Feelings/thoughts about office space

groovygrl

Curious as to your thoughts on this.

In a department, due to space issues over time, the director of dept had an office and then the 2 staff for the dept shared an office on a different floor. They communicated via IM and emails and met regularly. Building is being remodeled & reorganized.  In plans for remodel, dept was given a large space for all 3 people, with the director being given about 1/4-1/3 of the space. A wall will not be built but higher than 'cubicle' style dividers will be ordered that are supposed to be soundproof to separate the space. Remodel has not begun yet. Old director left & new person was hired.  Staff expressed concern about new setup to the new person in terms of everyone's privacy and space. New person expressed concern to the person who oversees the building about this new space configuration related to lack of privacy to meet with staff confidentially, have meetings with external people, possible staff discomfort w/ supervisor in their space and that no other supervisors share space with their staff.  Person who oversees building feels that the department will benefit from being in the same space for communication & productivity, the room is ample/large enough for 3 people comfortably with extra space and the materials being purchased are high quality and reported to be soundproof and high enough to provide visual privacy. Old director's pre-remodel office is not accounted for yet in plans, its use is pending.

ETA based on comments: this is the only supervisor in the building who would be sharing office space w/ other people and/or staff. Also there is not much conference room or meeting space available, most has to be reserved through a 3rd party.

What would be your thoughts if you were any of the people in this scenario?

KathrynMD

uhhh - everyone's getting screwed.

We are going through a remodel now and its while I don't have a cube anymore (thank God), the cube's they have designed suck.  The provide very little privacy for the people occupying them.  Its just funny to me how the people who design a work space are rarely the ones who have to live with or have lived in it recently.

 

jeffsjayme

We just got a new building at my company too and it's alot more "open"....cube walls lower.  It's just how it is.  It's about mid-lower-chest high.  I'll give them credit - it really does foster communication, but we're a team of about 20.  Even managers have cubes now instead of offices.  You have to be a director to get a real office.  They did build in tons of conference rooms and then smaller work spaces if you want/need to be loud or need more privacy.  

Wave of the future. 

aglenn

Yeah, I think that if there are lots of conference rooms and private areas available it can work, but without them they are just being cheap and trying to make it look progressive.

My office has conference rooms, smaller "team meeting" rooms, and one-person "touchdown rooms" we can use if we need to take a conference call or something that is not feasible in cubicle-land.  I had a private office for a while and it just got taken away in a move/reshuffling of desks, and I'm pretty much fine with it (except I'm still pumping, and it was nice to be able to do that at my desk, but c'est la vie).  The honest truth is that I did end up quietly working in my office most of the time and didn't socialize or talk to colleagues face-to-face as much, even though I tried not to do that.  It's just sort of inevitable.  So, I guess my point is that I think the open floor plans can work out just fine, but there really is a need for enough quiet spaces to be available for use as needed.

Nechie122

I work in the media industry and the open set up is pretty popular. There's "privacy" in the sense that newsrooms tend to be noisy, so you tend to block out background noise and just focus on what you're doing. If you need to make a personal call, that's what cell phones are for. If you need to discuss something confidential, like an employee review, you go into a conference room. An office might be nice, but I'm so accustomed to sitting in the "bullpen" that I've embraced it. I love feeling like I'm part of the action.

reb562

Interesting....when we moved into our new building I made sure we didn't have cubicles.  Everyone is in a large bullpen including myself.  Technically I do have an office because I'm the boss but I hardly sit there.  I sit with my staff is the bullpen and we are able to hear everybody. 

If they need to do something priviate, they'll pick up there cell phones and step outside for a few minutes...If it's excessive--I'll let them know about it, because we are here to work.  The office is not your home, so putting stuff up on the walls,etc... sounds off base to me, especially when we have visitors--I want a professional work setting. 

If I need to talk to an employee private I'll go to my office or the conference room but other than that, there is no need to be in a priviate space, and that includes myself.

groovygrl

reb562:

Interesting....when we moved into our new building I made sure we didn't have cubicles.  Everyone is in a large bullpen including myself.  Technically I do have an office because I'm the boss but I hardly sit there.  I sit with my staff is the bullpen and we are able to hear everybody. 

If they need to do something priviate, they'll pick up there cell phones and step outside for a few minutes...If it's excessive--I'll let them know about it, because we are here to work.  The office is not your home, so putting stuff up on the walls,etc... sounds off base to me, especially when we have visitors--I want a professional work setting. 

If I need to talk to an employee private I'll go to my office or the conference room but other than that, there is no need to be in a priviate space, and that includes myself.

I don't think I said anything about putting things up on the walls but maybe someone else did... (though I also work in a field where ppl tend to "decorate" offices and there are very clear and frequnetly used procedures for getting facilities in to hang things, etc bc it is the norm. I generally have only hung a picture or two the past to add color but that is not a priority of mine).  I think for me the biggest thing is everyone having to listen to each others phone calls and whatnot (work related, we get a lot of calls),  it is not like a big space where all the office noises are like white noise, but a closed room w three ppl in it. Also the fact that this is not the norm in this workplace or the field I work in is a big part of it, and the fact that no one else has or will have this setup, as well as the fact that other meeting or workspaces are not readily available and are a bit of a pain to reserve, you generally have to do it weeks in advance, it is hard to get a quick response or appropriate type of room on short notice.

Thanks all for your thoughts:) 

reb562

Sorry, I wasn't implying you did that, but more like --some people often expect office space to be thier second home.  So when I see people need cubicles it wierds me out that they need to be issolated.  I'm all about team work, team spirit, asking for help and even venting for a quick release.  So being closed off makes me feel left out (reason why I sit in the bullpen)

I'm sure there are people weirded out about it, especially if it's normal for you to have your own space, but I think if you embrase it, you get to learn more about the company and they way co-workers handle things.

PS~maybe you can get your family on skype? keeps you connected without anybody hearing your converstion...just a thought.