean one thing. More agencies converting their space to ‘open environments’, all in the name of fostering a more collaborative atmosphere.
It makes sense, right? Less walls means more chances to bounce ideas off a neighbor (or the guy on the other side of the room). More noise means more stimulation, which can only lead to more ideas, right?
Wrong.
Turns out, the open concept is a huge drag on productivity. And perhaps more surprisingly, at least to those who like to spin the open=good story, it is a huge collaboration killer as well.
Why?
Well, this may shock a few people, but most human beings do not like being thrown in to a pen, forced to sit shoulder to shoulder with a few dozen semi-strangers all day. A recent article in Psychology Today confirms this, perhaps a bit more eloquently. Lisa Feldman Barrett, a neuroscience expert, says ”if you take any type of primate and put them with lots of others, it’s almost guaranteed to raise everyone’s cortisol levels, a marker of stress.”
Ah, stress. Nothing gets the creative juices flowing like a panic attack, eh? Nothing makes you want to bounce some ideas around like a few irregular heartbeats. Am I right?
So why do agencies insist on perpetuating the open is better myth? Well, there is a lot of pressure from holding companies to keep expenses down. And it costs a hell of a lot less to throw a hundred people in an open room than it does to give each of those folks a few square feet to call their own. So two floors with offices and cubes becomes one floor with a giant table lined with Mac Books. And agency leaders try to soften the blow with a little ‘this is a good thing, really’ pep talk.
Except the pep talk is not necessary. Believe it or not, it’s okay to be honest with us. If it’s about money, tell us it’s about money. We’re not children. We can handle a little cold, hard reality.
But if you honestly believe that the loud, cramped and chaotic space you’re creating is good for your business, you may need a small dose of reality yourself.