3 Pros and Cons of Glass Walls in Offices

If you’re thinking about installing glass walls in your company’s offices, you’ll join the 68% of offices within the United States that implement open plan office layouts. This setup ensures that every employee, manager and senior executive is visible for everyone to see, even when they’re locked inside their private offices.

Glass walls still elicit mixed reactions among the general working public. Some adore the glass-walled layout because it enhances transparency and makes supervision much easier. Others dislike it because of its invasion of privacy. Whatever your preference, you can choose your favorite office build outs without much fuss.

Here are 3 pros and cons of glass walls in offices:

Pros:

  1. Brings in more natural light

The immense benefits of ambient light have been praised by researchers worldwide. Apparently, natural light improves the productivity, morale and general creativity of all employees within an enclosed office. In addition, glass walls allow workers to look at what’s happening outside. Folks can simply take a break from work to view the remarkable outdoor splendor that nature offers.

  1. Reduces secrecy and enhances supervision

Glass walls ensure that there’s less secrecy between employees and their superiors. Workers will be less inclined to involve themselves in non-work related engagements, helping to improve overall productivity within the organization. Same case applies to managers – they’re held accountable when they sneak out of work or act unprofessionally. Glass walls also improve supervision significantly since bosses can clearly view what their subordinates are working on without having to enter the office.

  1. Reduces energy costs

The electric bills incurred by some companies are extremely large. That’s because the offices are sealed off using brick walls, necessitating the use of power-heavy lighting systems. With glass walls, natural light from outside floods into the offices, eliminating the need for artificial light. Consequently, the energy costs are reduced considerably.

Cons:

  1. Increased noise levels

Research suggests that noise travels through glass partitions 50% to 100% more intensely compared to traditional brick walls. This makes it easier for passersby to eavesdrop on your conversations, including some overly private rants with fellow employees.

  1. Employees get easily distracted

It’s hard to ignore activities that are happening outside, especially when your office borders the street. Some employees are easily distracted by the peeks, waves and laughter of pedestrians walking outside. This can pose a serious problem if your office is located in a busy commercial area. Some of these distractions will come from your co-workers frequently walking along the office aisles all day.

  1. It’s difficult to hold private conversations

Sometimes, bosses require some privacy to speak with their juniors concerning their performance. But with glass walls, this privacy simply doesn’t exist. Employees can easily study your varying facial expressions and conclude that you’re speaking out of anger or admiration. However, some clever supervisors prefer holding private meetings with their team members in office cafeterias and other public areas to avoid attracting too much attention from other workers.

Some people believe that you shouldn’t throw stones if you live within a glass cubicle. If the glass-walled office layout suits you, then you should certainly give it a try.