Why your brain has to work harder in an open-plan office than private offices: study

Since the pandemic, offices around the world have quietly shrunk. Many organizations don’t need as much floor space or as many desks, as many employees now do a mix of hybrid work from home and in the office.

But on days when more staff are required, office spaces can feel noticeably busier and noisier. Despite so much focus on getting workers back into offices, there has been far less focus on the consequences of the return to open workspaces.

Now more research confirms what many already suspected: our brains have to work harder in open spaces than in private offices.

What the latest study tested

In a recently published study, researchers from a Spanish university fitted 26 people, between their mid-20s and mid-60s, with wireless electroencephalogram (EEG) headsets. EEG tests can measure how hard the brain is working by monitoring electrical activity through sensors on the scalp.

Participants performed simulated office tasks such as monitoring notifications, reading and responding to emails, and remembering and recalling word lists.

Each participant was monitored while completing the tasks in two different environments: an open workspace with colleagues nearby, and a small enclosed work ‘pod’ with clear glass panels on one side.

The researchers focused on the frontal brain areas, which are responsible for attention, concentration and filtering out distractions. They measured different types of brain waves.

As neuroscientist Susan Hillier explains in more detail, different brain waves reveal different mental states:

• ‘gamma’ relates to states or tasks that require more focused concentration
• ‘beta’ is associated with higher levels of anxiety and more active states, with attention often directed outwards
• ‘alpha’ relates to being very relaxed and passively attentive (such as listening quietly but not being involved)
• “theta” is connected to deep relaxation and inner focus
• and ‘delta’ is related to deep sleep.

The Spanish study found that the same tasks performed within the closed capsule and in the open workspace produced completely opposite patterns.

It takes effort to filter out distractions

In the work pod, the study found that beta waves – associated with active mental processing – decreased significantly during the experiment, as did alpha waves associated with passive attention and overall activity in the frontal brain regions.

This meant that people’s brains needed less and less effort to maintain the same amount of work.

The open office tests showed the opposite.

Gamma waves, linked to complex mental processing, rose steadily. Theta waves, which track both working memory and mental fatigue, increased. Two key measures also rose significantly: arousal (how alert and activated the brain is) and engagement (how much mental effort is expended).

In other words, in the open office, the participants’ brains had to work harder to maintain performance.

Even when we try to ignore distractions, our brains have to make a mental effort to filter them out.

In contrast, the pod eliminated most background noise and visual disruptions, allowing the participants’ brains to work more efficiently.

Researchers also found much greater variability in the open office. Some people’s brain activity increased dramatically, while others showed modest changes. This suggests individual differences in how distracting we find open spaces.

With only 26 participants, this was a relatively small study. But the findings reflect a significant amount of research over the past decade.

What previous research has shown

In our 2021 study, my colleagues and I found a significant causal link between noise in open-plan offices and physiological stress. Studying 43 participants in controlled conditions – using heart rate, skin conductance and AI recognition of facial emotions – we found that negative mood increased by 25% and physiological stress by 34% in open-plan offices.

Another study found that background conversations and noisy environments can worsen cognitive task performance and increase distraction for employees.

And a 2013 analysis of more than 42,000 office workers in the United States, Finland, Canada and Australia found that those in open offices were less satisfied with their work environment than those in private offices. This was largely due to increased, uncontrollable noise and lack of privacy.

Just as we now recognize that poorly designed chairs cause physical strain, years of research have shown how workspace design can lead to cognitive strain.

What to do about it

The ability to focus and concentrate without interruption and distraction is a fundamental requirement for modern knowledge work.

Yet the value of uninterrupted work remains undervalued in workplace design.

Creating zones where employees can tailor their work environment to the task at hand is essential.

In response to more staff doing hybrid work post-pandemic, LinkedIn has redesigned its flagship office in San Francisco. LinkedIn halved the number of workstations in open spaces and instead experimented with 75 types of workspaces, including those for quiet focus.

For organizations looking to care for their employees’ brains, there are practical measures to consider. These include establishing distinct work zones, acoustic treatments and sound masking technologies, and carefully placed partitions to reduce visual and auditory distractions.

While adding those extra features may cost more upfront than an open office space, they can be worth it. Research has shown the significant hidden toll of poor office design on employee productivity, health and retention.

It is not a luxury to offer employees more choice in the extent to which they are exposed to noise and other interruptions. To get more done, with less strain on our brains, better design at work should be seen as a necessity.