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geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: rowdy on Sun, 16 August 2015, 05:21:41

Title: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: rowdy on Sun, 16 August 2015, 05:21:41: From this thread (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=74491.0) seems like there's quite a few people with their own room at work.

I work in a small cubicle farm, and although the cubicles are designed for two people, I've been by myself near the back of the office for many years.

Doesn't bother me at all, and I've gotten rid of the rest of the spare chairs which discouraged visitors, or at least makes their distractions a bit shorter.

Who has their own room, and can you lock yourself away from distractions?
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: raymogi on Sun, 16 August 2015, 05:37:46: Me. Cause I own the whole damn thing :D
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: rowdy on Sun, 16 August 2015, 05:56:01: Quote from: raymogi on Sun, 16 August 2015, 05:37:46
Me. Cause I own the whole damn thing :D

That's one way around it :))

Actually my boss is the only one with a door he can close to shut everyone else out. The rest of us are in cubicles.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: fanpeople on Sun, 16 August 2015, 06:10:28: I remember sharing an office with someone else, they always stuck stupid work stuff on the whiteboard. I made the argument that it was a whiteboard and not for sticking paper on, he didn't agree. So I drew male parts on the whiteboard behind all the bits of paper. Well the cleaner was in one day and it just so happened to be windy and there was a roller door just outside the room. He told me later that he was in the room and the cleaner was cleaning, a big gush of wind came in and simultaneously blew the random bits of paper up revealing all the secret drawings on the whiteboard behind the papers. The cleaner just looked at him with disgust and went to clean somewhere else. I miss sharing an office.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: baldgye on Sun, 16 August 2015, 06:43:26: I share my office with one other person so I'm able to leave my full size filco in the office the whole time. Also because I'm in accounts my office has to remain locked at all times (when someone isn't in there) so it's probably safer than my
Keyboard at home haha
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: Jokrik on Sun, 16 August 2015, 06:59:33: Meeeee

I feel lonely sometimes though, that's why I wonder around at work, but than people would feel uncomfortable since I'm their boss

Dilemma
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: katushkin on Sun, 16 August 2015, 07:20:55: The only people who have their own offices where I work are like the executive officer level... No line managers or anybody under board level has their own offices.

Which I think sucks tbh. I might have to move jobs to somewhere where I can get my own office :P
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: bcredbottle on Sun, 16 August 2015, 08:12:50: I do. It's for the best bc my current daily has Matias Click switches. I bought my boss a Storm w/ blues because I hate his secretary and she sits right next to the open door of his office.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: SpAmRaY on Sun, 16 August 2015, 08:16:05: Sometimes I'd like to close my office door but then its harder to hear a coworker yelling down the hallway.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: CPTBadAss on Sun, 16 August 2015, 08:36:11: I still haven't figured out how to be a baller like jokrik (yet) so I do not have my own office :(. I'm either on the factory floor or in our little office area which has a bunch of cubes.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: Bromono on Sun, 16 August 2015, 08:38:31: naaa I could have my own but I am a people person. I like to walk around the ops floor and interact with my troops. I have my own desk but only use it when i have to.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: Jokrik on Sun, 16 August 2015, 08:47:33: Quote from: CPTBadAss on Sun, 16 August 2015, 08:36:11
I still haven't figured out how to be a baller like jokrik (yet) so I do not have my own office :(. I'm either on the factory floor or in our little office area which has a bunch of cubes.
I'm no baller at all :(

Though my favorite part of my own room is the 4 seats glass dining table, I rarely sit at the "table",

completely removed the sofas and coffee table since a year ago. I feel more effective discussing with my team on the dining table
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: inanis on Sun, 16 August 2015, 09:00:11: I don't have my own office, but I do have a restricted access lab. I sit in my cubicle normally, but if I need people to leave me alone I go into the lab. Only 4 other people can get in there.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: jerue on Sun, 16 August 2015, 14:57:07: I'm in a cube farm. For now. Working hard to change that :thumb:
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: rowdy on Sun, 16 August 2015, 21:08:49: Quote from: inanis on Sun, 16 August 2015, 09:00:11
I don't have my own office, but I do have a restricted access lab. I sit in my cubicle normally, but if I need people to leave me alone I go into the lab. Only 4 other people can get in there.

