The reason, according to a study jointly conducted by commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle and think tank Ethisphere Institute, is that open environments offer a ‘see and be seen’ quality that promotes the following of policies and procedures. It’s tough to establish a Ponzi scheme when everyone’s watching. Another reason is that open plans encourage camaraderie and corporate values. 
    As for working at home, the study suggested that teleworkers were removed from any misconduct opportunities. ( I know, it sounds counterintuitive to me too if open layouts lower shenanigan levels.) A better reason given by Patricia Roberts, Executive Vice President, Strategic Consulting at Jones Lang LaSalle is: “Employees also tend to appreciate the freedom a flexible workplace provides and seem less apt to risk losing the option to work from home, even on occasion.” I believe there’s another reason not mentioned in the report. Less than one quarter of the employees of the 200 companies surveyed for the study are teleworking despite the fact that 68 percent of the companies allow people to work from home on a regular basis. My experience is that teleworkers have been handpicked and vetted as those who can handle working unsupervised based on their maturity, honesty and ability to do the right thing without the boss around. Those who choose not to telework do so for political reasons but also because they don’t think they are self-motivating enough to be successful at home. In the final analysis, teleworkers are a selected group of ethical, hardworking folks.

· The vast majority of those surveyed (81 percent) believe that open office plans, which cause staff to be more visible to one another, generally promote improved ethical behavior when compared to having individual offices.
· The statistics indicate that implementing open workspace environments appears to be making an impact, as the majority of respondents (64 percent) have not had any visible ethical violations within the past two years.
· Sixty-eight percent of responding companies allow their employees to work from home on a regular basis. Of those, 89 percent reported having no ethics violations during the past two years among their work-from-home employees.

    There are downsides to the open office design, however. One survey respondent stated: “If anything, the complete openness of our office space makes people feel like management doesn’t trust them at all, and like big brother is watching.” Open offices can also cause friction brought about by a neighbor’s annoying habits, loud voice, cheap cologne or perfume or smelly choice of lunches.
    Another issue is that workers need private spaces to conduct business or discuss confidential issues with colleagues, talk privately to their child’s teacher, doctor or spouse. Companies must make certain to supply these private rooms.
    Clearly, more and more offices are going open, doing away with individual offices with doors. About 60 percent of the companies surveyed maintain open offices and the number is growing. The prime reason is expense. Open layouts are cheaper than traditional offices because they use less floor space. So far, it appears that open offices have some large pluses beyond cost. It remains to be seen if these advantages last.

   
 
    The William G. McGowan Charitable Fund provides grants in three program areas including Health care and Medical Research; Education, and Community Programs for Those Most Vulnerable. It gives priority to programs that have demonstrated success, measurable outcomes, have a plan for sustainability, and aim to end cycles of poverty and suffering.