How much do you care about your physical environment where you work?

In My Humble Opinion
21

I’ve never had a private office, and I don’t expect that I ever will. My current cubicle is about the best I’ve had. I suppose it’s what you’d call a prairie dog one - if I stand up I can see over it. It’s open to the guy across from me and probably the guy kittycorner from me can see my monitor but it feels private.

Before they got the cubicles set up I was at an awful old desk that wasn’t meant for computers in an open room. The other guy had a desk against the window.

Previous job was one of those open floor plan horrors with two desks crammed into a room. And I got to hear the owners on the phone and shouting at each other all the time.

Job previous to that I technically had an office, but it was a walk through to most of the rest of the office. So while I could close the doors - and did when I needed to do photography stuff in the dark - I’d get the salesmen pounding on it (yeah, they were kind of dicks).

I wish the office here was a few degrees warmer, but the guys seem comfortable.

22

I’ve been pretty lucky so far. At least I have a nice big cube in the corner with windows to the west and north. We have a big area and only 3 of the six cubes are occupied.

I would hate what the OP describes. Would be looking for work.

My view to the west -

23

When I started working at my current job, I had a private office. It was wonderful…I had a huge desk, a credenza, a tall bookcase, and a folding banquet table. One corner was being used for storage, but it never bothered me. The vice president of the company realized that each private office in engineering contained two phone/LAN jacks…thus, he had each private office split with a cube wall so that two engineers can be crammed into each office. I really hate the loss of space (though I did get to keep my mega-desk, I had to fight like hell for the credenza), and my current office partner is an inconsiderate ass (pounds on the keyboard, eats smelly foods, comments on my phone conversations, etc.). The only plus for me is that my monitor is positioned with its back to the office door. I really, really miss having a quiet space to work…as it stands, I spend most of my day listening to my iPod to drown out my office partner.

24

This past summer, I left a job I liked to take a better-paying and more stable job in another office. After I’d been there a few days, I hated that place so much. It was an upscale, nice doctor’s office, but there were no windows, mirrors, or clocks anywhere in the place (except the bathroom did have a mirror). It felt so bizarre. Plus, everyone had a chair and computer except for me- I guess I was just supposed to stand around all day. Fortunately, the person that replaced me at my old job didn’t work out, so I got to go back. So yeah, the environment is very important to me.

25

In a communal working environment the individuals can make a big difference. I prefer to be isolated when I work, so all communal environments seem less than ideal to me. But I’ve known people who can’t stand to be stuck alone in an office, so there’s going to be a lot of different kinds of people to account for. Things probably work better over time as people get comfortable with each other.

26

I’ve lived and worked in Japan for the last decade. This is pretty much what every office I’ve ever worked in looks like, with the addition of a desktop book stand as a demarcation line in my current office. Half the shelf is mine, half is for the use of the person across from me. If I need actual privacy for something, I have to go somewhere else with my computer. This is part of why most Japanese businessmen have portable computers. It’s rare for the office to have computers for everyone, even now. A HUGE amount of work that has been computerized in most Western countries is still done on paper here.

For privacy at my current place, there’s a section storage room with a couple of desks, a single window, and no internet access. This kind of thing was also was typical of past jobs. You use a conference room or other space if you need quiet, but there is no data or in many cases phone connection, and the gods will rain fire on your head if you’re unavailable if something related to you comes up and you’re not in the communal office and not officially scheduled elsewhere.

Most offices I’ve worked in have wired internet only, and it’s slow. Everyone can see everything you’re doing anyway, so you don’t have an expectation of privacy (which is practically a foreign concept in Japan anyway) but you would be well advised to keep your access mostly business-related. They’re a bit more lenient than US companies in some ways, probably since no one ever EVER goes home on time, so they let some of the personal stuff and work stuff overlap. You end up taking time off to go to the bank, for example, because otherwise you’d never be able to actually go to the bank when office hours there are 10:00–3:00, (no Saturdays and Sundays) and you’re getting off “early” at 8:00 PM. Depending on how strict your office is, this could be required to be taken out of your vacation/leave/sick days, or just marked as officially excused time out of the office.

There’s a brief morning meeting for either the whole office or the whole section in most companies that everyone must attend. That’s held in the communal office, after which people disperse to their section offices if those exist.

I got used to all this stuff after a while, but it really sucked at first. Japanese are socially and culturally trained to do stuff together, so for them being tucked away in a private office would be some kind of punishment. Something to note if you ever host a Japanese manager or liaison: they’ll probably feel as if they’re being excluded if you give them their own private space. The few people who do have private offices tend to be management, but they spend most of their time at their secondary desk in the communal room; the private office is usually for keeping confidential information and for meetings with other important people.