That's cool :)

A company I used to work for moved into a large building and I was sharing an office. After a few people left, I had a large room all to myself. Glass walls on two sides though.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: HoffmanMyster on Sun, 16 August 2015, 21:51:36: No office here. :( I'm in a small section of cubes, with my own small-ish cube. :) Though it's made smaller by all the dang production samples I have in there. :confused:

I feel it's safe enough that I could leave a keyboard there if I had one quiet enough to take in.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: fanpeople on Mon, 17 August 2015, 02:15:51: Having moonlighted as an unqualified aircon tech (working for someone who knows what they are doing of course) for the past 10 years and working in the same round of buildings I have noticed that many of the companies/government departments appear to be reducing the number of people with their own private offices. Apart from a floor space thus money saving exercise, I believe there is a theory that it is better for the work environment for some reason. I guess moving your boss from lockup and sitting him next to you would reduce your ability to slack off.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: bueller on Mon, 17 August 2015, 02:17:41: Nope. Open floor plan with like 16 people all sharing a small office. Drives me insane trying to code so I spend a lot of time barricaded in the board room or working from home.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: nmur on Mon, 17 August 2015, 02:33:00: Quote from: bueller on Mon, 17 August 2015, 02:17:41
Nope. Open floor plan with like 16 people all sharing a small office. Drives me insane trying to code so I spend a lot of time barricaded in the board room or working from home.

Can you listen to tunes while you work? That's what I resort to when people decide to have their conversations/phone calls close by.

My desk at work is not in an office, but it's a very large corner desk that has more than enough room for a few monitors. I've convinced myself that that alone is a good enough reason to have two keyboards side by side at my desk ;)
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: bueller on Mon, 17 August 2015, 02:34:12: Quote from: nmur on Mon, 17 August 2015, 02:33:00
Quote from: bueller on Mon, 17 August 2015, 02:17:41
Nope. Open floor plan with like 16 people all sharing a small office. Drives me insane trying to code so I spend a lot of time barricaded in the board room or working from home.

Can you listen to tunes while you work? That's what I resort to when people decide to have their conversations/phone calls close by.

My desk at work is not in an office, but it's a very large corner desk that has more than enough room for a few monitors. I've convinced myself that that alone is a good enough reason to have two keyboards side by side at my desk ;)

Yeah I've got a good set of noise cancelling phones so I use them a lot but when I'm working on a tough problem I just need some silence you know? Something that is very hard to get across to my colleagues.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: nmur on Mon, 17 August 2015, 02:36:29: Quote from: bueller on Mon, 17 August 2015, 02:34:12
Quote from: nmur on Mon, 17 August 2015, 02:33:00
Quote from: bueller on Mon, 17 August 2015, 02:17:41
Nope. Open floor plan with like 16 people all sharing a small office. Drives me insane trying to code so I spend a lot of time barricaded in the board room or working from home.

Can you listen to tunes while you work? That's what I resort to when people decide to have their conversations/phone calls close by.

My desk at work is not in an office, but it's a very large corner desk that has more than enough room for a few monitors. I've convinced myself that that alone is a good enough reason to have two keyboards side by side at my desk ;)

Yeah I've got a good set of noise cancelling phones so I use them a lot but when I'm working on a tough problem I just need some silence you know? Something that is very hard to get across to my colleagues.

Yeah I know exactly where you're coming from.

I find that on the days where I stay later, when the office is much emptier and quieter, I am usually more productive.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: sth on Mon, 17 August 2015, 03:14:24: i would love cube walls. my boss is of the belief that open floor plans facilitate team-building and cooperation... in a room where we're all on the phone at least 30% of the day.

it's been so bad at some points that i've had to duck under my desk to take calls. nothing like being forced to hide from your colleagues in order to do your job to facilitate camaraderie.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: bueller on Mon, 17 August 2015, 03:17:06: Quote from: sth on Mon, 17 August 2015, 03:14:24
i would love cube walls. my boss is of the belief that open floor plans facilitate team-building and cooperation... in a room where we're all on the phone at least 30% of the day.

it's been so bad at some points that i've had to duck under my desk to take calls. nothing like being forced to hide from your colleagues in order to do your job to facilitate camaraderie.

