與其說促進協(xié)作，不如說減少成本
“孤獨是個擁擠的房間”劲阎，羅西樂隊的Bryan Ferry曾用顫音這么唱道绘盟，他還唱：每個人“都在一起，又都獨自一人”悯仙。開放式辦公室的設(shè)計可能正是證明了他的觀點龄毡。這當(dāng)然不是出于布局考慮。開放式辦公室的初衷是為了員工與同事有更多接觸雁比，由此產(chǎn)生的合作將提高生產(chǎn)力。
兩位哈佛商學(xué)院學(xué)者Ethan Bernstein和Stephen Turban著手檢驗這個觀點撤嫩。作者調(diào)查了兩家已轉(zhuǎn)為開放式辦公室的匿名跨國公司同事間的互動偎捎，他們招募工作者佩戴“社會經(jīng)濟學(xué)”徽章，使用紅外傳感器檢測人們何時互動序攘，使用麥克風(fēng)檢測人們何時談話或聆聽茴她，另一種設(shè)備用來檢測人們的動作和姿勢，還有一個藍牙傳感器定位人們的位置程奠。
在第一家公司丈牢，作者發(fā)現(xiàn)在老式隔間式辦公室，面對面交流比員工之間有清晰視線的開放空間里高出三倍多瞄沙。相比之下己沛，當(dāng)人們轉(zhuǎn)到開放式辦公室慌核，互相發(fā)送的電子郵件數(shù)量增加56%。在第二家公司申尼，轉(zhuǎn)到開放式辦公室后垮卓，面對面交流減少1/3，同時電子郵件流量增加在22%-50%之間师幕。
為什么會發(fā)生這種變化粟按？作者認(rèn)為，員工珍視隱私霹粥，在開放式辦公室灭将，他們尋找新的方式來保護隱私。他們帶著大耳機將自己和周圍同事的干擾隔離開來后控。事實上庙曙，那些開放式辦公室的擁護者似乎忘記了能夠?qū)Ｗ⒐ぷ鞯闹匾浴?/p>
員工們還找到與同事交流的其他方式。他們發(fā)送電子郵件忆蚀，而不是在大庭廣眾之下聊天矾利，結(jié)果是生產(chǎn)力下降（經(jīng)過在兩個被調(diào)查公司中的一個衡量得出）。
小隔間也沒有提供很好的工作環(huán)境馋袜，環(huán)境依舊嘈雜男旗，而且切斷了員工的自然光源。但至少欣鳖，員工有更多機會使自己的工作領(lǐng)域有一些個人風(fēng)格察皇，為孩子照片、辦公室植物泽台、新穎的咖啡杯留出充足的空間什荣，這些都是使人們在工作中感到輕松和快樂的方式。
當(dāng)公司轉(zhuǎn)向辦公桌輪用制時怀酷，這種舒適感完全被否定了稻爬。根據(jù)地產(chǎn)公司CBRE的數(shù)據(jù)，到2020年蜕依，45%的跨國公司計劃采用辦公桌輪用制桅锄，目前這個比例是30%。員工們在大樓里四處尋找辦公桌样眠，就像上班族尋找最后一個高峰期的座位友瘤，或者游客尋找泳池邊的休息室一樣。也許你打算花一個上午安靜地閱讀研究論文或管理手冊檐束，倒霉的是辫秧，最后一張桌子被Jenkins占了。
對于低級別的工作人員被丧，辦公桌輪用制是一個清晰的信號：他們被視為機器里的一次性齒輪盟戏。加上缺乏隱私绪妹，辦公室變成了令人沮喪的工作場所。員工可以在家工作抓半，但這又無法達到開放式辦公室促進合作的目標(biāo)喂急。
這種辦公室的興起讓人想起二戰(zhàn)后英國對住宅塔樓的熱情。英國一項戰(zhàn)時調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)笛求，49%的人想住在帶花園的小房子里廊移，只有5%的人想要一套公寓。但是他們只有公寓探入。建筑師們把自己想象成Howard Roark式的遠見者狡孔，Ayn Rand所著《源泉》中的“英雄”，競相為群眾建造堅固的神殿蜂嗽。正如David Kynaston在他的《艱苦英國》中所描述的那樣苗膝，居民們真實的欲望并沒有得到滿足。
戰(zhàn)后建筑師們建造公寓而非獨棟房屋的真正原因植旧，是公寓要便宜許多辱揭。這也正是開放辦公室風(fēng)靡一時的原因，而不是所謂的與同事加強交流病附。更多的工作者可以被塞進任何給定的空間问窃。
當(dāng)然，有人喜歡如此完沪，正如有人喜歡住在塔樓一樣域庇。對其他人來說，唯一的選擇便是鬧將起來覆积，直到高管們改變主意听皿，給員工提供一些私人空間。換句話說宽档，全世界的工作者們尉姨，聯(lián)合起來，這樣你們才能再度分開吗冤。
原文拾粹：
Open Office, Closed Minds
It is more about cost-cutting than collaboration
1又厉、It is more about...than...?與其說是，不如說是
“Loneliness is a crowded room,” as Bryan Ferry of the band Roxy Music once warbled, adding that everyone was “all together, all alone”. The open-plan office might have been designed to make his point. That is not the rationale for the layout, of course. The supposed aim of open-plan offices is to ensure that workers will have more contact with their colleagues, and that the resulting collaboration will lead to greater productivity.
