Our office is packing up and moving to a temporary location inside my hospital until a more permanent home can be found for us. Apparently, a couple of surgeons “liked our view” and decided they wanted our office space. :mad: Doctors (especially high-profile researchers) generally get what they want in the hospital industry.
I emailed the space planner in charge of seating (she’s actually a co-worker and a friend) and asked her to keep me near my two good guy friends in the office. She did so, but put my cubicle in what’s probably the most high-traffic area of the office. The photocopier is right next to me and the breakroom is right behind me.
I’d like to wite an email to my boss asking for a change in seating even though the planner followed my request. I work with contracts and cost proposals, so the information on my desk is fairly sensitive, and with the fact that vendors will constantly be in my area, I don’t feel comfortable. And, to be perfectly honest, I simply would like a little bit more privacy with fewer distractions around me.
Any suggestions on how I can write my boss asking for this? I was thinking of starting off with, “I know how you both [boss and planner] worked really hard finding a seating arrangement palatable to everyone, and I really didn’t want to be the squeaky wheel, but…”
Thoughts? I need to kiss the boss’ ass while not throwing back the planner’s honoring of my request back in her face. Any help would be appreciated.
Temporary until October. However, there’s a chance that our new temporary space may become permanent as moves of this nature tend to find themselves lower and lower on executives’ priority lists as the weeks pass.
Gotcha. I have no advice, but I wish you luck. Well one bit of advice, make your email as emotionless as possible. Neither wishy-washy nor exasperated.
Just explain that the nature of your job requires more privacy. Say that you appreciate the attempt to keep you and your colleagues together, but the requirement to maintain privacy is more important. A good manager should recognize this as a reasonable request based on the job requirements. A bad manager may not, but probably won’t be swayed by rational discourse anyway.
I wouldn’t phrase it this way. Perhaps “I am very grateful that you were able to accomodate my request to be near A and B. Unfortunately, the particulars of my new location have presented a bigger concern that I didn’t anticipate.”
Thank you for all your hard work with the recent move and your great job in accommodating my seating request. However, now that the new seating plan is in effect, I find that there are some problems with my current location that interfere with protecting the sensitivity of the data I’m working on, and accommodating the vendors I work with. If it is possible to relocate me to an area of the office that would have less foot traffic (as I am now right between the copier and the breakroom) such as Location A or Location B, I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks in advance!
Space planning is a royal PITA, especially if your building is anywhere near full. Just be aware that, no matter how nice your email, you will be seen as the “squeaky wheel”. Your request to move may (or may not) require a domino effect of other moves. There will be rolled eyes in the manager’s office, I can almost guarantee it.
If you have a REALLY good business reason to request the change, do so. If it hinges more on your desire for privacy and quiet, I would think twice before making the request.
I actually think that the privacy thing is a really good business reason. I’m sure that Agent Foxtrot can get her work done in the middle of the traffic field if she needed to, but the concern I got from the OP was that the sensitive paperwork was going to be on the desk regardless, and that it wasn’t quite kosher for it to be on view to every employee who needs the break room or the copier, and for all of the vendors (who really don’t need to see private company info) to peruse as they wander over to their representatives at other desks nearby.
I really like kittenblue’s suggestion, especially the part about suggesting an option or two yourself that you think will work. If you want to really be an asskisser or super obviously humble about it, check the social currents in the office and on your floor, and make at least one of your options a really un-popular location.
The new spot will decrease output do to the continual distractions of a high traffic area, with the people that will try to talk to me when I’m trying to work.
“Although it seemed like a good idea at the time, I think the current placement of my cubicle might be a problem - especially regarding some confidential information that might be seen by anyone passing by.”
You may well be correct, but I am reading this under the assumption that AF’s boss knows what type of work will be on the desk at any given time. If the boss doesn’t think it’s a problem, then rolleyes will ensue. Perhaps the boss didn’t think it through but I know (been there, done that way too many times) that data sensitivity is normally a considerationi during space planning.
I just learned this morning that they’re shuffling some desks around. While I’m not part of the shuffle, I think telling them now that I’m not happy with my space will cause more aggravation. I think I’ll settle in and if it’s a problem, go to my boss and say, “I gave the desk a shot, but it’s really way too distracting to have so much going on around me. Can I move?”
Anytime you make a suggestion to management / a company, phrase the request in such a way as to be suggesting something that benefits the company. In this case concern over the sensitive materials you handle and how their disclosure might make management’s life more difficult in the future is the tact of argument here.
Verbal consultation is a good idea too. If it becomes apparent in the conversation that you are walking on thin ice you can gracefully back out quickly without any documentation having been generated.
On the contrary, if you ask now, it might be easier for them to make your space part of the current shuffle and get it over with, rather than asking later and making them shuffle stuff again.
If you ask today and they don’t want to move you currently, then giving the space a chance for some time and then asking later probably isn’t a bad idea.
And don’t stress the “It’s distracting to me” problem, because you know what? Whoever you get switched with has to sit there and get distracted. What makes your concentration more important than somebody else’s? Better to stress the “sensitive documents that anyone can walk by and see” part of the issue.