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Office Life Blog
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May 13,2008
Office Life
Spring Cleaning!
It’s never too late for spring-cleaning…
Summer is just around the corner but there is still time for some last minute spring-cleaning of your office or workspace.
Even a few minutes spent sprucing up your office environment can provide huge rewards. A clean, well-organized work area allows you to be more productive, reduces visual distractions and helps relieve your mind of mental clutter.
What better way to shake off the winter doldrums than to rid your office of last season’s remnants?
Here are some tips to get you started…
1. Paper, paper everywhere, but none that I want to read: Ok, I admit it, I’m a chronic clipper and saver. Articles, magazines, emails, you name it, if it’s the least bit relevant, it gets carefully filed away in a mound on my desk for future reading. But the problem is, I keep getting more!
Take a minute to gather all of these accumulated materials together and quickly go through it, save only the most relevant, pitch the rest. Make it a point to spend a few minutes a day reading one or two articles that are relevant and interesting to you, file those that are most applicable and recycle the rest. If you find that you are continually ignoring certain periodicals, unsubscribe from them.
2. Now, repeat step one for your email inbox. My advice, if you can’t read it the day you get it, delete it, you’ll never have time to go back to it.
3. Give your filing system a quick review. Consolidate similar files and throw out those that are no longer relevant. Put your files in alphabetical order so you can quickly access them in the future.
4. Change up your artifacts. That smiling kitten poster with the motivational saying may have inspired you last fall but after seeing it for months, it has probably overstayed its welcome. Get in the habit of rotating or removing your inspirational articles periodically. Even the most treasured reminders of our lives outside of work will become just another part of the corporate landscape after seeing them day after day.
5. Consider using job folders to organize your hot projects. Job folders are a great way to keep all your current information close at hand and neatly organized. When the project is finished, they can be easily transferred into your filing system.
6. Now tackle the surfaces. Dust and clean your desktop, give your keyboard a good upside down, crumb-removing shake and wipe the grunge off your mouse.
7. For the final touch of spring, add a bit of color with a vase of fresh flowers or a small potted plant.
Posted by Rebecca
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April 22,2008
Green Office
Happy Earth Day!
Happy Earth Day (I think)! Earth Day typically evokes thoughts of green grass, flowers and blue skies. It’s pretty gray out my office window right now, so it’s not feeling much like Earth Day to me.
Nevertheless, I have certainly found myself thinking about things a bit differently lately, a bit more earth-friendly. For example, this weekend we reorganized our home office and two things occurred: First, I found myself with a couple spare pieces of office furniture. Instead of putting them in the trash (or letting them collect dust in my basement), I’m going to ‘freecycle’ them. Have you been to the freecycle.org site? What a great way to reuse items and keep them out of landfills!
Second, I needed to order some hanging file folders, so I went online and ordered 100% recycled folders. I think they might have been a dollar more per box, but I thought it was the right thing to do. Not that I can make a claim that all my shopping is earth-friendly...for example I had to forego the recycled copy paper this time because I wanted the brightness and I wasn't sure I would get that otherwise. I'll have to evolve a little bit more, I guess.
Posted by Cindy
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April 2,2008
Workplace Trends
Do Offices Reflect our Society’s Culture?
What does office furniture say about the society we live in? This may seem like an odd question, and you might wonder what, if anything, office furniture has to do with society or culture. But the office you’re working in is, in a way, a reflection of your company’s culture, and to a certain extent, American culture.
I’ve been working in Germany for the past three months, and in that time, I’ve found that the offices here reflect a different mind set when it comes to business culture. German offices (and European offices in general), are much more utilitarian and sparse than American ones. Heavy, traditionally-styled wood furniture is essentially non-existent in European offices.
I showed several of my German colleagues what typical American office furniture looks like by having them page through a National Business Furniture catalog. They couldn’t believe the large, wood desks with ornate detailing; the plush leather chairs with tufted backs and seats; or the predominance of dark finishes. This was furniture reserved for the best corners of their homes, not for the corner offices of their companies.
Not that all furniture in American offices share these characteristics. Many American businesses have high-design furniture with cutting-edge style favored by Europeans. The difference is that office furniture in America reflects a wide swath of styles, whereas European office furniture comes almost exclusively from minimalistic, contemporary style. Furniture also plays a role in designating status in American corporations while in Europe, it does not. Why the difference?
Furniture within a typical American company usually varies in quality or style based on an employee’s position. A European office, on the other hand, is much more uniform. A German executive is likely to sit at the same style desk as one of his or her employee’s. In fact, many German managers share a common office space with their subordinates. In America, a climb up the corporate ladder is usually accompanied by loftier furniture and a better view. Though Germans have a very strong business hierarchy, furniture or office location does little to reflect one’s actual status.
