Office Openess Affects Stress Regulation and Teamwork: A Neurophysiological Field Study

Abstract

Stimulating and sustaining teamwork can be a strategic asset for an organization. Yet, little has been done to objectively assess how office design affects team performance. We conducted a neuroscience field experiment of employees (N = 96) to examine how different open-office configurations impact three measures of neurophysiologic stress, affect, and creative problem-solving in three existing office configurations that varied in their degree of openness. Physiologic stress was lowest in the most open work setting resulting in higher performance and more rapid post-work physiologic recovery compared to less open configurations. We identified three core factors driving these results: high perceived privacy, a more pleasant ambience, and increased autonomy. This multimodal approach identifies neurophysiologic mechanisms linking office design to team performance.