Office design in relation to perceived indoor climate, communication climate, and work engagement.

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study was to examine office designs, in terms of private, shared, and open plan offices. This was done by comparing the participants reported indoor climate, communication climate, and work engagement experienced in respective office design. The study was conducted with the background of the trend to use an open plan design in office spaces. Cross-sectional data on 2322 participants, age ranging from 25 to 69 (M = 45.8, SD = 11.5), of which 76 % were female, from a previous survey investigating the work environment for members of the Swedish Psychological Association was used. Questions about indoor climate and scales measuring communication climate and work engagement were included in the questionnaire. The results indicated that indoor climate creates more annoyance for workers in open plan offices compared to private and shared offices. Communication climate is not perceived differently between open plan offices and private or shared offices, but in shared offices it is perceived as better compared to private offices. Workers’ experience of work engagement is not different between office designs. This study gives indications that negative consequences of open plan offices exist and should be taken into account when deciding on this design. These findings are of importance since indoor climate factors have been found to affect performance and well-being of workers. Shared offices offer an alternative solution that could cut costs and facilitate a better communication climate compared to private offices without creating as much annoyance with indoor climate factors as open plan offices.