Workplace Challenges
Decorating a desk can be an adventure in inter-office politicsDesk decor etiquetteAt the beginning of a job, it's just a flat surface: bare, untouched, undeveloped; if you're lucky, it's even clean. ANNIE FLANZRAICH |
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 [ 2007-10-01 ] |
But transforming an empty desk into a visual representation of an employee's personality and professional competence is not an easy task, according to business etiquette experts and environmental psychologists.
Every detail can provide an insight -- or a distressing revelation -- into work ethic and ambition.
"You should dress your office with the same kind of attention you dress yourself," says Beverly Kaye, a human resources guru and author of Love 'em or Lose 'em: Getting Good People to Stay (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2002).
Some studies show decorative employees are more satisfied at work. According to a survey of 338 workers conducted by Meredith Wells, a professor at Eastern Kentucky University, employees who are able to personalize their desk are happier at their jobs.
"If you personalize, you're going to be more satisfied with your work environment, and the more satisfied with your job you are, you'll have a higher level of well-being," Wells says.
Not all workplaces may agree with that of course.
Kaye says she knew of one company that allows employees 13 personal items on their desk at a time.
Decorations also must be considerate of others, she says.
"Imagine you're someone else walking into your office and run that simulation through. See what unnerves you or what bothers you," Kaye says.
Picking the wrong candy dish, packing every wall with awards or having an empty bookshelf could estrange colleagues and supervisors alike.
Here are some of the experts' most precarious office ornaments:
THE CANDY DISH:
Sure it looks innocently inviting, that open bowl of primary-coloured M&Ms waiting to be munched by a procrastinating employee. But the candy bowl can actually be a strategic accessory.
"If you want people in and out, don't put food on your desk," says Barbara Pachter, author of New Rules Work: 79 Etiquette Tips, Tools, and Techniques to Get Ahead and Stay Ahead (Prentice Hall Press, 2006).
"But if you need people to come talk to you, it's a good way to lure people in."
Still, a candy dish is not always an open invitation.
LisaMarie Luccioni, a professor who teaches business etiquette at the University of Cincinnati, says her class had a lively discussion about appropriate candy behaviour.
"It could cause some potential confusion if someone doesn't want to share their candy," says Luccioni, who is also a certified image consultant in Ohio. "Someone could say, 'that woman ate my Hershey's kisses!'"
THE BOOKSHELF:
Pachter says bookshelves acquiring dust instead of titles could send a message to supervisors that an employee sees their role as transitional.
"We expect places to look like where work takes place," Pachter says.
She suggests including trade publications or books about topics related to an employee's field.
THE WALLS:
While a wall full of awards and accolades could testify to an employee's professionalism and achievements, it could also suggest a pretentious attitude, Luccioni says.
She once met a woman who covered every bare wall with an award or certificate. But instead of coming off as competent, she came off as intimidating, Luccioni said.
"Balance is a key aspect," Luccioni says.
Instead of including every certification and congratulations, Luccioni suggests displaying some key awards, degrees or received thank-you notes.
PHOTOS:
While a few carefully chosen photos can make someone more approachable, a dozen photos of every cat, dog and second-niece twice removed in your family, makes an office cluttered and disjointed.
"You want to look like a person who is serious and work gets done here," Pachter says. "Not someone who is taking family phone calls all day."
She said people should consider the message their photo is sending, especially if it involves extreme sports or scanty clothing.
"How much do you want people to know about you?" she says.
THE CELLPHONE:
It all depends on your company's culture. And if you're not sure what that is, it's better to err on the side safe rather than sorry.
Some like Andrew DuBrin, an environmental psychologist and professor emeritus at the Rochester Institute of Technology, says keeping cellphones out in the open is unacceptable.
"More and more companies are complaining about the misuse of cellphones," DuBrin says. "I think it's good to put that away."
But Kaye says it's OK to keep cellphones out if your company allows it, and you keep personal chatting to a minimum.
"I think every company has guidelines and a culture that goes all the way from extreme, thou shalt never leave thy cellphone in public, to come as you want," she says.
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KNICKKNACK NO-NOS
Before you plaster your cubicle with family photos, little Jimmy's artwork or a poster of Brad Pitt, consider what all those knickknacks say about your professionalism.
If more than one in five items in your office or cubicle are personal, you may be viewed as unprofessional, according to research conducted at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.
"There's this unspoken, but widely known idea, that it has to do with how you manage this work/non-work boundary," said professor Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, who conducted the research with colleagues Susan Ashford and Emily Heaphy of McGill University.
An aversion to blurring work and personal boundaries is largely an American phenomenon, he said. U.S. workers are expected to put aside personal matters upon walking through the office door, a result of a prevailing Protestant work ethic, Sanchez-Burks said.
In the study, 95 managers were given descriptions of professional and unprofessional workers. They were then asked to construct the office of each worker by placing stickers of dozens of items, from staplers to family photos to plants, onto images of an office. The researchers found that the professionalism of each worker was reflected in the proportion of objects that referenced their personal life.
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