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越来越多的人开始在装有透明玻璃的办公间和会议室工作

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To discuss a touchy personnel matter, David Lewis, president of OperationsInc., a Stamford, Conn., human-resources consulting company, recently met with a client in a stairwell. They were so unnerved by the sound of people opening and closing doors above and below them that they retreated to Mr. Lewis's car in the parking lot.


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That's because the client worked in an open cubicle, and the only availableconference rooms had glass walls. 'At least no one was going to open the car door and step in,' he says.


近，为了谈论一个敏感的人事问题，康涅狄格州斯坦福德市(Stamford)OperationsInc.人力资源咨询公司的总裁刘易斯(David Lewis)跟一位客户跑到了楼梯间会面，但楼上楼下人们开门关门的声响不断。最后他们不得不转战到了停车场，在刘易斯的车内完成了谈话。



Amid a push toward openness in the workplace, more people are working in glass offices or conference rooms. Some 68% of U.S. offices have an 'open plan' or 'open seating' design, with the desks separated by low or no walls, according to a 2010 survey by the International Facilities Management Association, Houston. The remaining office and conference rooms are often walled in glass.


之所以会这样，主要是因为那位客户是在一个开放式办公间里工作，而且当时可用的会议室也都是玻璃 面的。他说，"至少不会有人闯到车里来。"



The benefits are undeniable, employers say -- better communication and collaboration, lower real-estate and energy costs, more natural light and expansive outdoor views for all. Many employees say the light and openness improve their mood. At 22squared, an ad agency which moved 170 Atlanta employees into open-plan offices a year ago, pitches that used to take two to three weeks to prepare now get done in a few days, says Mike Grindell, chief administrative officer.


在倡导增加工作空间开放性的大环境之下，越来越多的人开始在装有透明玻璃的办公间和会议室工作。据总部位于休士顿的国际设施管理协会(International Facilities Management Association) 2010年的一项调查显示，美国约有68%的写字楼采用"开放式"或"开放式座位"设计，办公桌之间的隔板都很低，有的甚至没有隔板。而其它办公或会务场所往往也都是以透明玻璃为 。



At Wray Ward, a Charlotte, N.C., marketing company, some clients borrow a conference room with a vertically sliding glass garage door and a glass wall, for meetings they hope will produce creative ideas. Jennifer Appleby, president and chief creative officer, loves the company's open office space, in which most employees work in low-walled cubicles or offices with sliding glass doors, saying it sparks employee teamwork and creativity.


雇主们表示，这种开放式办公的好处是毋庸置疑的：可以促进沟通和协作，降低物业租金和电力成本，采光更好，大家都可以享受到开阔的视野。很多雇员也表示，亮堂、开放的办公室让他们的心情也跟着好了起来。22squared广告公司亚特兰大分公司一年前让170位雇员搬进了开放式办公间。首席行政长格林戴尔(Mike Grindell)称，以前需要两三周才能完成的策划案，现在只需要几天就搞定了。



But somewhere on the road to better collaboration, her own office became 'this fishbowl,' she says. With floor-to-ceiling glass walls facing outside, 'people who drive by will call me from a block away, and see me in my office and make fun of me,' says Ms. Appleby. 'They say, 'I'm calling you and I'm watching you ignore this phone call.' '


在北卡罗来纳州夏洛特(Charlotte)的Wray Ward市场营销公司，一些客户习惯借用一间带垂直玻璃移门和玻璃 的会议室，他们希望这种开放空间能够激发更多灵感。Wray Ward总裁兼创意总监阿普尔比(Jennifer Appleby)很喜欢公司的开放式办公空间，大部分员工都在低矮隔断的开放隔间或带玻璃移门的独立办公间工作，她称这能够促进团队合作和员工发挥创造力。



Some companies are tinkering with the designs to make them more habitable. At Wray Ward, managers realized after moving in that the five conference rooms were often in use. 'One of the things we underestimated,' Ms. Appleby says, 'was the need for individual privacy for phone calls.' The company is adding two small private rooms.


但阿普尔比也意识到，在促进协作的同时，她自己的办公室成了个"鱼缸"。她说，由于朝外的全是透明玻璃，"有人开车经过时会在一个街区之外给我打电话，看着我在办公室里，开我的玩笑。他们会说，'我一边打电话给你，一边看着你不理睬我的来电。'"



After MetLife moved 1,100 employees to its open-plan Manhattan headquarters in 2008, employees working in clear glass offices were bothered by seeing passersby while they were concentrating on phone conversations or other work, says John Vazquez, the insurer's vice president, corporate services. The company added a two-foot band of frosted film on the glass.


一些公司会对开放式设计进行小修改，使布局更合理。例如，Wray Ward的经理们在搬进新办公室后发现，五个会议室经常全部被占用。阿普尔比表示，"我们之前忽视了一个问题，那就是打电话时的个人隐私问题。"鉴于此，该公司准备增设两个小型私密房间。



After Lewtan, a Waltham, Mass., technology company, moved to open-plan offices last year, managers realized occupants of its glass-walled human-resources office had an eyeball-to-eyeball view of occupants of the all-glass CEO's office nearby; 'it was a little bit awkward,' says Brian Frohn, vice president, finance and administration. Lewtan also added frosted stripes to block the view.


