closing the open office

I have my moments in the midst of this remote work lifestyle when I think to myself: “How did I ever survive a job in the pre-pandemic open plan office?” The “open plan office” environment is a form of interior organization popularized by tech startups and their contract interior design counterparts. The interior design movement is known for removing walls and doorways between workstations in the name of increased visibility and collaboration between employees. Whether intentionally or not, open plan offices make for a state of constant surveillance, with every person and every screen visible to everyone all the time. It’s hardly a space for being human, if not for the existence of the bathroom as a place for escape.

In my first job out of college, I would go to the bathroom at 3:45 pm and sit there for 5 minute stints to pass the time.  My role required me to stay in the office until 5 pm, even if I had completed all of my tasks not just for the day, but for the week. There was no other “acceptable” place for me to go, not outside for a walk, not even to another room in the building. Because of the open office setup, I would go to the bathroom even to let out a quick burp or fart. Without privacy in my work space, I did so many things to deny I was human. I needed to show I was the pinnacle of productivity in the presence of others, and I went to the bathroom to do the things I felt comfortable doing when I knew I wasn’t being watched by the boss. 

So when I could work remotely, I thought it was a blessing! I could escape the sense of being constantly surveilled, to paraphrase how my friend Max Ramirez put it, “my whole house could be the office bathroom”. I was free to be productive and human, simultaneously. I could lay down and close my eyes for a minute, I could meditate, I could cry after a difficult meeting. I thought I had found this special new space where I could work and still express my humanity.

I believe that employees are continuing to demand remote work privileges as a direct indictment not just of the 40-hour work week, but also of the open office. Workers don’t just want choice in when they work, but in the level of security and privacy they feel in the space they’re working in.

However(!)

While remote work has given me the space to be the person I am when no one is watching, it hasn’t addressed the root of the problem: that I never felt comfortable expressing my truest self at work to begin with. I might be expressing the full range of my emotions at home, but those expressions of humanity never make it through the digital translation of me in emails and video calls. I am still representing myself as the pinnacle of productivity, as an ephemeral entity that doesn’t eat or nap or fart or need breaks. All of that stays hidden in my professional interactions. Because my physical and emotional self remains unacknowledged in the professional space, right now, I don’t know how I will ever be able to survive in the pandemic remote workspace. 

The design strategist in-training that I am phrases the challenge in a HMW: how might organizations create digital and physical environments that create a sense of security and empowerment for employees to express their humanity?

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video call photo by Sigmund