????自占一隅進行工作的日子已一去不返。二十年來，很多公司已改用開放式的工作場所設計，取消專有辦公室，以便降低房地產成本，同時促進同事間的協作。但隨著辦公室人均面積持續萎縮，很多員工（和經理）開始考慮，我們是不是已經達到了極限。

????“人在開放式工作環境下很難完成需要高度專注、不受打擾的工作。”《微調：一天一天實現夢想》(Tweak It: Make What Matters to You Happen Every Day)一書的作者、靈活工作場所策略師凱利?威廉姆斯?尤斯特說。“它讓需要進行私密談話或專注思考的人們非常苦惱。”

????企業房地產管理專業協會CoreNet Global最新的一項調查顯示，大部分雇主給每位員工分配的面積不超過150平方英尺（約14平方米），大大低于2010年時的225平方英尺（約21平方米）。而且，人均面積可能還會繼續縮小，因為58%的公司計劃在未來一年增聘員工。大部分受調查公司（81%）都已經開始采用開放式的格局。

????所分配空間有一半的時間限制，CoreNet的戰略溝通副總裁理查德?凱迪斯表示。而且，縮減辦公空間可讓公司資產負債表受益。

????美國總務署（General Services Administration）的一份報告顯示，美國電話電報公司（AT&T）通過取消辦公室單間以及整合工作空間，平均每處辦公室節約3,000美元，每年節約5.50億美元。北電網絡（Nortel）的遠程辦公計劃每年節約2,000萬美元的房地產費用，相當于節約了兩座20層、每層面積40,000平方英尺的辦公樓。

????但打造一個良好的工作環境并沒那么簡單，不是拆掉辦公室的門、放入長排椅子讓員工連接筆記本電腦，也不是建一個酒店式辦公系統，讓員工按需預定空間。如果設計得好，開放式辦公室應該擁有特別設置的安靜房間用于“專心”工作，有一些小房間用來舉行小型會議或臨時討論，還有較大的會議室以及用于協作和激發創新的社交區域。還應當能接觸到綠色植物和自然光，無論是通過窗戶、天窗或中庭來獲得。

????凱迪斯表示，噪音是開放式設計中最常被忽視的因素。隔音工程師可以利用白噪音和噪音吸收材料實現很好的效果，但他們必須成為設計團隊中的一員。這個團隊還應該包括來自于科技、環境可持續發展、人力資源和設施管理的高管。

????《財富》雜志編輯蘇珊?派斯納爾當初效力于華盛頓特區一家行業協會工作時，只有10位總監有專用辦公間，其余80名員工共享一大片被分成小隔間的開放式空間。“我當時的日子很不好過，因為總有人告訴我，讓我小點聲，”派斯納爾回憶說。“在這樣的環境中工作讓人沮喪。”??

????So much for having your own little corner at work. For two decades, companies have been shifting to open workspace designs and eliminating dedicated offices in a twin effort to reduce real estate costs and encourage collaboration between colleagues. But as the per-person square footage of the typical workplace continues to shrink, many workers -- and managers -- are beginning to wonder whether we've reached the limit.

????"In open workspaces, it's hard for people to get their work done if it requires uninterrupted concentration and focus," says Cali Williams Yost, a flexible workplace strategist and author of Tweak It: Make What Matters to You Happen Every Day. "People who have jobs that require private conversations or uninterrupted thinking really struggle."

????A majority of employers allocate 150 square feet or less per worker, down dramatically from 225 square feet in 2010, according to a recent survey by CoreNet Global, a professional association for corporate real estate managers. Space per person is likely to continue to shrink, with 58% of companies expecting to increase employment in the next year. A whopping 81% of companies surveyed have already adopted an open-space floor plan.

????Assigned space is unused 50% of the time, says Richard Kadzis, CoreNet's vice president for strategic communications. And cutting out that space can benefit a company's balance sheet.

????AT&T (T) eliminated offices and consolidated workspace with savings of $3,000 per office for a total of $550 million per year, according to a General Services Administration report. Nortel's (NTL) telecommuting program saves $20 million a year in real estate, the equivalent of two 20-story office buildings with 40,000 square feet per floor.

????But creating a decent workspace isn't as simple as tearing out office doors and putting in long rows of benches where employees can connect laptops, or putting in place a hoteling system for people to reserve space on an as-needed basis. Done right, an open floor-plan office will include strategically placed quiet rooms for "heads down" work, huddle rooms for small meetings or impromptu discussions, larger conference rooms, and social areas where all that collaboration and innovation can take place. There should also be access to plants and natural light, whether through windows, skylights or creative use of atriums.

????Noise is often the most ignored factor in open design, says Kadzis. Acoustical engineers can do remarkable things with white noise and noise-absorbing materials, but they must be part of the design team. That group should also include executives from technology, environmental sustainability, human resources, and facilities management.

????When editor Susan R. Paisner worked for a Washington, D.C. trade association, only 10 directors had dedicated offices, and the remaining 80 staffers shared one big open space divided into cubicles. "It was difficult for me because I was frequently being told to be quieter," Paisner recalls. "It was a very frustrating, difficult environment to work in."????