A year ago, my boss announced that our large New York ad agency would be moving to an open office. After nine years as a senior writer, I was forced to trade in my private office for a seat at a long, shared table. It felt like my boss had ripped off my clothes and left me standing in my underwear.
    However, about 70 percent of U.S. offices now have no or low partitions. Silicon Valley has been the leader in bringing down the dividers. Google, Yahoo! and American Express are all adherents. Facebook designed the largest open floor plan in the world, housing nearly 3,000 engineers.
    These new floor plans are ideal for maximizing a company’s space while minimizing costs. Bosses love the ability to keep a closer eye on their employees, ensuring movie-watching, constant social media-browsing and unlimited personal cellphone use isn’t occupying billing hours.
    While employees feel like they’re part of a relaxed, innovative enterprise, the environment ultimately damages workers’ attention spans, creativity and satisfaction. Furthermore, a sense of privacy boosts job performance, while the opposite can cause feelings of helplessness. In addition to the distractions, my colleagues and I have been more vulnerable to illness. Last flu season took down a succession of my co-workers like dominoes.
    As the new space intended, I’ve formed interesting, unexpected bonds with my colleagues. But my personal performance at work has hit an all-time low. Each day, my associates and I are seated at a table staring at each other, having an ongoing 12-person conversation from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those who have worked in private offices for decades have proven to be the most noisy and tough. They haven’t had to consider how their loud habits affect others, so I can only work effectively during times when no one else is around, or if I isolate myself in one of the small, constantly sought-after, glass-windowed meeting rooms.
    To make the open-office model work, employers have to take measures to improve work efficiency. For one, they should create more private areas—ones without open windows. Also, they should implement rules on when interaction should be limited. And please, let’s eliminate the music that blankets our workspaces. Companies could simply join another trend—allowing employees to work from home. That model boosts productivity, with employees working more hours and taking fewer breaks. There are fewer interruptions when employees work remotely. At home, my greatest distraction is the refrigerator.   According to Paragraph 4, an open office ______.