The whistle blows, and Renzi Stone has seconds to predict what will happen next. He positions himself between the net and the closest opponent. He knows that with two steps, he can close the distance between himself and the other player to put enough pressure on him to force a pass. Or, with one jump and the swipe of his hand, he can block the ball mid-air before it reaches the net.

But with a quick pivot, everything could change.

This was 10 years ago, when Stone played center and forward for the University of Oklahoma's basketball team, but minus the towering, muscle-bound, sweaty men charging toward him with a ball, not much has changed. He uses the same mentality today as CEO of Saxum Strategic Communications to achieve what he strove for on the court: to work with his teammates to reach a predetermined goal. Which is why his office looks more like a basketball court than the offices typically portrayed in "Dilbert" comic strips.

It didn't take long for Stone to realize a traditional office setup in the Waterford complex in Oklahoma City wasn't going to work for his company. Last summer, Saxum relocated a mere one floor above its former office into a wide-open space, filled with nothing but potential and opportunity.

"One of the most valuable lessons I learned playing basketball was how to use space to your advantage," Stone says. "I learned where you were on the floor created different atmospheres, different tension. When you're right on someone, you have to act and behave differently than when you have plenty of space between you."

Growing trend
J.W. Peters, president and CEO of Titus Construction in Edmond, has noticed a growing trend in these open-space offices. Not only does he work in an open office himself, but he also helps with the planning and layout of other new, open offices, such as the Saxum site.

"It was funny because we set up a bunch of desks there and had them facing the wall so they could all turn around and talk to each other. I went back later and they had pulled all the desks away from the wall, and now they're all facing each other," Peters says. "It's interesting to see how it all plays out."

That's one of the perks of an open office. The desks, chairs and laptops are easy to move around, and without a need for walls and doors, there's more space to work with.

"It's an open office, but people's work space is very personal, even if it's just a 3-by-3 area. It's their 3-by-3 area," Stone says. "I give them a lot of freedom in the space they're assigned."

But more space and transitional office furniture are just two tiny perks to an open office, outshone by a much larger one: the opportunity for collaboration. Open offices work best for marketing, PR and architectural firms, where teamwork is a necessity, and collaboration is a must.

Anthony McDermid, principal and founder of TAParchitecture in Oklahoma City, knew what he was doing when he moved TAP into an open office 10 years ago.

"It wasn't even a formal decision. It was just due to the nature of how we work. We're architects, so we work in a collaborative manner," McDermid says. "It allows for total cross-pollination of personnel and ideas."

The idea to go to an open office actually came from the inside: from the architects themselves. They knew what was and wasn't working for them. Collaboration worked; walls and doors didn't. Now, each architect has 500 square feet to himself or herself.

"Now there's a lot of opportunity for informal, impromptu meetings, and they happen all day, every day," McDermid says.

No distraction
With so much opportunity for socialization, it's easy to assume an open office would be distracting, but Peters observes the complete opposite.

"It has that feeling that there's always something going on in the room. It's a very charged space and it makes you more productive," Peters says. "The momentum of activity in the room pushes them to produce more and more and more."

Stone admits that, at times, there's a lot more of non-work-related socialization going on, but he feels that, in the end, it adds to the quality of the work environment. It creates an atmosphere where his employees can feel comfortable and relaxed.

"People get to know each other on a deeper-than-professional relationship," he says. "If you're promoting a collaborative workplace, what's the line between work and not work? In the world we live in, that line has been blurred, and if you don't embrace it, you'll be left always wanting more or expecting more out of your work environment."

Peters noticed that a lot of companies making the change to the open office tend to have a lot of interns working with them, so they learn the collaborative spirit from the get-go.

Mark Krittenbrink, owner and principal of Norman-based Krittenbrink Architecture, feels like his open office creates a learning atmosphere.

"People with a lot of experience and people with little experience are working together, so it's easy for them to work with each other without being intimidated," Krittenbrink says. "When you have to walk into someone's office because you have a question, it can be really intimidating. But in our office, the interaction is so easy."

Not only do open offices create the look of more space out of less square footage, they also tend to cost less to furnish and decorate.

"We're minimalists," Stone says. "We haven't spent a lot of money on the nicest fixtures or the best molding, but we really focus on the tools."

Movable desks are much more affordable than bulky, carved wooden ones. And without walls, there's no need to spend any money on art.

But Krittenbrink figured out how to hang wall art without walls, and for next to nothing.

Warped frames
When he heard the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman was going to throw away some old, warped frames, he had an idea. The frames now hang from pipes suspended from the ceiling. Then he blows up projects they're working on and puts them in the frames. This creates unique dividers in a wide-open office.

He also helped a South Oklahoma City branch of First American Bank save money by creating an open office that eliminated the need for a receptionist.

"When you walk in, you're in a big room, and you can clearly see that the tellers are right in front of you, so you don't need someone there to lead the way," Krittenbrink says. "And there are a few offices, but they're all made of glass, so if the customer came to visit a particular person, they can clearly see if he's in his office or not."

He says this was a good move because most smaller banks don't have the budget to facilitate someone who's just going to greet the customer.

"Also, I feel like this gives the customers a sense of control," he says.

While the open-style office works for architectural and communication firms, it definitely has its limits. Peters found that not every company needs collaboration to reach its goals.

"The business has to be right for it. About half the work we do is medical, and this setup obviously wouldn't work in the medical industry," Peters says. "Any industry where an employee has to work directly with the client one-on-one won't work."

Open approach
Krittenbrink worked with a law office that wanted to try to the open-office approach. He designed a cross between the open and traditional plans, with four offices on the left and four on the right, with an open space in the middle where all the support staffers would work.

"It seemed like a good concept, but since there are so many privacy issues, it created a bit of a problem," he says. "There was a lot of interoffice politics, so either everyone was getting along great, or so-and-so weren't speaking, making the whole open thing awkward."

The open office, like an open basketball court, creates opportunity for communication, teamwork and bouncing ideas back and forth.

In this environment, things are always transitioning, be it project designs or office furniture, which is why Stone tells his employees to "always accept change and you'll never be disappointed where you end up."