Open-plan offices remain highly popular when it comes to workplace design. However, they can be very challenging when it comes to maintaining privacy. How to keep things private in an open-plan environment? This article explores the issue of privacy in the workplace, with special attention given to the ways of making use of the most common resources available to enjoy office privacy to the extent possible.
Why does privacy in the workplace matter?
In an age where technology has made it easier than ever for employers to intrude on their employees’ privacy, it’s increasingly important to be aware of one’s rights to privacy in the workplace.
Privacy in the workplace is important for a number of reasons. First, it lets employees feel comfortable and relaxed while they work. This bears fruit in the form of increased productivity and creativity. Second, privacy protects employees from being judged or unfairly evaluated by their bosses or co-workers. Third, it helps prevent discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
To enjoy the right amount of privacy in the workplace, you can keep your computer screen private with a screensaver or monitor privacy filter. You can use a password manager to protect your online accounts. And you can be careful about what you say and do at work, since anything you do can potentially be monitored by the employer.
Employees’ right to maintain privacy in the workplace
It can be really difficult to maintain privacy in an open-plan office. However, employees have the right to privacy in the workplace, which should be respected by the employer at all times. The sense of being monitored, sometimes even ‘surveilled’, doesn’t translate into anything good performance-wise. What it does translate into is stress, and a stressed out employee is never a happy employee. In general, the idea is to feel free and comfortable in the place where you work – only then can you thrive and deliver.
From an employer’s point of view, it’s essential to give people the necessary degree of privacy and let them use it as they see fit. This has to do with trust, and every organization that trusts its employees will see the benefits of this approach sooner or later.
How can privacy be incorporated in a modern open office policy?
It is no secret that office life has changed dramatically in recent years. The traditional model of everyone working in their own cubicle or private office has given way to open-plan layouts, where people often sit in close proximity to one another with little to no barriers between them. While an open-plan office environment can have its benefits, it can also make it difficult for employees to maintain a sense of privacy. But there are ways to incorporate privacy in such situations too. One such way is making use of appropriate office furniture, designed exactly with privacy in mind. And this includes solutions like a privacy pod, a desk partition, an acoustic chair, mobile walls, and so on. You don’t have to change the office to actually change the office, so to speak. Sometimes little upgrades and improvements can make a very big difference.