At this point, I’d probably have to re-acculturate to semi-privacy at work. A cubicle farm would be more depressing than a more open layout. It might be kind of cool to have my own office though.

27

For the past year, I’ve been sharing an office with a friend. (As in, we were friends before we were co-workers.) The office is big enough that we each have plenty of our own space and I enjoy having someone to occasionally chit-chat with or bounce ideas off of without getting up, but I’m about ready for my own walls and door. Fortunately, we’re moving in April and I should get my own office. Obviously, I could work in a less cushy environment, but it would be a disappointment to go back to cubicles or something like that. It’s really nice to be able to close the door.

28

It’s important. The worst was a former closet, cinder block walls, just enough space for my desk, a chair, and some shelving. I could reach everything I needed without getting up. :slight_smile: Lucky for me, the door opened onto a large space with lots of windows.

At my current job, I just moved from a cramped lightless space to a much larger space with a huge window and a high ceiling. Time to get an African violet!

29

It just occurred to me that while I griped about some awful workplaces, I didn’t comment on whether they (or any others) were dealbreakers.

Personally, while it’s nice to at least have cubicle walls (and the waist-high sort are more of a bad joke than anything else), I’m pretty mellow. Similarly, it’s nice to have windows at least somewhere nearby (it’s easy to lose track of time otherwise and it can be jarring to suddenly realize it’s NIGHT) but they aren’t a dealbreaker.

What is a dealbreaker: health issues (like that sub-basement); had the short-term respiratory stuff not improved I’d have had to move on. Creepy co-workers. A real open plan can be fun sometimes - at the place with the dead rats outside we all knew we were in it together and there was a lot of camaraderie.

I actually don’t like being in an office by myself - too easy to be out of the loop.

30

Snerrrrrk. I was just about to post a reply on this thread to say that I work in a call center-type environment and it sucks and I hate it wah wah wah, when a new meeting request popped up. The meeting subject? “Bldg 1 Bed Bug Issue”.

So do I win?

31

[QUOTE=Athena]
For me, I think the minimum ante is a door, a window, and a desk that allows me to sit in a position where my back doesn’t face the door.
[/QUOTE]
I hope you’re senior management, or your career is likely to be one long disappointment.

32
  • twitches*

That looks like hell, to me.

33

I work from home now, but in the 15+ years I worked in an office, I had at least 3 jobs that gave me the door, window, and desk, and another 2-3 that gave me the door & desk. And I’ve never been anywhere near management, much less senior management. I’m a dedicated workerbee.

34

It’s interesting that every single person so far has a job that involves** sitting down at a desk.**

I don’t think we’ve got a very representative sample here of the Western world’s typical work environment.

35

I’ve always had my own office, and I don’t think I could work in any other environment. I mean, I gotta fart every once in a while, you know.

36

I have my own office, but there’s no window and the walls & furniture are painted a horrible beige color. At my last job, I did have a window in my office. My last job was much less interesting and stimulating than my current one, but still I never quite dreaded going to work every day like I sometimes do now. (My long train commute for my current job may also have something to do with it.) My job before that was in a room of cubicles with four other people. I actually kind of liked having office mates, but they were always good people. I can see how having an obnoxious person in the next cubicle would really detract from your job satisfaction.

37

I work in a basement office. It sucks, no sunlight, I have to step outside from time to time just to get a dose of sunlight. Really hard during the winter months. Our DG who wanted us moved down there from a normal office butted heads with HR when they basically told him the practice of putting people in windowless environments are practices that aren’t the best idea.

I refer to ourselves as the dirt people.

38

Well, the OP did stick to offices, so I think everyone just followed that lead. How many office workers do you know that stand all day? My boss has a standing desk, but he’s also undergone back surgery.

39

I love standing desks. I hope to have my own at home in 2 years (when a room switch and living situation switch will happen).

40

I work as a landscape estimator which means my office space has always been more of a “Studio” concept with drafting tables, a desk work space, plan racks, etc. My current work space is semi-open in that it’s adjacent to two offices but otherwise walled off from the building. My space is about 12’x18’ since it’s really designed for two people although I don’t foresee us filling the other space any time soon. Couple large windows that look out over a native prairie area and an exterior door.

Despite the two offices (general manager and company president), they’re usually in their office out of sight or out of the building. I usually feel as though I have ample privacy. My last work place was somewhat similar – a large room shared with one other person. That one was more closed off and we each had our own cubical around our desk for added privacy but it never felt like a cubical farm. I’ve worked in those and lived with it but I much prefer my current situation.