What is Ogata Heya?
Ogata Heya is an infrastructure of Japanese workplaces which is very different from the design of well-known Western offices. The structure of the western offices is that the space of the whole room is divided into separate cubicles and each cubicle is working in its own space while the Ogata Heya offices do not have divided rooms nor the divided cubicles; there are tables placed together without any blockage or partition. The members of the same teams can sit together and discuss the work making it efficient and even when someone is sitting far apart, there is no hassle of running from one office to another to find the person.
How does it work?
The main idea of Ogata Heya offices is to make the work efficient and to be able to collaborate. It is a trait in the Japanese Management to keep the work place abuzz and to make the staff members interact with each other to give the best results. The managers can keep an eye on the staff and get the updates from them swiftly. Even a meeting can be held right there in that very room without moving from one partition to another since it is an open space and that makes communication among the staff members much easier.
How is it different from Western Culture?
In the Western Culture, apart from the infrastructure of the workplace, the staff members insist on having privacy while working and they do not welcome noises from other staff while in the Japanese Culture the staff do not mind that. The preference and issues of both the Cultures are very different; while the Western Culture vote for privacy and less noise so that outside disturbances can be avoided while working, the Japanese Culture concentrates more on the work done while everyone sits together and get the job done in a speedy manner.
— Slimane Zouggari