Tag : workplace culture

It’s Friday, and let’s talk about one of the most annoying things in the office around the holidays. No, it’s not the canned music that seems to start up in early November, or the cubicle decorations that get out of control – it’s the office sweater party. Amarite?

Every cubicle worker knows about the ugly sweater party. It’s a horrible perversion of the traditional Christmas Party, the one for which everyone could dress up nice and get tipsy and maybe a little office romance would finally spark.

Of course, maybe that’s the point. No-one is getting it on with someone wearing one of the ugly Christmas sweaters…. I mean, have you seen these things? It’s like an elf threw up on your grandma’s nightgown.

What’s your holiday pet peeve? Tell us about it. we know you’ve got one. Maybe it’s something that bugs you a little all year round, but Christmas just takes it to Defcon 4 status. Talk to us!

It’s the holidays, and the Kristmas Muzak is in full swing. Piped into every cubicle thanks to over-zealous office managers, the noise isn’t even the worst of it – it’s the petrifying boredom and annoyance that sets in around December 1 after it’s already been playing for three weeks.

Does your office have an alternative to cheesy generic Christmas pop? Are you allowed to wear noise cancelling headphones? Better yet, do you have a cool weekend manager who turns on Mannheim Steamroller or Transiberian Orchestra and encourages everyone to rock out for a while?

Let us know your thoughts on overall office music, especially around the holidays. Should your workplace be booming with so-called “good cheer” or should mandated auditory enhancements be kept to a minimum?

Tell us what your favorite (or least favorite) Christmas song is, while you’re at it – and why. We really, really want to know.

Did you know the state of your cubicle can say a lot about your personality? The way in which you organize – or don’t – can provide clues to your work style.

• If your cubicle is messy, with papers everywhere, inspirational quotes all over the cubicle walls, and cubicle extenders obviously added simply so you have more wall space to pin stuff to, you are probably a spirited personality who is great with the overall view, very positive, but not that detail oriented. Your advantage is that you can get others pumped up and ready to go!

• If your desk is covered with paperwork, but it’s organized in piles, and you have not one but two calendars to track business and personal appointments plus pictures of family as well as recognition of personal accomplishments such as diplomas or awards, you are probably a direct personality.  You know exactly what you are capable of, expect others to measure up, and are great at organizing even though you may come off as a little bossy (you just want everything to be perfect!)

• If your cubicle is cluttered, but you know where everything is, your cubicle is decorated with an eye to comfort and serenity, and your family life is evident in photos and belongings, you are likely a  considerate personality style. You are an excellent mediator, you like things to run without confrontation, and you feel that working relationships should be as important as personal ones.

• If your desk is tidy and clear of papers, with only what you are currently working on in view, you clean your desk every night, all of your files are organized to death and your cubicle walls feature charts and graphs and conversion tables, you are likely a systematic personality. You like specifics, and aren’t that amenable to being told to “go with it”, but given direct instructions you are the best person to make sure it is done precisely right.

For the best productivity, work together with all of the personality types on your office, splitting responsibilities to take advantage of your strengths. Your cubicles can all be a little more friendly with each other if you accept that everyone is different!

Everyone has a pet peeve when it comes to the workplace, and these are usually exacerbated when space is tight and everyone is working in each other’s pockets. A prime peeve is a workstation being left dirty when the next employee arrives for their shift. Smeary, fingerprinted monitor screens, crumb infested keyboards, full trash cans and personal belongings or litter can be triggers for an office meltdown.

Panel extenders can keep some of the annoyance of the worker next door away, but what about when you share the same cubicle space with someone else on a flex shift? Having a clearly defined set of workplace rules that delineate what is expected can help prevent conflict. While it may seem absurd to have to remind fully grown women and men to clean up after themselves, it’s a sad fact of life that not everyone knows how to do so.

If you have a mature office culture, a simply reminder: “Leave your workspace as clean as you would like it to be when you return!” will suffice. If this isn’t sufficient, you may have to get specific: “Empty trash can, throw away litter, wipe down all surfaces, remove personal items”.

What is your workplace peeve? Tell us about it!

Thankfully, this guy stayed home.

