Start a culture of talking. If you don't want mere office banter, holding occasional whiteboard sessions is a good pretext (and useful in its own right).
Find the most receptive sub-group to engage in this regularly. Within a few months, talking at the office will not be a foreign concept.
Tasteful partitions help because they break up the visual space, while letting sounds leak through. Consider some temporary partitions that you'd envision in a high-end loft, instead of ones that look sterile. Introduce plants -- real or fake.
Though I don't have a good visual model of your workspace, In my mind many open-plan offices end up looking like cafeterias, while nicer ones remind me of a children's play area at a library. By introducing some partitions and pleasant surroundings, the aesthetics will help make people more comfortable, and potentially more interactive.
Comments
Start a culture of talking. If you don't want mere office banter, holding occasional whiteboard sessions is a good pretext (and useful in its own right).
Find the most receptive sub-group to engage in this regularly. Within a few months, talking at the office will not be a foreign concept.
Tasteful partitions help because they break up the visual space, while letting sounds leak through. Consider some temporary partitions that you'd envision in a high-end loft, instead of ones that look sterile. Introduce plants -- real or fake.
Though I don't have a good visual model of your workspace, In my mind many open-plan offices end up looking like cafeterias, while nicer ones remind me of a children's play area at a library. By introducing some partitions and pleasant surroundings, the aesthetics will help make people more comfortable, and potentially more interactive.