Private Office

Private Office:

Private offices are small rooms or cubicles which are separated from similar other rooms or the open office by full or half partitions. Private offices are usually allotted to the top executives of the organization. Sometimes, a private office accommodation is provided for a group of people whose work is of a confidential nature. It may also be allotted for work which should be isolated in order to eliminate noise, e.g., accounting and statistical work.

Advantages of Private office:

1.           Privacy: Greater privacy is ensured for confidential work and discussions.

2.           Better Environment: They promote a personal atmosphere and lend a sense of prestige or importance to the concerned staff.

3.           Better Concentration: They increase the efficiency of the workers by facilitating concentration of mind which is possible because of the absence of noise.

4.           Orderliness: They are more pleasing and well-ordered.

Drawbacks:

The disadvantages of private offices are:

1.           Uneconomical: When an office is situated in a rented building the cost of office operation increases considerably.

2.           Costly Supervision: Private offices make supervision more difficult and costly. Supervision also becomes less effective because the supervisor loses personal contact with the staff.

3.           Affects Flow of Work: Barriers and partitions in private offices adversely affect intercommunication and free flow of work.

4.           Affects Lighting and Ventilation: Walls and partitions also adversely affect free ventilation and the flow of natural light.

5.           Inflexible: Private offices make the task of office layout more complicated and less flexible.

New Trends in Office Layout:

Landscaped Office: A landscaped office is an open office where the desks are arranged individually or in groups and at different angles from one another.

Movable Partitions: Movable partitions are now being used in setting up private offices. These partitions are made of metal, wood, plastic or glass.

Modular Units: Modular units are becoming increasingly popular now. These units normally consist of a combined desk and filing cabinet with dwarfed partitions up to a height of four to six feet. The most popular type of modular desk is the L pattern desk unit with a flat surface.