We’re still talking about workplace peeves. When in a cubicle environment, there can always be that one employee who prides themselves on never missing a day of work – even if that means spreading whatever ghastly illness they have throughout the office. Even the highest cubicle wall extender won’t save you from their germy presence!

You grit your teeth every time they get recognition for their 5, 10, 20 years or more of service with never calling in sick even once, remembering when they gave half the office the flu and how you in particular spent two weeks trying to hack up a lung – and four more weeks nursemaiding everyone in your family back to health.

Of course, it’s hard to skip work when you fear for your job or can’t afford to lose the paycheck. What do you think about your company’s calling in sick policy? Does it encourage people to come to work no matter what?

Google and other tech firms may have started the trend of the cool office, but these super awesome workplaces seem to be popping up all over the place now. You can find industry headquarters in everything from the legal field to retail boasting about their hip office environs in “happening” locations all over the U.S. and abroad. A recent Observer article by Kim Velsey takes a long, hard look at how this movement has gained momentum over the last decade.

Velsey acknowledges the attraction of perks ranging from juice bars, pool tables, video arcades and indoor scooters to a surprise visit from a mini horse. Yet she also cautions that there are some almost cult-like aspects to the kind of devotion “cool” employers seem to desire from their employees. Luring office workers into spending more and more time in the workplace does seem malevolent. Yet employers are also being urged to “create more engagement” and help employees feel happier in the office. Where do you draw the line between enough and too much?

Rushing to Make Changes Is Uncool

We think there are some pros and cons to consider before you decide to upgrade your office space and your office culture to try to compete with the coolness trend.

• Do you really have the money to make a substantial change in your office environment? What about when workers get bored with the new amenities and want something fresh? Are you willing to keep innovating and renovating in an endless cycle to keep up with other cool employers?
• Will you need to create new boundaries to ensure workers don’t abuse their newfound freedom to “slack off” and play foosball at work? Will these be written guidelines, or can you implicitly create the habits you want through cultural pressure?
• How will you deal with backlash if you have to roll back some of the perks later?
• Will having employees post Instagram photos of their workplace all the time be a good or a bad thing for your corporate brand? Does the change mesh with your business media strategy?

Our advice would be to take it slow rather than trying to revamp your business image overnight. Start with changes that benefit everyone – such as improving the lighting, controlling noise, and making the office more comfortable and functional. Then, turn your attention to making it both beautiful and fun in ways that are in alignment with your particular culture. Remember, you have to be authentic to be cool!

We’ve seen a lot of good (and some very, very naughty) cubicle pranks in our time. But they tend to lack sophistication. There are only so many substances you can use to fill or cover a cubicle with. After you run through the ping pong balls, post-it notes and aluminum foil, you need to find something more inventive to catch your coworkers off guard. You probably know the prank that involves turning a computer screen into the “blue screen of death”. However, the folks at EQA Office Furniture have taken this one a lot further. They show you step by step how to replace the screen background with a fake screenshot. The instructions don’t stop there. You also learn how to get rid of all the real icons and hide the start menu. It’s a pretty nefarious and very funny plot. Just be sure you’re willing to take the consequences when your coworker (and a frustrated IT tech) find out what you’ve done.

You can view instructions to the prank here.

At OBEX, we like to encourage employers to give workers some leeway to “make their cube their own”. But not all employees are actually interested in personalizing their cubicle. If you’ve ever wondered why, you may find the conversation happening over at LifeHacker enlightening. The comments are in response to an article about how to make a cube more comfy and less boring. Here’s  a rundown of some of the perspectives from those who feel no urge to decorate:

• Work is a place to work and not a place to be “comfortable”. Being a little uncomfortable at work helps you maintain work/life balance by ensuring you want to go home at the end of the day. Decorating at work would blur the lines too much.
• There is no need to be reminded of home while at work. Either it’s simply distracting or it makes you wish you were home instead of at the workplace. Focus on work and not escapism!
• Having no decorations is a sign of ambition. The cube dweller is ready to move up the ladder (or out the door to greener pastures) at a moment’s notice. Having a cubicle full of personal stuff means you’ve been there for years and are “stuck”.
• If the desk is in an open area, people might steal stuff that has sentimental value. It’s safer to only have things at work that you don’t care about.
• Getting relocated over and over means having to move your stuff every time. It’s easier to travel light.

