PUBLISHING DATE: MARCH 2014
(Original Submission)
WORKSPACE ANATOMY: WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT YOU?
Your co-workers gawk at you from head to toe, making assumptions of who you are just with the way you dress or talk. Welcome to a universal, interminable office culture. Admit it, you’re guilty of doing the same. Why? Our psychology is built to size people up from impressions. But wait, officemates have even gone as far as checking out your cubicle too?! Experts say that everything in your workplace communicates your capability, productivity, and sociability. Here’s a guide on decoding common workspaces that can help foster effective interactions and a healthier professional environment.
The Hoarder
Telltale Indications:
Your officemates can't distinguish snot-filled tissues from crumpled receipts covering a heap of, errr, paper? Books, magazines, and files are everywhere. Half-eaten food packs and unwashed coffee mugs are strewn across the desk. Posters, inspirational notes, and reminders are tacked on the walls. Looking for that invoice or memo from two months ago is definitely going to be a scavenger hunt.
Personality Profiling:
You're spirited and people like listening to your lively stories. From this you contribute ideas instrumental for creative projects. You love to volunteer in different committees. However, you’re not detail-oriented. Your unceasing chatter might produce unsolicited advice. The long emails are boring the hell out of your professional peers also.
The Hard-at-Work
Telltale Indications:
Framed diplomas and awards are proudly suspended on the walls. A planning calendar is the center of the desk, while tons of paperwork surrounds it in organized piles. Family photos or child art are placed discreetly on a corner. You prefer an ergonomic, comfortable desk chair for swiftly working and moving around your space. You beg to be taken seriously.
Personality Profiling:
You’re direct to the point, which your colleagues find refreshing when things must get down to business. You're a quick thinker and you have strong opinions that make you into a solid leader. This candor and your habit to interrupt conversations, though, may be misinterpreted.
The Organized Chaos
Telltale Indications:
Your co-workers have no idea what goes where, and they tend to approach with caution when looking to borrow something in particular, like a stapler. But you know exactly where it is. Your desk may be cluttered but you have a system, a mind map, that decodes it. Personal items, photos, sketches, notes, and mementos are conspicuous on your desk and walls. You’ve undoubtedly stamped the space with your individuality.
Personality Profiling:
You're quite considerate and friendly. You put your clients at ease with small talk and informality. You're known to be a thoughtful team-player. You can be too casual at times though, which can irk your multi-tasking, time-constrained colleagues and bosses.
The Neat Freak
Telltale Indications:
It's obvious from the first look: anyone entering must revere the consecrated space. The desk is clear of any disorder except for a tidy pile of the most recent project documents. There are labels, color-coded even, for every compartment and folder. Job-related information is affixed neatly on walls. This isn't the workplace where your associates can just grab a pen without asking for permission first.
Personality Profiling:
You're analytical. You value presentations that show research and objective data. You work with a schedule and prefer to take on projects explained in detail with a clear timeline. You sometimes come off as too systematic, wherein a slight change in plans can send you in a sudden tantrum.
SIDEBAR:
Get Organized
Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, author of The Well-Ordered Office, shares four principles for organization:
1. Start Where You Are
Accept your natural style and how you like to do things. Your organizing system should make intuitive sense to you.
2. Have What You Need
Understand the type of work that you do and what supplies are needed for your tasks.
3. Use Active Storage
Set-up your workspace with wasting minimal effort in carrying tasks in mind. Store the supplies you most frequently need at hand.
4. Get Rid of Clutter
Work with your style. Examples of decluttering are throwing away things you don’t need, using a filing cabinet, installing a bulletin board for papers, and utilizing containers.
