How do we fire someone in an open-plan office?

There will be more posts than usual this week, so keep checking back throughout the day.

A reader writes:

My company’s offices are completely open-plan, except for a few fish-bowl style, glass-walled conference rooms. There aren’t even dividers between desks, just one big room, so everyone can see everything that’s happening.

Unfortunately, we have had to fire some people in the last year, particularly for not meeting performance targets (as opposed to misconduct or misbehavior). Typically, the laid-off employee gets the news in a conference room and his or her manager calls him or her out, with varying levels of success. There was a situation where the manager allowed a fired employee to return to his desk to pick up some things, which ended with him having an awkward conversation with some of the people at the desks around him.

Obviously, people may need to immediately collect items on their desk (coat, wallet, etc.), but this can be mitigated by having someone else collect those items for them. My question is, what is the best way to handle employee termination in an open office, where it can be clear what is happening?

I Inc. today. I’m answering this question here, where I’m revisiting papers that are buried in the archives here from years ago (and occasionally updating/expanding their answers). You You can read it here,