Of course, there’s something to be said for “undecorating” a previously personalized cube. One commenter revealed that it was fun to strip down all decorations. Her boss freaked out, thinking she was quitting (three months later, she did).

It is important to note, however, that even those who are against decoration still enjoy adding functionality. If there’s something they can do to make their cubicle support their job more effectively, they see no problem with adjusting their workspace. So, they may not care about what color or pretty pattern their cubicle panel extender is. But if it helps them focus more on work, they’re likely to love it anyway!

Etiquette Daily is the go-to source for opinions on how to behave (and how to get other people to behave) in any number of common situations. As you can imagine, one place where people often demonstrate poor manners is at work. After all, if you hang out somewhere for 40+ hours a week, it’s easy to get sloppy in your interactions. When you work next door to a bunch of other cubicle dwellers with very little privacy, you start to feel like you know each other well – perhaps a little too well.

In March of last year, “epi” asked about how to reduce interruptions. She has a cubicle (which means no door) and doesn’t want to be rude and simply tell people to leave. However, she knows that the constant disruption is impacting her productivity.

The response generated quite a discussion. The etiquette experts recommended putting up a small “Do Not Disturb” flag that can be raised whenever an employee wants to work with no interruptions. It could become part of the workplace culture. Kind of like the “Bat Signal” but in reverse (don’t come crashing in to save the day).

Flags Down, Everyone!

Some responders in the pursuing discussion thought this was a poor idea. Implementing yet one more set of workplace rules might simply make it more difficult for everyone to get things done. Why not ask everyone to correspond with you via email instead? Oops, then your inbox fills up and everyone thinks you are anti-social. You could set up an “Office Hours” sign, but that just makes you look pompous.

Some of the commenters did have excellent ideas. Anne says she simply stands up whenever someone enters her cubicle. It keeps conversations very short and lets her suggest a “walk and talk” if the discussion starts stretching too long. Read the full list of responses to get ideas for how to encourage coworkers to respect your time without seeming unfriendly or stuck up.

What’s Our Take?

Since we are specialists in creating more workplace privacy with our panel extenders and desk mounted dividers, you know we have an opinion! It’s not really about the specific mechanism you use (flags, signs, etc.) The important thing is to have a company-wide conversation about the impact of interruptions on work efficiency to brainstorm options and raise awareness of this problem. There are so many different ways to cut down on disruption, it’s just a matter of finding the right fit for your organization’s culture.

Here we are at the end of our series on Steelcase’s “Defining the Code” report. It’s been quite an interesting meander through all the ways groups and individuals perform within a given work environment and a given culture. It’s certainly lifted the curtain away from the hidden assumptions and unspoken rules that drive much of the day to day operations in a business.

Our final comparison is between long term and short term orientation

You can probably guess where most Americans and US organizations fall on this spectrum. We want what we want when we want it (and that would be RIGHT NOW). From the perspective of a company that’s gone public with its stock, it can actually be considered irresponsible to take a course of action other than the one that maximizes short term profits. Our society as a whole has both a short attention span and a hunger for immediate results. We don’t tend to give a lot of thought to the future – especially if we think the problems it brings will be shouldered by someone else.

Of course, the opposite attitude can be just as problematic. Those who have only a long term perspective may be too mired in tradition to evolve with the times. They may tend to stifle innovation and discourage bold action out of a surfeit of caution. Penny pinching can sometimes be the road to poverty in business while perseverance taken too far may mean breaking instead of bending when things change around you. The key is to have a balance between short and long term thinking so you don’t forego current opportunities or disregard the consequence of today’s actions.

How OBEX Fits In

With this particular cultural index, the use of privacy panels really is more about the organization as a whole than about any one individual. We think our products have appeal across both workplace cultures because:

• They immediately improve working conditions for employees, providing instant gratification
• They make workstations flexible over the long haul, saving money for businesses that value thrift