Poll: If You Could Design Your Own Workplace

HRinsider readers tell us they prefer to work in private.

Working from home was a hot topic in social media earlier this year when Yahoo!’s CEO Marissa Mayer announced an end to the ‘Work from home’ culture many Yahoo! employees had grown accustomed to. Mark Zukerberg did not have a work from home culture at Facebook, but he had his own ideas for creating a workspace. In 2012 he hired a designer to build the largest open office floor plan in the world to house 3,400 engineers under one roof, literally.

Open office floor plans are all the rage today for many reasons, but people have many different workspace preferences. Recently, we asked our HRinsider readers about their preferred workspace. This is what you told us:

We asked you, ‘If You Could Design Your Own Workspace What Would You Choose?’

  1. Private office where I can close the door and work
  2. Small cluster of cubicles where I can collaborate easily co-workers
  3. Open office floor plan where everyone is visible and walls are see-through
  4. A laptop and the comfort of home or sometimes the local coffee shop
  5. A constant change of scenery from the office to home and everywhere in between
  6. I can work anywhere when I need to so it does not matter to me

Workspace Preferences

Over 2/3rds of HRinsider readers indicated their preferred workspace was a private office – one where they could close the door. This preference was followed by the option of working closely alongside fellow co-workers in cubicles or an open office at 12%, which was virtually tied with working in an environment of constant change, at 13%.  Perhaps not surprising was the fact that no one cast a vote stating that their workspace design did not matter.

The truth is that, for most people, where they work, the physical environment itself, is important. Whether you work outdoors or in an office workplace, the setting impacts your day-to-day experience, your physical and emotional health and your productivity.

Work In An Environment That Works For You

If your goal is to be productive, it helps if you are comfortable at work. Often there are many factors including your individual personality preferences, health and disability and, as you can imagine, the company culture and the personalities of those with whom you work that will impact your comfort in any given work environment.

Taking some time to figure out your preferred work environment, not just what you may have grown accustomed , but what environment you are the most productive and the most comfortable in is an important component of building a career you will enjoy. The right environment can also help you weather potential challenges within the workplace.

Take the time to look around and pay attention to what really works and does not work for you. You may not be able to alter your floor plan, but you may be able to make personal adjustments that help you remain more productive and more comfortable.