Shared Office Space - I have worked in a number of offices in different sorts of environments. There’s one thing I know definitely and that is that I much prefer to have my own office than to have shared office space. I like my own space, where I can think and conduct telephone conversations in peace. When I’m working, I don’t like to be interrupted.
In the 1970s, a Japanese style of business was all the vogue. The shared office space, in the sense of everyone being in an open plan office, was a Japanese idea. It was supposed to break down the barriers, physically and metaphorically, between bosses and workers. The idea was to remove any sense of hierarchy and to build a team spirit. You shared the same office as the boss, sat in the same canteen at lunchtimes and everyone was supposed to be equal. This shared office space concept really took off.
It suited some people, especially those who needed the constant contact with colleagues. Admittedly, there were some laughs and good natured banter amongst the staff. For me, there was a downside. Sometimes the noise level would go up, as a result of fifteen of us being there, and I found it difficult to concentrate or even hear what the person at the other end of the phone was saying.
You couldn’t remove yourself from any emotional trauma that may be going on. The desk next to mine was manned by a young lady who spent the best part of the month crying. She kept breaking up with her boyfriend and would make continuous personal telephone calls to make up with him. This inevitably ended in tears. It’s hard to talk to a client when you have sobbing, a foot to the right of you. A shared office space of course meant shared responsibilities. There were always arguments as to whose turn it was to water the rubber plants or close the venetian blinds.
I found it all very draining and wearing on my nerves. I had been used to my own office up to this point and I just wanted it back. I didn’t want to sit near the boss in our wonderful shared office space or in the canteen. Some of us actually wanted to talk about the boss and not always favorably. Ranting about the boss is, after all, one of the perks of going out to work. It’s therapeutic and this pleasure had been taken away from us. I wanted him to be in his box and me to be in mine. I’m just not civilized enough for shared office space.
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