I sure could use some privacy at work.
Workplace Privacy:
A Changing Equation

Private office or open plan?
Improve adjacencies or minimize distractions?
Understand the parallel needs for privacy and interaction.

What is the right balance for your organization?

In many cases, it's a balancing act. As workplaces metamorphose from highly structured environments into highly flexible, collaborative-minded spaces, privacy issues take on greater urgency. A closed door may satisfy a manager's need to conduct a private performance review, but that same door can become a barrier to communication and productivity. Open workspaces invite interaction, but they may not block distractions well enough to support individual work.

Some researchers claim that frequent interruptions can lead to increased frustration and reduced productivity for knowledge workers. So while private offices of the past often signaled status, concentration stations of the present must signal "do not disturb."

This paper looks at the four overlapping components of workplace privacy: acoustical, visual, territorial, and informational. It explores strategies for blending elements of physical separation (walls, panels, sound barriers) with effective behavioral protocols (rules, guidelines, standards) to achieve the privacy that's required to support the work being done, while facilitating non-disruptive interaction.

Because workplace success hangs in the balance.

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