Being a furniture company, I'm sure we analyze this more than the average Joe, but these are interesting questions. In looking how our team currently works, there are some trends already emerging:
1. The young folks: We tend to come together and sit in the lounge type areas. Even if we aren't working on a project together, the thought of having someone nearby is a good feeling for us. Maybe we're so separated because of our use of technology that having someone near us fulfills our need for human interaction. Whatever the case, we congregate together in these areas and work really well.
2. The middle-aged: In order to keep myself out of trouble, I won't specify an age range (you can make up your own). We just got a whole new office of very open furniture and it took these folks a little while to adjust. The thought of having conversations overheard was a little unnerving for them and there were jokes tossed around quite a bit for the first few days. But, they have adjusted quite well all in good stride and now work diligently from their desks talking with others.
3. The oldies: I can't think of any examples from our office of anyone like this, but I know they exist. These are the types of people that keep traditional office furniture alive. They want their cubicle as a protection wall of their ideas and territory. They feel naked without that wall.
So how do we accommodate all of these types of people? I think it depends largely on company culture in terms of relating to people, but furniture can change the environment A LOT! Since we've opened up our space and I can see the heads of all my co-workers, there has been so much more dialog and people seem more approachable, which for a young 20 something like myself I find this very appealing. I think I've gotten to know my co-workers more in the past 3 weeks than the previous 6 months :)
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