**** open floor plans.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: JackMills on Mon, 17 August 2015, 03:33:46: We have an open landscape flexible workplace, I don't like it. The idea is that we don't have our own desks anymore and that we can sit on any location in the landscape, but nobody does that. People tend to sit at the same desk everyday. However as it is not your desk, but a flexible desk, you cannot keep your stuff lying around. So we need to put our stuff in a locker or keep it in our laptopbag/backpack.
Sometimes I leave my laptop on a desk with a post-it on it saying: "test-run in progress, do not disconnect or shutdown", just to have the feeling of having my own desk.

The open landscape, that doesn't bother me alot, maybe a bit more now our sales team occupies the same landscape, but it is OK. Sometimes it is annoying when making a lot of phone calls, but we do have booths to do such work or to do small meetings in during a project or when you really need to concentrate.

Most of the people are working with their headphones on, playing their own music. When it gets too loud somebody will stand up and ask to tone it down.

All in all it is an ok environment, with decent seating, big desks, but it saps out all the personality as you cannot decorate your desk or have some plants...
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: baldgye on Mon, 17 August 2015, 03:51:06: Quote from: JackMills on Mon, 17 August 2015, 03:33:46
We have an open landscape flexible workplace

(https://shechive.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/britney-confused-gif.gif)
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: JackMills on Mon, 17 August 2015, 04:00:36: Quote from: baldgye on Mon, 17 August 2015, 03:51:06
Quote from: JackMills on Mon, 17 August 2015, 03:33:46
We have an open landscape flexible workplace

Show Image
(https://shechive.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/britney-confused-gif.gif)

That's how it was communicated to us, maybe I should have put it between quotes as English isn't my company's language, but management does tend to take over marketing terms.
I guess an open plan office space with flexible workspaces would be more correct?
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: nmur on Mon, 17 August 2015, 04:05:11: Quote from: JackMills on Mon, 17 August 2015, 04:00:36
Quote from: baldgye on Mon, 17 August 2015, 03:51:06
Quote from: JackMills on Mon, 17 August 2015, 03:33:46
We have an open landscape flexible workplace

Show Image
(https://shechive.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/britney-confused-gif.gif)

That's how it was communicated to us, maybe I should have put it between quotes as English isn't my company's language, but management does tend to take over marketing terms.
I guess an open plan office space with flexible workspaces would be more correct?

Whatever it's called, it sounds like an unorganised mess. People can't have a desk phone I guess? Or drawers to hold documents?

Reminds me of going to the library at university to study at a random unoccupied desk..
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: baldgye on Mon, 17 August 2015, 04:07:00: Quote from: JackMills on Mon, 17 August 2015, 04:00:36
Quote from: baldgye on Mon, 17 August 2015, 03:51:06
Quote from: JackMills on Mon, 17 August 2015, 03:33:46
We have an open landscape flexible workplace

Show Image
(https://shechive.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/britney-confused-gif.gif)

That's how it was communicated to us, maybe I should have put it between quotes as English isn't my company's language, but management does tend to take over marketing terms.
I guess an open plan office space with flexible workspaces would be more correct?

I mean it sounds like a total nightmare and worse than being back at school lol
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: JackMills on Mon, 17 August 2015, 04:16:34: That's exactly what it is, a mess.
Desk phones are all gone as we use 'Skype for business' as Lync is called now. Drawers and stuff like that are kept in your locker. For the persons in Administration and Finance, the situation is different, they have their own desks, but all project managers/engineers, service managers/engineers or whatever their title is, they can change desk daily. Of course executive management has their own office space.

You need to readjust your chair, the setup of your screen or you need to clean up the coffee stains of somebody who isn't as tidy as you are.
The idea behind the concept is that most of our people are at the customers location and don't need their own desks. But as more and more customers are requesting to have their systems monitored from a distance, more of us are working from the office. We do more remote support then 5 years ago when our new building was designed. We are working more from our home, as that gives us more privacy and comfort.
Title: Re: Who has their own office (room) at work?
Post by: rowdy on Mon, 17 August 2015, 05:21:56: I'd love to be able to work from home regularly. Most of us have proven that we can - either during time off due to illness, or to look after sick children. Or even over the end of year break when generally the whole office is shut down for 2 to 3 weeks.

I've even done a production release to a client from home, while I was on holiday!

But because there's not as many of us there now, we need to be physically present in the office in case a client calls, or to receive instruction from a higher level.