2欣孤、rationale?[?r????nɑ:l]?n.理論的說明;基本原理馋没，基礎(chǔ)理論;根據(jù)
Ethan Bernstein and Stephen Turban, two Harvard Business School academics, set out to test this proposition. The authors surveyed interactions between colleagues in two unnamed multinational companies which had switched to open-plan offices. They did so by recruiting workers to wear “sociometric” badges. These used infra-red sensors to detect when people were interacting, microphones to determine when they were speaking or listening to each other, another device to monitor their body movement and posture and a Bluetooth sensor to capture their location.
3昔逗、infra-red?? ['?nfr?r'ed]?adj.紅外線的
At the first company, the authors found that face-to-face interactions were more than three times higher in the old, cubicle-based office than in an open-plan space where employees have clear lines of sight to each other. In contrast, the number of e-mails people sent to each other increased by 56% when they switched to open-plan. In the second company, face-to-face interactions decreased by a third after the switch to open-plan, whereas e-mail traffic increased by between 22% and 50%.
4降传、cubicle?[?kju:b?kl]?n.小臥室，斗室
Why did this shift occur? The authors suggest that employees value their privacy and find new ways to preserve it in an open-plan office. They shut themselves off by wearing large headphones to keep out the distractions caused by nearby colleagues. Indeed, those who champion open-plan offices seem to have forgotten the importance of being able to concentrate on your work.
5勾怒、Why did this shift occur??為什么會發(fā)生這種變化婆排？使用shift表示變化声旺，語言多樣
6、champion段只，這里是擁護者腮猖，捍衛(wèi)者的意思
Employees also find other ways of communicating with their fellow workers. Rather than have a chat in front of a large audience, employees simply send an e-mail; the result (as measured at one of the two companies surveyed) was that productivity declined.
7、in front of a large audience赞枕，大庭廣眾之下
Cubicles do not offer a great work environment, either; they are still noisy and cut off employees from natural light. But at least, workers have more of a chance to give their work area a personal touch. Allowing plenty of room for pictures of children, office plants, novelty coffee mugs – these are ways of making people feel more relaxed and happy in their jobs.
8澈缺、a personal touch，個人風(fēng)格炕婶，個人特性
Such comforts are completely denied when companies shift to “hot-desking”, as 45% of multinationals plan by 2020, according to CBRE, a property firm, up from 30% of such companies now. Workers roam the building in search of a desk, like commuters hunting the last rush-hour seat or tourists looking for a poolside lounger. If you planned to spend a morning quietly reading a research paper or a management tome, tough luck; the last desk was nabbed by Jenkins in accounts.
9姐赡、hot-desking，辦公桌輪用制
10柠掂、?tome? [t??m]?n.卷;冊;大而重的書
11项滑、nab? [n?b]?vt.逮捕;捉住，逮住;搶奪
Hot-desking is a clear message to low-level office workers that they are seen as disposable cogs in a machine. Combine this with the lack of privacy and the office becomes a depressing place to work. Workers could stay at home, but that negates the intended benefits of collaboration that open-plan offices bring.
The drive for such offices is reminiscent of the British enthusiasm for residential tower blocks after the Second World War. One British wartime survey found that 49% wanted to live in a small house with a garden; only 5% wanted a flat. But flats they got. Architects, who fancied themselves as visionaries like Howard Roark, the “hero” of Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead”, competed to create concrete temples for the masses to occupy. As David Kynaston, in his book “Austerity Britain” recounts, the desires of the actual residents were dismissed.
12涯贞、?reminiscent? [?rem??n?snt]?adj.懷舊的;回憶往事的;使人聯(lián)想…的
13枪狂、tower blocks，塔樓
14宋渔、Austerity? [??ster?ti]?n.苦行;嚴(yán)厲;簡樸州疾，樸素;節(jié)衣縮食
The real reason post-war architects built flats rather than homes is that it was a lot cheaper. And the same reason, not the supposed benefits of mingling with colleagues, is why open-plan offices are all the rage. More workers can be crammed into any given space.
15、...are all the rage傻谁，...風(fēng)靡一時孝治，非常流行
Some people like them, of course, just as some like living in tower blocks. The only option for everyone else is to kick up a stink until executives change their minds and provide some personal space. In other words: workers of the world, unite. So you can separate again.
16、?kick up a stink审磁，鬧事谈飒，I'm going to kick up a big stink about it，我要為此大鬧一場
譯者注：本文選自《經(jīng)濟學(xué)人》（2018年7月28日）
