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Forum -> Working Women

Office Layout

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amother

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 3:09 pm

I am working on a layout for a law office.

What space should I make for the associate lawyers?

Open layout

Private offices

2 to an office

Office with glass wall

My concern is that I want to give them respectable space, yet I like knowing what they are doing.

We will have a conference room for private meeting space

amother

Seashell

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 3:15 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I think offices with glass walls afford privacy and you can still see what they are doing.

Open spaces interferes with productivity according to most organizational psych research papers.

2 to an office could cause attrition if they don't get along well, and private offices are great however you can't supervise as much.

amother

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 3:21 pm

Thanks for your reply.

The thing with the glass wall is it’s very expensive.

Are there other options?

If I give them a private office, there is a lot of time spent on their phones.

So I’m thinking two to an office.

Or the open concept is modern, but like you mentioned I don’t know how it gets on the way of productivity

amother

Seashell

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 3:26 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Open concept is modern, but the lack of privacy combined with being able to talk to anyone around interferes with productivity. It's a shame because it looks great.

Two an office can work because it's better than the whole floor talking to each other, on the other hand it needs wise selecting since they will be working closely.

What about private offices that have maybe part of it glass? We have a few offices at my workplace that are like that, private and one wall is glass.

amother

Coffee

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 3:27 pm

I love open layout. Everyone can shmooze and interact with each other easily and therefor leads to a better office atmosphere.

amother

Papaya

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 3:32 pm

It is very hard to be productive in open layout (I know from experience). Tons of distractions. Lots of noise. Difficult to concentrate. Phone Calls noisy. Need to wear headpiece to talk on phone and even then it can be distracting. Sounds unprofessional to have so much background noise. Lots of talking and socializing instead of working.
We have been in an office like that forclise to 8 years now and almost no one likes it.

penguin

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 3:36 pm

How many need to meet with clients at one time? If there's only one conference room and there's no private office space... unless the associates are only doing research?

amother

Teal

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 3:38 pm

You seem to be a lawyer. What kind of spaces have you worked in? What are your competitors offering?

amother

Papaya

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 3:41 pm

Also you need to keep employees happy. When we moved to open office some older employees who were coming from offices left. They hated the setup.

amother

Pearl

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 3:47 pm

Why do you feel the need to supervise associate attorneys? In my experience, a good supervisor who understands what people should be doing has a handle on what people are doing. Many people work from home and are still able to establish their productivity. Any decent employee is given work and produces good work product in a timely manner - they are either performing up to your expectations in terms or quantity and quality or they aren't and micromanaging professionals is way too exhausting as well as somewhat insulting to their professionalism.

Do you expect them to walk out the door exactly at five or stay to finish work that needs to be done?

Obviously a private office for a lawyer is ideal.

It's very difficult - at least for me - to read and draft with the same degree of concentration if there is someone else in the room with me especially if that person is talking to people dropping in or on the phone. And it is just distracting to feel someone else's presence.

You can't stick a lawyer in an open setting or even a cubicle because there is too much potential for confidential information being seen or overheard. I was trained to not even discuss client's affairs in the elevator so how do you prevent overhearing what is being discussed or documents being seen.

agreer

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 4:47 pm

Open layout is for a kitchen, not an office. Please don't.

We had an open layout in a phone-heavy environment, and it was super difficult to concentrate. I hated it. I would imagine 2 to an office would have the same issue.

I vote for glass walls, even if it is more expensive.

amother

Pumpkin

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 4:53 pm

I absolutely cannot concentrate or work productively in an open layout! 2 to an office is also really annoying. Please give them private offices. Why do you need to see them? Shouldn’t there be an element of trust so that they don’t feel micromanaged?

amother

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 7:37 pm

Thank you for your replies. You really gave me what to think about.

I will look into organizational psychology in office layouts.

Any additional thoughts or suggestions you have to add will be greatly appreciated.

amother

Seashell

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 7:47 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Yes, look into organizational psychology, it makes a huge difference when the layout is done thoughtfully!

SingALong

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 8:41 pm

Can you do walls with large interior windows? Maybe that would be cheaper than fully glass walls. Still have privacy but also can still view what’s going on.

forgetit

Tue, Dec 31 2019, 10:24 pm

I would give a lawyer his/her own space. Maybe you can do an open doorway from the lawyers' spaces to a reception room, or your room, etc.

amother

Papaya

Fri, Jan 03 2020, 9:59 am

One more thing - keep in mind women’s comfort and privacy. Give them some privacy like no glass panel facing them sitting at desk so they have to sit with ankles crossed all day. Not always on display. No open path to ladies room. Private area to make phone calls. It can be very uncomfortable to always feeling watched.

amother

Wine

Fri, Jan 03 2020, 12:06 pm

I am an architectural drafter, and I would suggest that you do regular walls with very large picture windows on the wall with the door. Maybe also consider a glass door.

amother

Blue

Fri, Jan 03 2020, 3:39 pm

Hi OP, I know that your only in the planning stages, and this is alittle off guard.. but will this law firm need to lease a copier- like most law firms? If your based in the USA, I could help them- if there's someone I could reach out to, I would appreciate your referral.
Hatzlacha!

amother

Dodgerblue

Sat, Jan 04 2020, 1:44 pm

I work in a law firm where most of the attorneys have their own rooms although paralegals share two to a room. There is no glass walls. It works well for us.
Just take into account when making glass walls or a shared space that you should have some plan for woman who are pumping. Personally I was able to pump in my room while working because it's not open plan and this was a major advantage.

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