Agile IT Organization Design: For Digital Transformation and Continuous Delivery

Chapter 15. The Office

The physical layout of the office may be off topic for organization design, but it has a bearing on organizational agility. It serves to reinforce ideas of autonomy, non-hierarchy, open communications, and purpose. Recall that we stated the need for unscripted collaboration as a key theme in Chapter 3. However, offices are commonly laid out without a thought for ease of collaboration. In this chapter, we take a brief look at optimizing layout for encouraging collaboration and for alignment with an open culture while not losing sight of the need for privacy, quiet, and comfort.

15.1 Open-plan Layouts

From the point of view of greater face-to-face collaboration, open-plan layouts are preferable to cubicle farms or individual ...