Author Topic: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work  (Read 9935 times)

JoJo

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #50 on: January 31, 2020, 06:38:16 PM »
I heard from a little birdie that there are 354 desks and 350 employees plus a few contractors... so just short of having a desk for everyone.  But still... this idea that you can have a desk on consecutive days makes so much sense.   So I asked on the execs, the response was "well, what if someone thinks they're coming in on consecutive days but then they're sick or kids are sick"... really... that's their best argument? 

Systems101

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #51 on: January 31, 2020, 07:00:26 PM »
So my company went to no assigned desks at work a year ago.  They call it "dynamic workspace"

I was put in this situation also about a year ago.  I found another job (at much better pay) and quit.  In my exit interview, I was blunt and listed the open office as the main reason.  The HR team kind of already knew, as I wasn't the first one out the door after the change.

iris lily

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #52 on: January 31, 2020, 07:16:10 PM »
I would’ve loved, theoretically, an employee practice that says we  can’t bring  personal shit and spread it all over kingdom come on desks and floor spaces and etc. 

But the business of adjusting chairs and monitors to suit you makes sense because that is a productivity issue.Also some of my employees had chairs that were specifically purchased for them and their stated needs.

It doesn’t seem like a big deal to me to keep your coffee cup in your locker where you can pick it up daily and deposit it at the end of the day.

I say “theoretically “because this would be too disturbing for the average employee, so I would not favor it real life just in my head because I had to regularly peel stupid glitter stickers off of peoples’ monitors before IT yelled at me, get rid of people’s crap when they left employment, etc.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2020, 04:00:43 PM by iris lily »

TomTX

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #53 on: February 01, 2020, 05:45:26 AM »
There are days when I want to pound my head against the wall from my state government employer's bureaucratic nonsense. 

Then I read about this kind of corporate management crap and I feel much better.  At least I've got walls of my own upon which to bang my head.

My state government employer has bought into this bullshit and is building a whole new campus to implement it in the roughest area of Austin. Everyone is getting consolidated there - even the building that the state owns and is only 15 years old.

Except the upper management. They're keeping the plush individual offices in their current building, plus personal "Executive assistants."

Metalcat

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #54 on: February 01, 2020, 06:37:51 AM »
With the nature of my work, all of our work stations and desks are shared. My assistant directs me where to go and work at any given moment. I have a desk I generally work at, but if it's not free, I'll grab whatever computer is available and login.

I make sure to wear a jacket with a lot of pockets so that I can carry the various things I need with me.

TomTX

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #55 on: February 01, 2020, 09:25:35 AM »
With the nature of my work, all of our work stations and desks are shared. My assistant directs me where to go and work at any given moment. I have a desk I generally work at, but if it's not free, I'll grab whatever computer is available and login.

I make sure to wear a jacket with a lot of pockets so that I can carry the various things I need with me.

Hopefully the new campus won't be so damn hot so that I can wear my travel vest...

If I stick around that long. I've got a couple of years - and every other state agency will be a shorter commute. My new position explicitly calls attention to my very transferable skills. Or I can try to get a job in the executive building and at least keep a cube ;) I have options. There has already been a significant uptick in qualified people bailing out as they find a good position elsewhere. Heck, my new position resulted in large part from the move fracas - old position was "butts in seats, 5 days a week" - new position has 2 days/week telecommute, likely to go up from there when consolidation happens.

use2betrix

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #56 on: February 01, 2020, 03:43:49 PM »
Prior to my current role, I always had my own desk. I would keep the standard things in there, pens, notepad, maybe some snacks, protein, etc. Since I my own desk, I also always had tons of hard copies of things related to work. Code books, project specifications, etc.

In my current role, I was originally had my own desk at our company headquarters and two different engineering offices. Now I have my own desk at headquarters, one job site, then some floating desks shared with others at other locations.

While I still have a couple of my own desks, I keep them very bare since I am never at any one consistently. I am at a minimum of 3 desks per week. This has forced me to digitize everything, and only bring with each day what I can keep in my backpack and lunch box. It took a lot of getting used to because I have always been very much a “hard copy guy” but now that it’s forced me to digitize everything, it’s been insanely more efficient.

This doesn’t totally help your case, but it is somewhat similar. Try and enjoy the benefit of minimizing everything you would typically need at work during the day, into what you can easily take with and bring home.

seattlecyclone

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #57 on: February 01, 2020, 04:44:52 PM »
Office space is legitimately expensive, so companies have every incentive to make the most efficient use of it. The problem is that the reduction in office space requirements due to a new configuration is concrete and easy to qualify, while the change in productivity is much fuzzier.

