hear each other freely, but desks are grouped into teams – at his media company Bloomberg L.P. and for his staff while Mayor of New York City (in office: 2002–2013). Evaluation A systematic survey of research upon the effects of open-plan offices found frequent negative effects in some traditional workplaces: high levels of noise, stress, conflict, high blood pressure and a high staff turnover. The noise level in open-plan offices greatly reduces productivity. Productivity in an open-office plan has been estimated to be one-third what the same workers would achieve in quiet rooms. Noisy new technologies, like voice-activation and mobile phones, also decrease effectiveness in the open-plan setting. One study found employees were less likely to share their views on phone calls in open offices, because they worry that their co-workers will overhear them and judge them negatively. Employees worry that speaking out loud will distract their co-workers. Some design goals of open plan offices include letting everyone see what everyone else is doing at any given moment, reducing information silos by letting everyone overhear what everyone else is saying, and flattening organizational hierarchies. Although promoted as a way to encourage collaboration, speed decision-making, and increase the group's collective intelligence, open-plan offices result in a dramatic reduction in face-to-face interactions, as employees turn to digital communication, such as sending e-mail messages. Open-plan offices have frequently been found to reduce the confidential or private conversations which employees engage in, and to reduce job satisfaction, concentration and performance, whilst increasing auditory and visual distractions. Open-plan offices elevate the risk of employees needing to take time off for sickness. The more people working in a single room, the more sick time is needed. People who work in open-office plans containing more than six people take over 160% as many sick days as those who work in private offices. Different plans have slightly different risks; for example, men working in a flex space have a significantly increased risk for short-term illnesses (e.g., the common cold or influenza). Easily spread respiratory diseases such as COVID-19 may militate against working in open-plan offices. Some negative aspects of open plan offices can be addressed with interior design, such as establishing separate places for face-to-face discussions or using materials that absorb noise. See also Panopticon – a prison designed to keep prisoners under constant surveillance by unseen watchers References Interior design Human resource management