2008年，大都会人寿保险集团(MetLife)将1100名员工搬到了位于曼哈顿的开放式总部。该集团负责企业服务的副总裁瓦斯克斯(John Vazquez)表示，有时候，在透明办公室内工作的员工正集中注意力讲电话或进行其它工作时，会因为室外有人经过而受到干扰。后来，该公司在玻璃上拦腰贴了两英尺宽的磨砂贴膜。



Then there is 'the bird factor -- people slamming into walls,' says Leigh Stringer, director of innovation and research for the architectural firm HOK, New York.


马萨诸塞州沃尔瑟姆市(Waltham)的Lewtan科技公司去年搬进开放式办公间后，经理们发现，在玻璃间内办公的人事部员工能够直视到邻近的首席执行长的全透明办公间。负责财务和行政的副总裁弗洛恩(Brian Frohn)说,"这不免有些尴尬。"后来，该公司也在玻璃上加贴了磨砂横条以阻隔视线。



Brandon Murphy, chief strategy officer at 22squared, was walking down a hallway recently, 'talking to someone, and bam, I walked right into' a glass conference-room wall, he says; 'you have to keep your head up.' Ms. Stringer says some companies are adding small 'frosted bubbles or circles at eye level' to guard against this.


纽约HOK建筑事务所的创新和研究部主管斯特林格(Leigh Stringer)表示，还有一个抬头看路的问题，不注意的话，人们会一头撞到玻璃上。



Potentially embarrassing meetings must often be moved elsewhere. If a manager is meeting with an employee to ask, 'Why do sales suck? Or 'Why did we lose this client?' a glass office leaves 'no place to hide,' says Mr. Lewis of OperationsInc. Lowering blinds or turning on electronic screens that make glass opaque doesn't help: Onlookers still rush to email co-workers that somebody 'is getting in trouble,' Mr. Lewis says. 'They might as well be on stage.'


最近有一次，22squared的首席策略长墨菲(Brandon Murphy)走在走廊上，正跟一个人说着话，他说，"结果砰地一声，我直接撞到了一个会议室的玻璃 上。你必须抬头看路才行。"斯特林格说，有些公司在"与视线齐平的位置加贴了一些气泡或圆圈状磨砂"，以防人们撞上玻璃 。



Even when soundproofed, glass walls allow 50% to 100% more noise to pass through, compared with soundproofed drywall -- a fact some employers don't anticipate, says Robert Lee, president of Robert A. Hansen Associates, New York acoustical consultants.


有时候，有些可能涉及尴尬问题的会晤不得不挪到别处进行。OperationsInc.的刘易斯表示，如果一位经理在透明办公室约谈下属，质问"为什么销售业绩这么差？"或者"为什么我们丢了这个客户？"那简直"无处可藏"。放下百叶窗或打开电子显示器试图遮挡一下也于事无补：还是会有旁观者很快电邮其他同事，告知有人"有麻烦了"。然后，刘易斯称，其他人可能也会过来围观。



At Wray Ward, the higher noise level 'took some getting used to. We're a loud group,' Ms. Appleby says. 'You just sort of learn, if there's a conference room next door, to keep it to a low roar.' About one-third to one-half of employers install white-noise devices, Ms. Stringer says.


即便同样都是采用隔音材料，玻璃 的隔音效果也比板 弱了50%-100%。纽约声学设计咨询公司Robert A. Hansen Associates的总裁李(Robert Lee)表示，这是很多员工没有想到的一个事实。



Many employees miss their traditional office doors; most glass offices have sliders, which must be closed more slowly and lack hooks for hanging coats or bags.


阿普尔比表示，在Wray Ward，噪音增多的环境"令很多人必须去适应。我们就是一个大声喧哗的团队。你会意识到，如果隔壁房间在开会，那就降低点声调。"斯特林格表示，大约三分之一到二分之一的企业在办公室配置了白噪声设备。



When this common complaint surfaced during MetLife's advance research at other employers, Mr. Vasquez says, the insurer decided to install metal-frame swinging doors. 'You can slam your door if you want,' he says, although he hasn't seen people doing so.


很多员工怀念以前办公室的木板门，现在的大部分玻璃间使用的都是移门，关门时必须慢一点，而且也没有挂钩可以挂外套或提包。



Gone, too, are opportunities to retreat to your private office for a nap or a round of drinks, 'Mad Men'-style, with a colleague. Neither activity is a problem at 22squared, Mr. Murphy says, where periodic employee happy hours enable beer-drinking right out in the open. Employees also can take naps in shared lounge areas. But they do so at their own risk. Chris Tuff, director of social media at the company, says that if he sees co-workers napping, 'I take a picture of them snoozing away, then tweet it to their boss.'


瓦斯克斯表示，大都会集团在搬家前对其它公司做调查时注意到了这个普遍存在的抱怨，所以大都会决定安装带金属框的转门，这样员工只要喜欢就可以"摔门"，当然，他说，他还没发现有人这样做过。



Rachel Emma Silverman


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