Two decades after its massive invasion into the corporate world, the open set continues to generate ink and exhaust nerves. Between promises of spontaneous collaboration and the reality of deafening noise, how has open space evolved in the era of hybrid work? Analysis and instructions for use of a space as much criticized as it is essential.
1. The great broken promise of “zero partitions”
There was a time when open space was sold as the ultimate symbol of managerial modernity. No more closed offices of deputy directors, no more vertical hierarchy: room for transparency, fluidity, collective innovation born from chance discussions around the coffee machine.
Twenty years later, the observation is clear. This model, originally designed by the Schnelle brothers in Germany in the 1950s under the name Office (office landscape), has often turned into a factory of noise and interruptions.
Recent scientific studies confirm what all employees sense every morning when they walk through the doors of their company:
- The fall of real interactions: A longitudinal study published by the Harvard Business Review on the behavior of teams moving from the traditional office to the open space revealed a spectacular drop in 70% of face-to-face conversations. Paradoxically, to protect themselves from visual and audio intrusion, employees are taking refuge behind their screens, increasing the sending of instant messages and emails by more than 50%.
- The impact on mental health: According to the annual occupational health barometer published by Inrs and Malakoff Humanis, nearly 62% of people working in open spaces cite ambient noise as the primary source of cognitive fatigue and mental exhaustion in daily life.
Open space does not always promote synergy: it sometimes creates a bubble of individual isolation in the middle of a noisy crowd.
2. The flex office paradox: the quest for lost space
With the generalization of hybrid work (two to three days of teleworking per week), companies have pushed the logic even further by adopting flex office : no more assigned desks, everyone sits where they can find a socket and a free chair in the morning.
If this organization allows management to optimize expensive square meters in city centers, it has introduced new psychological and organizational tensions:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ LE CERCLE VICIEUX DU FLEX OFFICE │
│ me │
│ Arrivée précoce ──► Stress de trouver une place │
│ ▲ │ │
│ │ ▼ │
│ Sentiment d'anonymat ◄── Errance dans les couloirs │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The loss of territoriality:
No longer being able to take a photo of your loved ones, your favorite cup or adjust your chair once and for all creates a nagging feeling of uprooting. Human beings need benchmarks to feel safe.
The stress of “first come, first served”:
Organergonomics surveys show that the implicit competition to obtain the “good seats” (near the window, far from passages or bathrooms) generates unnecessary morning anxiety even before having opened your computer.
The “ghost office” phenomenon:
On certain days of low attendance (often Mondays and Fridays), the underpopulated stages convey a cold and impersonal image, the opposite of the conviviality promised.
“The flex office without shared rules of life transforms the company into a transit station. We meet colleagues there, but we no longer build solid collectives. »
3. The new intruders: video calls and AI in the background
In 2026, noise in open space has changed in nature. Landline phone ringing and bursts of laughter are no longer the only sources of disturbance. From now on, hybrid meetings organized directly from workstations increase noise pollution.
Furthermore, videoconferencing tools and voice assistants based on artificial intelligence are becoming more widespread. The open office then resembles a large cockpit. Everyone speaks to their screen, often at the same time as their neighbors.
In a report dedicated to the employee experience, the research institute Gartner highlights that 45% of distractions in open spaces are now due to videoconference calls made without a headset or out loud by office neighbors.
This permanent overlap between physical exchanges and virtual conversations exhausts attention. It can also double the time it takes to complete a complex task.
4. Practical Guide: How to Thrive Without Losing Health
Faced with this reality, the total abandonment of the open office is not for tomorrow. The solution therefore lies in a mixture of collective arrangements and individual protection strategies.
At the individual level: boundary discipline
- Manage your status signage: Use technology to your advantage. When you need to write a complex document, explicitly indicate your unavailability on your internal communication tools and activate the red light on your noise-cancelling headphones.
- Practice the adapted Pomodoro method: Working in blocks of 45 minutes of intense concentration followed by a 10-minute break away from the set (walking, hydrating) allows you to recharge your cognitive batteries.
- Negotiate quiet zones: Do not hesitate to isolate yourself in acoustic bubbles (phone booths) or unreserved meeting rooms whenever you need to make a call lasting more than five minutes.
At the collective level: the charter of common life
Companies that successfully design their open spaces are those that co-construct clear rules with their teams:
- Define strict silence zones: Like train carriages, create spaces on the set where telephone conversations and discussions between colleagues are strictly prohibited.
- Ban videos at the workstation: Make the use of acoustic booths or dedicated rooms compulsory for any remote meeting.
- Restore fixed team rituals: To compensate for the dispersion of the flex office, set days of joint presence where the emphasis is placed on exchange, workshops and conviviality rather than on individual solo work.
Conclusion: reinventing space to reinvent work
Open space is neither an absolute curse nor a universal panacea. In reality, it reflects the organizational choices and values of a company. When a company imposes it simply for the sake of financial savings, it risks degrading the well-being of employees and harming their productivity.
Conversely, she can make it a real living space if she thinks of it as a flexible tool serving the collective. To achieve this, it must provide concentration spaces and conviviality zones. It must also set rules of use which respect everyone.
Ultimately, the quality of life in open space does not depend on the height of the partitions. It is based above all on the mutual respect that employees choose to grant each other every day.