My gut feeling tells me that hot-desking could be worth it for an employee population that is out of their desk more days than not (many sales roles, remote workers, etc.), or where you have multiple shifts of workers. For someone who is expected to be in their desk most every day, the potential savings from hot-desking just aren't that great. The idea that someone who plans to be in the office the next business day can avoid putting their stuff away seems to be a perfectly fair compromise. If you're relying on vacant desks from unplanned absences in order to accommodate everyone in the office that day, you're probably playing things a bit close to capacity.

JoJo

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #58 on: February 03, 2020, 09:58:14 AM »
100% hot desking makes sense.  Since I’m part time and out approximately 40% of the year, I agree I don’t need a permanent desk.  But if I’m going to be in the office for 20 business days in a row, why can I not claim a desk and keep it for that period of time, and leave a few items there? 

JLee

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #59 on: February 03, 2020, 10:09:00 AM »
As for immediately quitting, I really need to stick it out for 2 months... two months pay + bonus which is only paid if you're still here in late March is enough to pay for a year of travel.  I was hoping to go out on good standing and give a couple months notice but this might be the thing that puts me over the edge.

When you give your notice you could say it's two weeks unless you get your own desk - then they can have a couple of months for the transition.

Gronnie

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #60 on: February 03, 2020, 01:18:46 PM »
The open concept lab space and to a lesser extent no assigned workspaces thing was a thing in tech for awhile that has since been proven to fail miserably. It's been shown to drastically reduce workplace productivity.

Lady SA

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #61 on: February 03, 2020, 01:40:49 PM »
My company does not hot desk (thank god). but as an idea to cut down on the trips back and forth to the locker, can you use a tray (I'm thinking almost like one of those serving trays you see in some people's houses) that holds most of your stuff that you would leave out (like your coffee mug, mouse, keyboard, etc), and then move that tray around? It's like a psychological thing, you can claim that your stuff isn't set up at a desk and therefore you aren't claiming it, but you are keeping your required materials close at hand and all together to start your days.

Perhaps leave the tray on or under a desk (but you aren't necessarily claiming that desk), or if there is a common area in or near your team's neighborhood you could leave your tray there. Or maybe on a windowsill or counter or something? Then you can grab the tray, set it at a workspace, then go to your locker just once for the necessities like your laptop.

startingsmall

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #62 on: February 04, 2020, 04:44:56 PM »
I'm a veterinarian. At my job, we have two seated computer workstations that have to be shared between the 2 doctors and 3-5 vet assistants that work together on any given today. It frustrates the heck out of me not to be able to leave anything at work (snacks, tampons, etc.) and definitely negatively impacts my feelings towards work and my productivity.

middo

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #63 on: February 04, 2020, 05:24:41 PM »
My company does not hot desk (thank god). but as an idea to cut down on the trips back and forth to the locker, can you use a tray (I'm thinking almost like one of those serving trays you see in some people's houses) that holds most of your stuff that you would leave out (like your coffee mug, mouse, keyboard, etc), and then move that tray around? It's like a psychological thing, you can claim that your stuff isn't set up at a desk and therefore you aren't claiming it, but you are keeping your required materials close at hand and all together to start your days.

Perhaps leave the tray on or under a desk (but you aren't necessarily claiming that desk), or if there is a common area in or near your team's neighborhood you could leave your tray there. Or maybe on a windowsill or counter or something? Then you can grab the tray, set it at a workspace, then go to your locker just once for the necessities like your laptop.

I have seen something similar to this at my work.  Unfortunately our cleaners are under instruction to remove anything off benches, off the tops of lockers, on desks etc. and put them in "the cupboard".  It is a form of shaming that is unreasonable in my opinion, and does make it difficult at times. 

My computer had to update (do not turn off) and had been doing so for an hour when I left work at 5:00 pm.  Most leave around 4:00pm, so I just left the laptop plugged in and updating.  In the morning it was in "the cupboard", but the updates had not completed.  I had to see IT to get it fixed so it worked, and wasted half a days productivity because of it.

JoJo

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #64 on: February 05, 2020, 11:21:48 AM »

I have seen something similar to this at my work.  Unfortunately our cleaners are under instruction to remove anything off benches, off the tops of lockers, on desks etc. and put them in "the cupboard".  It is a form of shaming that is unreasonable in my opinion, and does make it difficult at times. 


