workplace·Published 2024-11
Open-Plan Office Square Footage Per Employee and Measured Synergy Decline: A Longitudinal Correlation
Principal investigator: Dr. Augustus Crane, Director of Advisory Services.
The more open-plan square footage allocated per employee, the steeper the observed decline in measurable synergy over eighteen months.
Methodology
Four hundred and twelve organizations with open-plan office configurations were enrolled in an eighteen-month prospective study. At enrollment, Institute fellows conducted facility measurements to determine gross open-plan area and headcount. Synergy Index scores were administered at month zero and month eighteen by the Institute's assessment panel via a thirty-item questionnaire distributed to all employees willing to complete it, which in several cases was fewer than five.
Funding disclosure: Funded in part by a workplace strategy consultancy that had recommended against open-plan configurations to its clients for the preceding four years.
Instruments cited in this study
Full citation
Crane, A. (2024). Open-Plan Office Square Footage Per Employee and Measured Synergy Decline: A Longitudinal Correlation. Institute for the Study of Pointless Metrics. r = 0.79, p < 0.001, n = 412.