Whether you have a cubicle or an enclosed office it is very important to set up your space for maximum efficiency and comfort.
The first order of business is to place your desk in a command position so it is in alignment with the people that enter your office.
Do not skimp on this task lest you become irritated with distractions in the future.
I will give you an example of the contrast between right and wrong placement by using a colleague as an example. First a little back story:
I have known Cindy for 5 years and she was always energetic and determined to make a difference in the world…until she wasn’t…I will count Cindy amongst my mentors…possibly at the top of the list…she taught me how to fearlessly go after what you want and ignore playing it safe…
”play it smart…not safe”
“jump first, think later”
She was not reckless at all just adventuresome…for several years she traveled the world during vacation and came back with wonderful stories and inspiration for others to draw from. She was a high voltage inspiration to all in her world.
Then one day she had an office-mate that spent a few hours a day sharing her office…separate desks and several yards away from her area. Unless she made an effort to get up from her desk and walk around a bookshelf she could not see her office-mate..and could barely hear her amidst the din of office machinery.
Cindy had a brief run in with her and was sent packing to another office several buildings away. Word has it that she lost her temper and kept badgering the office-mate despite pleas of “stop, just leave me alone” Cindy refused to listen…. it all started when the office-mate had an angry caller and was very emotional afterward…Cindy could not hear what was said on the phone but she saw the reaction in response to the call and decided to “offer some tough love”When the offer was gently refused Cindy zeroed in for the kill and left her defenseless office-mate devastated.
The complaint went to the head of the department and she was reassigned to her new office the next morning. It was roughly a third of the size of her other office with no threat of any room for another potential offending officemate. A powerful symbol to remind her that she was going to the company’s version of Siberia.
For one year afterward she sat hunched in her office with her desk to the side and her beautiful wall hangings tossed carelessly in a pile on a chair. Nothing was hung on the walls and she sat with a view of the wall while people passing by could stare at her back and read the various career search websites she obsessed over. I visited her some during this time and all she could talk about was revenge, lawsuits and retirement…a bizarre stream of consciousness rooted in extreme bitterness.
She never unpacked physically or emotionally and it served as a symbol that she lost her home. She engaged in frequent disputes with management and essentially flaunted her job search by not concealing her computer from passersby’s.
I had seen enough and I came to her office and politely asked if I could discuss a very important career matter (her career…not mine) She said yes, or course.
I said she was in a rut and she was so far ingrained she was not seeing it from an aerial view. Everything about her choice of not unpacking just reinforced the change that was forced upon her. I explained that this wasn’t about right and wrong and whose fault..but it was time to think about survival.
I asked her to let me change her office and to let me have ultimate authority to help her get out of a rut..she trusted me so she said yes.
I booted her out and went to work.
The desk was facing the door, the clocks were removed and the pictures, college degree and all hangings from her travels were proudly displayed.
The people passing by would smile at the various works of art displayed instead of derisively shaking their heads at her unabashed job search. She changed her needs to fit the circumstances and people began to treat her as if she was going to stay…and slowly things changed.
Now she has less bad energy sent her way and things are gradually getting better. "get out of a rut" written by Ken Bownes
