What kind of office space do you prefer?

[EmilieT]

Hey guys, 

Cubicles, open plan, hot desking, private offices, home office, no office at all ... there are a lot of different office setups possible, and environments to work in.

I imagine that more often than not, the job requirements, title, as well as the company culture plays a big role in the type of office space a company chooses and designs for their employees - but I'd like to hear your thoughts on it 

What kind of office space do you/did you work in? Is there a setup you personally prefer or don't find motivating at all? Any reason behind that?

[jonsie]

I was lucky enough for years to have my own office. In the days of working in customer service at O2 and at RBS I always had my own desk in open planned working areas. Much better than hot-desking because you could personalise your desks woith photos, various necessary office supplies etc. knowing that your desk is going to be in the same tidy order as you left it the night before when you get to work the next morning. Of course we had lockers for other supplies and to put away any data related documents at night. A tidy desk equals a tidy mind.

Hate the cubicle type offices because you feel penned in!

[EmilieT]

@jonsie Having you own office is quite a luxury indeed, was that in your days as a motor mechanic/manager of a franchised garage? 

I'm also not a big fan of cubicles or hot desking, and much prefer having my own space in an open plan type of office. Everyone spends so much time at work, it's nice to have a little space to "nest" in and give it a bit of a homey feel. 

I try to keep my desk tidy but it often gets crowded with mugs, snacks or post-it notes as the day goes  Any tips on how you kept your desk -and mind - tidy?

[jonsie]

Yes it was in the days of being a service manager of a franchised garage for 12 years @EmilieT 

ips for keeping your desk free of clutter? I have OCD so it wasn't a problem for me but I also had this :

and this:

[Chris_K]

Being an O2 employee, we have great tools and support available to us - one of them being the option of remote working since most of us use laptops, which is great if the weather is terrible, there's issues getting to the office, or if you're not feeling at your best.

When I'm in the office though, we've got nice big spacious open desks, multiple monitors to multi-task, and the dividers are 'curved' meaning you've got privacy, but can chat with your colleagues beside or opposite you. I can't speak for all of our offices, but that's true at least in our Glasgow and HQ office in Slough.

[Cleoriff]

A bit different for me in nursing.

Having said that, I always preferred the Nightingale type wards where my office was at the top of the ward and I could see all of my patients all of the time.

As a patient, some people prefer cubicles now, which afford them more privacy. However there are complaints that in cubicles you don't see many nurses if they are busy in other areas. That can be lonely for them.

When I moved into management, I had my own office. It was a large department and I had 3 secretarial staff in an open plan office. Each of them had their own desk and there was no sharing!

My office manager ran that  section like a sergeant major.

[Glory1]

When I worked in an office, I either had my own office or had a desk in an open plan office.h

I'll be honest, I preferred my own office to open plan. Because when I needed to concentrate, either because I was doing figures or typing a complex proposal, I could shut the door and cut out most of the noise: phones constantly ringing, people talking etc. 

I was fortunate never to have to hot desk. As a seceetary/administrator I had to have my own desk to be able to do my job. Our consultants often had to hot desk as their jobs required them to be in the 'field' helping companies setting up new accounting systems, new office computer systems or restructuring their company. So it was thought they didn't require a permanent office desk but, on the odd occasion they were in the office, they used whatever desk was free. 

Like @jonsie I had 3 trays on my desk; one for work coming in, one out tray for work done and paperwork required filing and one for urgent work that required immediate attention. I also had a key to my desk, as it had to be locked when I was away to lunch or visiting another department, and when I went home. I had sensitive information, including all the salaries, in one job, so none of it could be left lying around for prying eyes.

I don't have OCD but can't work in clutter. A place for everything and everything in it's place was my working rule. The only things on my desk were what I waa working on that minute. Everything else was either in one of my trays or locked away in my desk. And yes my desk was locked even when I was sitting at it. Consultants often went into secretaries desks for pens, paper etc and because of the information I held, I didn't want them rifling through mine. If they wanted something I had to give it to them, they could never help themselves.

Working in Waitrose was totally different. I was a cashier and on the till from the moment I arrived till I went home, with an hour off the till for lunch, and the occasional staff meeting.

[gmarkj]

The only times I have had my own office were if I had booked a room to work in for a project with a deadline.
The rest of the time I worked in a shared office with other people.
I have never had to hot desk either - I have had my own workspace at each role I have filled.
Being able to set things up as I want is a massive bonus - as with @Chris_K I use multiple monitors to make it easier to flick between files and/or perform analysis on data while updating what data I am pulling out.

[EmilieT]

@jonsie 

Nice, thanks for sharing those! I had never seen the side-screen paper holder, but it's an interesting concept. I can definitely see that being useful if I ever start using a monitor with my laptop 

@Chris_K 

That kind of flexibility is great to help maintain a healthy work-life balance 

@Cleoriff 

Three secretarial staff  More on topic, I hadn't thought about how the different office setups also apply in a way to the different ward setups as well i.e. cubicles or open plan. There are pros and cons to each I suppose 

@Glory1 

If an open plan office is really busy and noisy I can definitely understand the appeal of a private office space! It's interesting that you say your role made you exempt from hot desking while others had to. I had mostly come across scenarios where either everyone is hotdesking, or nobody is, for the sake of streamlining and equality, but this makes a lot of sense 

@gmarkj 

Hot desking seems to be rather unpopular so far  It's great you've always had the chance to have your own dedicated working space, especially if you use several monitors. If you were given the choice, would you prefer having a private office or would you remain in an open plan shared space? Just curious 

[Cleoriff]

@EmilieT 

Three secretarial staff, as I was responsible for the education and development of ALL hospital employees.

3,600 in total.

So one person looked after my training programmes for Nursing staff, and the other two looked after all the others. 

For nurses it was geared to their development. (Nurses had to re-register every three years and had to show evidence that they had undertaken training and education specific to their own area of expertise)

The other staff had training on Communications, Health and Safety and CPR. We did this on a rolling basis so it worked out every 18 months for training and updates.