Holy cow... this reminds me of something else that is terrible at work... so they clean out the refrigerators every Friday night and they throw the stuff away, no matter what it is.  So one Friday I brought in lunch in a nice, reusable lunch pack and inside was a bowl that was a gift from my now deceased grandma.  But there was a special surprise lunch and unfortunately, I forgot to take my prepared lunch home.  So by Monday, everything was gone.  I was so sad to lose that bowl... literally in tears. 

So on Monday I asked facilities if there was any way the garbage might still be in the building and their only response was "Tough, it's your fault you left something there on Friday"
« Last Edit: February 05, 2020, 11:23:29 AM by JoJo »

slappy

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #65 on: February 06, 2020, 06:36:19 AM »

I have seen something similar to this at my work.  Unfortunately our cleaners are under instruction to remove anything off benches, off the tops of lockers, on desks etc. and put them in "the cupboard".  It is a form of shaming that is unreasonable in my opinion, and does make it difficult at times. 


Holy cow... this reminds me of something else that is terrible at work... so they clean out the refrigerators every Friday night and they throw the stuff away, no matter what it is.  So one Friday I brought in lunch in a nice, reusable lunch pack and inside was a bowl that was a gift from my now deceased grandma.  But there was a special surprise lunch and unfortunately, I forgot to take my prepared lunch home.  So by Monday, everything was gone.  I was so sad to lose that bowl... literally in tears. 

So on Monday I asked facilities if there was any way the garbage might still be in the building and their only response was "Tough, it's your fault you left something there on Friday"

I've lost many a good tupperware in this manner. They only do it once a month at my work though. I'm so sorry you lost such a sentimental item. :(

Retire-Canada

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #66 on: February 06, 2020, 10:59:41 AM »
Does anyone else have no assigned desks?

I nearly thought not having my own office with a door that locked was a deal breaker when I took my current contract. I ended up with privacy walls and nobody else within 20' of me so I got over it.

I'm with other posters in that I would quit before dealing with what you are describing. I'd never get anything done and I don't need the aggravation.

JoJo

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #67 on: February 07, 2020, 04:58:00 PM »
Well, my desk squatting (leaving my stuff at night) has come to an end... here's the memo they just sent out... I swear they are doing this to spite me... I am planning my escape as we speak, likely to be sooner than later now...


Hi,

In the spirit of dynamic working, we are adjusting the way we organize our workstations. For rest of the year we will be blending the 3 department's neighborhoods into one space. This means that you are welcome to sit in any workstation available when you arrive that meets your needs for the day.

Additionally the Project Space will be reduced by 3 workstations so that the other department's heads down working area will have more space. So if you have heads down, quiet work to do, we know they are happy to share space with us if available.

Please remember that unless you have an assigned desk at the end of each day you should be removing your personal items and cleaning the space for the next working day.

Let any of us know if you have any questions at all,

Happy Friday!

VP's names here, like they're being so friendly to all of us

Retire-Canada

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #68 on: February 07, 2020, 05:40:01 PM »
Fuckers! ;-)

JoJo

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #69 on: February 07, 2020, 09:06:40 PM »
Well, it took me over 10 minutes to take down my desk today.  Every time I thought I had it all packed, I found something else.

And then this crazy thing... we're supposed to wipe down our desks, but our building "went green" in january, meaning they took away our garbage cans so the plastic liners aren't used.  So instead, we have to walk 6 desks away to get a highly toxic desk wipe, then wipe down our desk, then walk half way thru to  the middle of the floor to throw away the wipe at one of the only 2 places on the floor to dispose of garbage.   and according to an online search, most of these wipes contain plastic, and the wipes come in a big plastic can - at 80 per can we easily go thru a can every couple days.

I really think this is the last straw. 

Shwaa

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #70 on: February 08, 2020, 10:17:23 AM »
My GF works at a Big 4 (accounting firm).  She just started last Fall.  This is exactly how it's set up. She hates it and I can see why

ender

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #71 on: February 08, 2020, 10:21:32 AM »
Just start working from home.

sixwings

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #72 on: February 08, 2020, 11:04:47 AM »
My old job did this. It's crap really. It's just a good way for the CEO to walk around and say words like "dynamic" and "collaborative workspaces" before going back to her private office in a different building that has only her office.

Luckily I dont work there anymore.

