Since the popularity of open office plans has exploded in the past few years, companies have come out with portable cubicles to combat this largely unfavorable model.
These cubicles are small, prefabricated rooms that can cost anything between a couple thousand dollars, to over $10,000 a piece. Most are the size of a phone booth that has soundproof paneling, ventilation systems and power for your devices.
Unlike traditional cubicles, these are temporary spaces meant for a few hours of work at a time.
“While cubicles provide some sense of ‘territory’ or personal space, they still have shortcomings that phone booths can mitigate,” said Anthony Maraccini, CEO of the company Cubicall.
Over 70% of offices consider themselves to have an open office plan in an effort to boost collaboration and modern. Now, the psychological and social effects open workspaces can have are evident. Making a simple phone call can seem intrusive and productivity can take a hit.
With this, companies have begun offering more private options within shared office spaces to give employees some choice to accommodate all work styles.
But having a permanent privacy booths for offices on short term leases could hurt cost-effectiveness, so having a temporary space makes more sense.