Here’sthe GQ thread on banning pictures in your work space.
I’m sure this is going to vary from office to office, but I prefer to have places that allow you to decorate your personal space, but to use some restraint. It is likely that you’re going to have to move around once or twice per year at my office. It is extremely rare that anyone else will ever have to use your desk, but it could happen.
We don’t have clients wandering around where I am, but plenty of executives like to take trips to Arizona in the winter, so they’ll occasionally be wandering around.
I think I’d draw the line at 100 pictures. I wouldn’t want to set an absolute limit, but I’d think I’d like to have a ratio of business to personal items that leans towards business items. You’re not a college student decorating a dorm room.
I’m sure I wouldn’t want to see any political signs or stickers.
I work at a brokerage office and we’re all on the phone most of the time. So, at least we don’t have to deal with dueling radios. I could care less what you’re listening to with earbuds, although I think work has blocked most streaming radio sites.
So, I think common sense and moderation wins out. Have a few pics of your family or pets. Hang a flag of your favorite sports team or some souvenirs from your last trip. But let’s not have your cubicle look like it will be a candidate for one of those hoarder reality shows!
I went to visit a friend not long ago at his work and walked by a cube that nearly blinded me - this man [30-ish] had every gnome, troll, lord of the rings trinket, movie photo and cartoon known to man tacked up on his wall. When we walked by and were out of earshot, my friend said, “Best salesman in the building!”.
I work with environmental psychologists and part of what they do is evaluate where you work and live…your personal environment. The amount of trinkets or photo’s you have in your cube ought to be up to you - it’s my professional opinion that there ought to be some rules on profanity, and political causes, but otherwise - put as many purple gnomes you wish in your cube if it is going to make you work more efficiently and more productively.
Look to Google Corporation for how they treat their staff…then look at their productivity levels and overall morale of their complex in Mountain view. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what works and what doesn’t.
I’d say no overtly political, religious, or sexual displays, but other than that people should be left alone to handle their own workspaces how they will. We spend most of our lives at work, so we should be given as wide a degree of control as possible.
So long as there’s no danger posed, nothing potentially offensive/disruptive (profanity, nudity, political items) and there’s enough room to do the work, then a person’s office or cubicle should be decorated and arranged as the person sees fit.
My cube had an ipod docking station set of speakers, a large insulated mug for water [I like it ice cold] and my dry erase board had half of it for writing upon, and the other half had built in framing for IIRC 4 pictures. Let me google and see if i can find it online. Nope no luck, I found it in a catalog of sort of frilly girly sort of stuff, and I gave it away when I left.
I used wall pockets to sort out my paperwork, to leave me more desktop space. I did have permission to use my specific trackman trackball, and I had a wireless earpiece that I bought myself [when I started at Oakleaf in CS, I worked solo on weekends and had to run back and forth to fax machines and whatnot, and I hate getting tied up with headset cords.] I bought one of the carousel pen and office supply caddies as well.
I also had one of the really long cardigan sweaters, as it got cold in the office.
I have no problem with a FEW pictures, and maybe one or two pieces of tchotchekes, but use a lot of restraint, it is a place of business, not play.
I have an Obama '08 button stuck to the fabric wall in my office, and an Obama sticker (that someone left for me on my desk one day) on my rolodex. Never thought anything of it until a co-worker who is Republican came into my office and started making rude comments. I just ignored her and they’re still up two years later.
I later learned that my boss, who works in a different city, is also a Republican. That was embarassing when she called one day and asked to borrow one of my passwords, which just happened to be pro-Obama. Now she frequently teases me about that.
I’m glad I work in a more tolerant office, especially considering the family pictures, cartoons, etc. that I have up in here. Although looking around, I’d say that 80% of the mess is work-related.
I would object to openly displayed pornography in a cubicle or office. Anything else is fine with me.
Oh, and that reminds me. My very distinguished father’s favorite painting is Seurat’s The Models. Scroll down to see the picture – someone might have a problem with the large sized version just popping up on their work computer. Actually, that’s my point. My father had a huge (maybe 5 feet by 3 feet), framed print of this painting hanging in his office at work, where he was head of a large organization. The first time I saw it, I said, “Dad, why do you have a giant painting of three naked women hanging behind your desk?” He just looked confused and said that he liked it. I guess when you’re the big boss, you can get away with it.
I’ve always worked in graphic design agencies, where personal expression is positively encouraged. If someone has a blank wall next to their desk, people would regard them as unimaginative and lacking in enthusiasm for their ‘calling’ - not good in an industry where we’re all supposed to constantly thirst for new ideas and visual stimulus (yeah, I know).
We don’t have cubicles in the UK, so everyone’s shit spills into everyone else’s. You just have to get used to the thought of sharing an office that looks like a student dorm. (Tobe fair, some of it is work related).
It doesn’t bother me if you decorate but I prefer a stark lifeless environment where I work. I have a coffee mug and a tiny radio/MP3 player with ear buds.
I used to keep little items on my desk, but people would come up and fiddle with them, which annoyed me. So I removed them. They didn’t mean all that much, and the enjoyment I got from them was taken away by people goofing with my stuff. Now I keep a calendar, two framed photos, and a note pad.
This has the added benefit of being able to take home, and later discard, crap that people give me that otherwise I would be expected to display. If I don’t keep little knickknacks out on my desk, I can’t be adding to them, can I?
And I agree with “no political stuff.” It’s polarizing – in the 2004 election our office was very, very tense.
I am a minimalist in life. Especially with cell phones and mini computers and the like. Two photos per desk, must be in frames. Two comic strips or one comic and one inspirational saying per deak.
I think clutter looks bad. You have cell phones and netbooks (or iPads) for your photos and inspirational sayings.
You know, that was my first thought. But when I set it up to link directly to a full-screen version, and I tested the link, what I saw was a computer screen filled with a picture of a naked woman. I know it’s art, and as I said, it was pretty much the only thing you saw when you walked into my father’s office. But to the co-worker or boss giving it a casual glance as they walk by your cubicle, it might not be so clear. I’d rather be safe and not cause anyone unnecessary problems.
This works for me. Occasionally I have to work at my boss’s computer and her desk is covered with knick-knacks – pens with feathers, figurines with cute sayings, strings of beads, stickers, framed photos, etc. Same with the bookcases and counters. She frequently complains of feeling overwhelmed and jangly (and that she can never find anything) and I wonder if some of it is due to that cluttered environment. My other boss keeps a clean workspace and always seems calm and on top of things.
I like things neat, and I also get flustered when surrounded by clutter, and if I was in charge, workspace decoration would be minimal.
I am in charge (of my department at least), and I let people decorate however they like. Only request is that there is nothing showing that would offend a client (or Senior Management guys like me).
We have photos, toys, paintings, etc. There is a radio - I let the team determine what to play (I have an office - they are in cubicles outside of my office).
We spend more waking hours in the office than anywhere else - make it comfortable.
I would go with nothing religious, political, pornographic, health hazard, or generating noise or smells. As long as they aren’t meeting with clients in their workspace, it doesn’t matter to me so long as it doesn’t interfere with their work or the other employee’s work.
IN your cube is OK. ON your cube is NOT.
I work in a cubicle farm… one cubicle near me has what must be 50 PEZ dispensers on top of the cubicle wall looking all around.