Status also comes into play when looking at varying styles of furniture. An executive, lawyer or doctor trying to establish a look of success in his or her office will often turn to traditional furniture with its rich tones and heavy form. The warm yet commanding look of traditional furniture has the ability to project success the same way a high-end suit or a luxury car can. In Germany, where processes and efficiency are valued more than materialistic trappings, a luxurious office would seem impractical and even presumptuous. Instead, Germans prefer high-quality, no-nonsense furniture that promotes efficiency.
American individualism could be another explanation for the difference in business furniture. Self-expression is ingrained in the American psyche. Whether it’s with pictures, artwork or the furniture itself, American offices often provide glimpses of the people occupying them. In Germany, where individual expression takes a back seat to social norms, offices tend to be more egalitarian. Think of it as conformity trumping individuality – a common theme in German culture.
Paging through a European office furniture catalog or website, you’ll see that uniformity is a common thread. The furniture selection is dominated by neutral tones and clean lines. Personal file cabinets (so common in American offices) are not offered in abundance. Instead, documents are more commonly placed in binders which are then stored in large cabinets. These cabinets tend to be shared by multiple employees, again reinforcing the idea of common space.
The differences go on. Obviously, some differences are just a matter of choice and have no bearing on cultural undertones. But it’s interesting that distinctions in culture show up in the most unsuspecting places – even in the office.
Posted by Dean
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March 11,2008
Workplace Trends
Changes in Office Floorplans
An interesting article was published yesterday that talks about creative ways to design office space. The article describes how a company in Kansas City is redesigning their entire office with an open floor plan and "hoteling" stations to help with their mobile workforce.
Along the same lines, there has been a lot of discussion about Generation Y entering the workforce, and how the frequency of open collaborative environments is growing with this new generation. This recent article doesn't mention if that is a major component of their redesign.
The debate becomes open collaboration vs privacy; innovative ideas at the expense of personal walls for everyone involved.
That's a tough one. I've experienced life in a cubicle as well as the full-four-walls-and-a-door style. I can say for certain that the ability to close the door of my office when I'm trying to crank out a project without disruption is quite appreciated. I'd hate to forfeit the privacy and/or peace and quiet when I need it.
That said, I believe two heads are better than one. The idea of collaborating over an idea, even if it's a brief 5-minute conversation, can lead to significant new ideas.
I'm sure there are issues with a design like this...especially for those who sit next to Chatty Cathy and they just really want to get their work done. But to be honest, Chatty Cathy is likely an issue even with 4 walls around each person.
What do you think? Do you like the idea of an open floor plan without the confinements of so many walls? Or do you prefer your own 'private' domain?
Posted by Cindy
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February 27,2008
Office Life
What does your office say about you?
Last week Forbes.com published an article about office style and what you can learn about a person from their office space. There's also a slideshow associated with a few more interesting tidbits. It's a fairly interesting read, and it might cause you to take stock of the message you're sending to your boss and co-workers.
For instance, I never thought about plants in the office, but apparently employees who bring in a plant may be literally "putting down roots" at work. In general, personalizing the office space makes it feel more like home, and since we spend more time at the office than at home, it makes sense to bring a little of yourself to it. In fact, allowing employees to personalize their space can improve employee morale.
The article reinforces the fact that there may be a fine line to walk with the use of Post-It Notes. An over-reliance on them indicates feeling overwhelmed or preferring to live in a state of chaos. Fortunately for me, the author points out that they aren't entirely a bad thing. In fact, having no Post-It Notes at all is more of a sign of disorganization.
As we would expect, there's a happy medium between a chaotic mess and absolutely no sign of life in an office. Most of us probably fall in that happy medium, as I think I do. Some days are certainly better than others of course.
Take a look at the article . . . see if you need to clean up your act, or is your messy desk just messy enough to mean you're dedicated and fully-engaged in your work?
Posted by Cindy
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January 30,2008
Office Life
So, you've cut the president's table with an Xacto Knife, now what?
Ok, true story. I had been at my job for about a month when the incident occurred. I was working
with foam core, cutting out life-size people for a marketing project . . . you know, typical day at the
office. Suddenly my Xacto slipped and I gouged a deep slice into the surface of the president's
mahogany conference table. What should I do?
My first thought was to push the table out the window and claim it was stolen. No good, the table was far too heavy, and probably not a good idea since we're on the fourth floor. My second thought was to color the slice in with markers; that didn't work either, it just made the slice bright red. I finally decided to fess up.
I solemnly went back to my desk and prepared an apologetic email, actually to be truthful, groveling would be a better description. I was too chicken to face my boss in person since the last thing she said to me before leaving for the night was "whatever you do, don't cut the president's mahogany table!"
Long story short, I had no reason to panic. There are actually a lot of things you can do to repair woods, laminates and veneers. If you stumbled upon this post in a desperate attempt to repair your president's table, check out the tips in the furniture care section. If not, I'd love to hear some horror stories about your life in the office.
Posted by Rebecca
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