Do you believe an open-space office is the best solution for your marketing team? Maybe it is time to rethink your opinions. 

While the architecture of collaboration and transparency may seem like a good idea, it often harms employee productivity and satisfaction.

Here is why open-space offices do not work for your marketing department.

Noise, Distractions, and the Lack of Privacy

Most employers believe that open-space offices increase teamwork, collaboration, and brainstorming. 

Unfortunately, that is not always so.

Concentration is one of the most essential skills to have as a marketing specialist. Their work is based on technical skills and creativity. Therefore, to stay on top of their tasks, they require privacy and peace. 

That is why open-space offices do not work for them. 

Open-space workplaces are packed with noise and visual distractions. Employees are walking around the office, answering phone calls, and even playing foosball.

When your marketing specialists are always available to others, their attention is diverted to irrelevant requests from coworkers. It is difficult to focus on content creation, client reporting, or marketing analytics when someone is continuously tapping their shoulder and seeking help. 

Moreover, every employee wants the privacy to make personal phone calls or concentrate on an urgent task. That is why you should help them find a space in the office where they can isolate themselves. 

To improve employee communication, design an office break room where your employees can reconnect when taking a break.

Job Dissatisfaction

Are you struggling with marketing specialist turnover? You are not alone. Marketing jobs have the highest turnover rate.

The consequences of employee turnover are massive. For starters, attracting and retaining top talent in a hypercompetitive digital marketing landscape is challenging. Hiring, onboarding, and training processes often result in lost productivity, poor client service, and financial loss.

While pay is a major reason why employees leave you, it is not the only one. According to statistics, 13% of open office employees in the U.S. feel that the office layout has pushed them to consider leaving their jobs. They often feel resentful towards senior staff members who have private offices.

The Lack of Interpersonal Communications

A research study by Harvard Business School found that open office spaces decrease face-to-face communication by 70%. On the other hand, virtual communication via instant messaging apps or emails skyrocketed.

Why is this so?

The answer is, in fact, logical. Open-space offices trigger a natural human response to isolate themselves from other team members.  That is the opposite of what this architectural solution promises. 

The above-mentioned study emphasizes that workers do not feel they can speak out loud in open-space offices. They believe their conversations may distract their coworkers. Instead, they resort to online communication.

That further results in the creation of workspace silos. Let’s take a simple example. What is a PPC specialist? The goal is to create effective ads that will increase brand reach and generate qualified leads that convert. That is why they need to collaborate with other teams, including customer support, SEO, and graphic design. Only that way can they create PPC campaigns that resonate with the target audience and generate ROI.

How to Adapt the Workplace to your Marketing Team?

Open-plan offices have multiple advantages, such as creating more integrated teams or boosting workplace transparency. Therefore, your goal is to keep these benefits while reducing noise and distractions. 

For starters, create enclosed offices for your marketing team. You want to bring the employees working on the same projects and clients together in one room. 

There are multiple benefits of dedicated offices for a marketing department. Here are some of them:

  • Everyone you need is in one place. Whether the team struggles with social media analytics or technical SEO, there is always someone who can address the problem.
  • Creating productive meetings is easier. When your marketers have a separate office, you can hold effective brainstorming and retrospective meetings. You do not need to worry about distracting other teams or schedule meeting rooms in advance.
  • Enclosed offices improve employee performance and focus. Everyone in the office works on the same project and with the same clients. 
  • Increasing team autonomy is possible. Having a separate office, the marketing team can organize the space however they want. That increases employee engagement and satisfaction. 

Over to You

Open-space offices can harm your marketing team’s performance, communication, and satisfaction. Therefore, consider providing them with a dedicated office where they can work more effectively. You will let them focus on the creative and technical tasks while reducing distractions.