與老闆一起辦公?

The privacy point is important. Who would opt for a shared space if they could have their own? Backpackers stay in youth hostel dormitories, but that is because they cannot afford to pay for privacy. Hotels do not ask business travellers whether they would like to have their own rooms or shared ones, because they know the answer. Airlines can charge considerably more for seats that give you some distance from your neighbours.
隱私十分重要。如果能擁有自己的辦公室，誰會選擇共享辦公區呢？揹包客們會選擇青年旅社的宿舍，但那是因爲他們掏不起維護自己隱私的錢。酒店不會詢問商旅人士是想單獨住、還是想與他人合住，因爲它們知道答案。對於那些讓你和鄰座保持一定間距的艙位，航空公司的收費要高得多。

Whatever small gains open-plan offices do offer in enhanced communication are, in any event, wiped out by the loss of productivity. We do not need academic studies to tell us people get less done when they have to listen to their neighbours' conversations and telephone calls. Once again, a commonsense reference to life outside the office suffices: libraries have a rule of silence because it allows people to work.
無論開放式辦公室爲增進溝通貢獻了何種微薄之力，它都被工作效率的降低所抹消。我們不需要學術研究結果就懂得：人們在工作時，若無法躲開鄰座的交談與電話，他們的效率就會降低。再者，參考職場之外的一個常識，就足以說明這個問題：圖書館都有一條保持安靜的規定，因爲這可以讓人安心工作。

It is not just the distractions of open-plan offices that lower productivity. A recent article in the Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management said that employees in open-plan offices were more prone to eye, nose and throat irritations, and more likely to come down with flu.
開放式辦公室造成工作效率下降的原因不只是分神。《亞太健康管理期刊》(Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management)最近刊登的一篇文章指出，開放式辦公室員工的眼睛、鼻子和、喉嚨更容易產生疼痛感，染上流感的機率也更大。

Open-plan offices may offer companionship, but that assumes you like the people whose space you share. It is surely more comfortable to be able to pop into the private office of those you want to see.
開放式辦公室或許會給你帶來友誼，但前提是你喜歡那個與你共享辦公空間的人。當你想與某人交談時，能去他的私人辦公室裏談話，無疑會讓人感覺更爲自在。

So why are most offices these days open-plan? Because they cost less. The Asia Pacific Journal article put the saving at up to 20 per cent. Not only do open-plan offices allow companies to eliminate the cost of all those walls; they can also fit far more people into the same space.
那麼，爲什麼如今的辦公室大多設計成開放式的呢？因爲這能降低成本。《亞太健康管理期刊》上的那篇文章稱，公司將因此節省至多20%的成本。開放式辦公室不僅令公司省掉了建造牆壁的成本，還可在同一辦公區間容納更多的員工。

There is nothing wrong with cutting costs; lower costs mean higher profits and a better chance of corporate survival. Organisations in which every employee has his or her own office might soon find themselves undercut by companies, possibly on the other side of the world, that pack staff into a single space.
削減成本並沒有錯；降低成本意味着提升利潤和加大企業的生存機會。那些每位員工都擁有私人辦公室的機構可能很快就會發現，自己的生意被那些所有員工擠在同一辦公區域內的公司以更低的報價搶走了——這些公司很可能在地球的另一邊。

Open-plan buildings are, as the Asia Pacific Journal says, also more efficient to heat and cool than traditional closed offices, so open-plan is greener as well as cheaper.
如《亞太健康管理期刊》所言，開放式辦公室的供暖和供冷，也比傳統的封閉式辦公室效率更高，因此，開放式辦公室的空調更爲環保，費用也更低。

Given that it seems here to stay, should managers share the open space with their staff? There are strong arguments in favour. Whether it comes to insisting that all staff fly economy or cut down on lunches with clients, when companies impose a cost-cutting hardship on staff, managers should lead by example.
既然開放式辦公看上去已無法改變，那麼管理人員是否應與手下共享開放式辦公區？支持的理由十分充分。公司在削減成本、讓員工大吃苦頭之時——無論是要求員工都坐經濟艙，還是要求員工減少與客戶就餐——管理人員都應以身作則。

Against that, managers need a space to talk to employees in private, and for employees to talk to them, away from the straining ears of their colleagues. That can be dealt with by providing meeting spaces away from the open-plan areas, although that requires staff to make specific arrangements to talk rather than just dropping by. (By way of declaring an interest, I should say that I have an office next to the open-plan area of the team I manage.)
遺憾的是，管理人員需要一個辦公空間與員工私下交談，以免談話內容傳到同事們豎起來的耳朵裏。在遠離開放辦公區的地方設立會議區，可以解決這一問題，但這要求員工必須爲交談做出特定安排，而不能只是隨便過來聊聊。（爲了表明我並非在此空談，我應該說明，在我手下團隊所在的開放式辦公區邊上，有我一間辦公室。）

But my friend's point remains: managers may want to work alongside their staff, but their staff may not want to work alongside them. Certainly, managers who work in open-plan areas should give their people a break by going somewhere else from time to time. Mr Morgan of Tube Lines told the FT he liked working in the open-plan office because, “I can listen to the gossip.” The gossip he is unlikely to hear is the gossip about him. His staff probably go elsewhere for that.
不過，我那位朋友的觀點依然成立：管理者或許想與手下並肩工作，但他們的手下可能並不這麼想。當然，在開放式辦公區工作的管理者應該不時去其它地方轉轉，讓自己的手下緩口氣。Tube Lines的摩根告訴英國《金融時報》，他之所以喜歡在開放式辦公室裏工作，是因爲“我可以聽到他們閒話”。他不太可能聽到的，是有關他自己的閒話——他的手下很可能去其它地方談論這些了。