JoJo

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #73 on: February 09, 2020, 07:46:12 PM »
The silver lining... I've been OMYing the last couple years.  After spreadsheeting and thinking this weekend I now have plans to for sure retire by July at the latest. 

yachi

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #74 on: February 10, 2020, 08:44:43 AM »


Please remember that unless you have an assigned desk at the end of each day you should be removing your personal items and cleaning the space for the next working day.


What's it take to make it on this magical list?
Also:
https://www.displayfakefoods.com/store/pc/Coffee-To-Go-Cup-Spilled-p485.htm?gclid=Cj0KCQiAm4TyBRDgARIsAOU75sphr2gt2qgVzs2vAz6ciYwBsDCf8YwNqoTe_lxyzww6hv0PWUwuPLYaAoX9EALw_wcB

MayDay

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #75 on: February 10, 2020, 10:10:08 AM »


Please remember that unless you have an assigned desk at the end of each day you should be removing your personal items and cleaning the space for the next working day.


What's it take to make it on this magical list?
Also:
https://www.displayfakefoods.com/store/pc/Coffee-To-Go-Cup-Spilled-p485.htm?gclid=Cj0KCQiAm4TyBRDgARIsAOU75sphr2gt2qgVzs2vAz6ciYwBsDCf8YwNqoTe_lxyzww6hv0PWUwuPLYaAoX9EALw_wcB

Why not act as though you are on the list? If someone asks why you are leaving your stuff out:

JoJo: "oh, I'm on the list of people who get to have their own cubicle".

CW: no you aren't, only XYZ get to have their own cubicle

JoJo: oh maybe so but I'm on the list"

CW: no you aren't

Jojo: no I really do think I am but honestly this is silly, let's talk about work related thing

Just act obtuse and like you think you are on the list. What are they going to do? (Of course I'd make sure the stuff you are leaving put is not something you'll be upset about if they throw away).

If someone senior to you does check the list and tells you you aren't on it, you can probably keep the innocent shtick going for a while, saying you thought you had an understanding with your manager and you aren't sure why you wouldn't be on the list, and you'll schedule a meeting for you, your manager, and them, but drat it all it'll take two weeks to get that on everyone's schedule, so in the meantime you'll just leave your stuff where it is because you really do Need to have your own desk. Smile. Nod.

JoJo

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #76 on: February 10, 2020, 12:02:11 PM »
Our department is small enough to know who's on the list.  And apparently upper management has plenty of time to spend hours talking about and taking pictures of violators because there's nothing else to do .

Here4theGB

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #77 on: February 10, 2020, 12:21:02 PM »
And apparently upper management has plenty of time to spend hours talking about and taking pictures of violators because there's nothing else to do .
Sounds about right.

yachi

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #78 on: February 10, 2020, 02:07:32 PM »
What about an AV cart, gardening cart, or rusted shopping cart you can put your things in?  You could keep it near your desk while working and just push it away from the desks at the end of the night.  Push it to the next desk when you get there in the morning.  You can equip it with:
Candy
Tissues
Lysol
a small trashcan with plastic grocery bag liner (for the tissues & disinfectant wipes)
Reference books
Pictures of loved ones

TomTX

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #79 on: February 10, 2020, 02:55:27 PM »
If you're actually FI - the rusty, squeaky shopping cart sounds like quite the plan.

middo

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #80 on: February 16, 2020, 03:20:18 PM »
Another pet peeve about not having assigned desks and being in an "open plan" office area.  If you want some privacy to get some work done, you put the headphones on and get going.  Everyone understands this.  No-one bothers you unless it is vitally urgent.

But it turns out that some people think all sorts of unimportant crap is vitally urgent, and they need to interrupt me now to talk about something that doesn't affect my work or theirs.

JoJo

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #81 on: March 30, 2020, 06:36:12 PM »
Ha!  How this thread has aged!  We've been home for more than 2 weeks, one of the coworkers has tested positive for COVID.  They were in the office up to two days before they closed it.  As far as I know that person has mostly recovered and no reports of other people getting it.

Dave1442397

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #82 on: March 31, 2020, 08:57:30 AM »
Next step: Companies realize how much money they can save by shutting down their stupid open plan office buildings and just letting us all stay at home.

dodojojo

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Re: Do You Have No Assigned Desks at Work
« Reply #83 on: April 01, 2020, 11:48:47 AM »
Dozens to hundreds of employees playing musical desks every day doesn't seem like such a great idea now.