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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I work for a midsize nonprofit/ think tank that is experiencing a huge amount of growth. To deal with it, our management has apparently decided to convert us to a more open floor plan. They haven't really bothered to communicate this to staff and I found out from a colleague who is in the know.  We do a significant amount of policy-oriented research as an institution. Mine is a research position that also involves a lot of project implementation with partners overseas. I'm constantly on calls with partners abroad, mostly in Africa where phone and Skype connections are poor and sound quality on calls can be difficult. I've had my own office for the past several years, which lets me handle constant calls as well as shut the door when I need to buckle down to read, research, and write.

Under this new plan, my office will be taken away because I'm not quite senior enough. Of course they are leaving enough real offices with walls and doors so that anyone with actual power in our organization can still have privacy. Perhaps this is a disproportionate reaction, but I am livid!! I worked my way up into a position with an office, I had a cube before that and it was ok. But to have one and then have it taken away is really frustrating me. Not to mention our current cubes, which are a decent size and have barriers on 3 sides, look like they will also be converted into smaller ones that resemble study carrels you see in university libraries.

Anyone dealt with this situation, or successfully made the case to management that it's a terrible idea? Our work runs on people having the time and space to think, read, and write. And yet all we hear from management is how we need to be more collaborative, as if dumping all of us mid-level researchers into an open space is going to magically spark creative thinking rather than just make everyone miserable and unproductive.

End rant. [/quote]

My non-profit did this almost 15 years ago.  You are never going to convince anybody this is a bad idea, it is most likely completely money related.  I also went from office space where almost everybody had an office.  We put research on one side of the office and the communications/gov't relations folks on the other.  Rather than having a bad attitude about the move, I would come up with concrete suggestions on how to create some quiet, shared workspaces for those that will need it.  Having a positive attitude about the move will go a long way to build up huge amounts of brownie points with your boss.  You will be seen as a team player and morale builder.  The two biggest complainers in my research group were assigned the worst space!  Loved it!

If you truly need absolute quiet to write, then perhaps you can arrange to work from home one day a week or something to get writing done.[/quote]

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