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August 3, 2005
What Your Workspace Says About Your Personality
Is your cubicle blanketed with Post-it notes or neat as a pin? Do you prominently display or discreetly position family photographs? Psychology Today says your work area can reveal a thing or two about you:
It's something we're taught from early childhood: Don't judge a book by its cover. Don't rush to judgment. Avoid stereotyping.
That said, it seems like we just can't help ourselves. A recent issue of Psychology Today, as reported in this blog item, claims that people may be making certain assumptions about your personality based on your work area's appearance. According to two experts--Sam Gosling, a personality researcher at the University of Texas, Austin, and Meredith Wells, a psychologist at East Kentucky University--the following cubicle mainstays may be communicating certain things to your supervisors, bosses and co-workers:
Plants and foliage: Well-tended plants hint at a person who intends to stick around.
Post-it notes: A deluge indicates a person who feels in over his or her head.
Time and time again: Task-oriented people tend to be conscious of the time and often have a time piece on hand. Clock lovers are usually thorough and hardworking.
Family photographs: Psychologists haven't reached a consensus on this one, with some saying family photos are a status symbol and others maintaining they're displayed out of guilt from too much time spent in the office or to genuinely remind one of beloved family members. How they're displayed could provide clues. If they're facing visitors, they could be for show. If oriented toward the person, motivations are more personal.
Sweet offerings: This could be a bowl of candy or anything that entices others to enter the work area. Extroverts tend to have this cubicle feature, while introverts tend to avoid placing anything that could give others an extra reason to stop by.
Motivation plaques, posters, etc.: This indicates engagement in the job and a desire to stay motivated.
Posters of famous people or historical figures: Hints at values and aspirations.
Degree of personalization: The amount of personalizing (for example, decorating) a worker does to the space signifies how comfortable he or she is in the environment. A high degree indicates that they're secure enough to put a personal stamp on the space.
Neatness: We may try to mask untidiness by dumping items in drawers but psychologists assert that this personality trait is very resistant to change. "No matter how hard people try to clean up, usually they can never fully hide their true nature." A spick-and-span work area suggests a neat and organized individual.
Just bare: Empty work spaces hint at a person with little status in the company and who likely is not committed to his or her job.
Do you agree with these interpretations?
Source:
Stereotyping Your Office
Open Loops, July 4, 2005
hwebbjr.typepad.com/openloops/2005/07/stereotyping_yo.html
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29 CommentsWhile I agree with the personalization of the office, some "cluttered" offices are organized for the occupant.
August 3, 2005 12:52 PMIt seems like the business world wants their workers to be able to multi-task, work on and accomplish many things at one time. However, if there are papers, notes, magazines, etc. all over the place, it signifies a lack of attention and unorganization. When in fact it could be a sign that the person has all of this work under control and prefers to be able to see it at a moments notice. For the creatives of the business world, this is almost a requirement. One never knows when and how inspiration will strike. Many times my eyes have passed over something that has been sitting on my desk for two weeks, and all of the sudden, inspiration strikes and it falls together like a well planned project.
The old sayings are still true today: Don't judge a book by its cover. Don't rush to judgment. Avoid stereotyping.
I recently read a simiular articale about work space, all I know is when I displayed a picture of my family it wasn't to long afterwards I got laid off so now they stay at home. My only other comment is that cleaning people like the neat and clean desks best,less to move, than those gotta have everything they ever collected on thier desks.
August 3, 2005 1:11 PMWell, it is great to be nice and neat, but in the
environment that I live in, if your work area is
neatly organized, this signifies that you have way too much time on your hands. I work in a small company that is very fast-paced, and we are constantly changing to meet the needs of our customers. Performing Engineering/Design, along with multitasking/document shuffling, and the need to have many mfg or purchased parts across my desk, leave my office looking like a typical work shop. If I spent the time to put everything in place and keep my area neat, I could not meet due dates. Where I come from, you are judged by how well you perform and if you meet due dates. Also by accuracy. Neat and organized doesn't get the job done. The problem here is that one cannot necessarily associate organization with productivity. Those who do, IMHO, are narrow-minded.
It's always been my opinion that time spent clearing off my desk is far better spent doing something that either saves or makes my company money.
I doubt we've ever made a dime's profit off being able to see my desk at the end of the day.
August 3, 2005 2:04 PMI have a sign on my desk that reads: "If a cluttered desk signifies a cluttered mind, What does an empty desk signify?"
August 3, 2005 2:06 PMMy father used to say, "A cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind." Then he would tell me to clean up. It worked until I was 14 and then I figured it out.
If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind then an empty desk is a sign of...
August 3, 2005 3:00 PMIt would be interesting to see if a person with a cluttered desk has a cluttered car and a cluttered house.
I would bet most do.
August 3, 2005 3:43 PMI have a sign on my desk that reads: "If a cluttered desk signifies a cluttered mind, What does an empty desk signify?"
In an under staffed office and governmental deadlines its extremely difficult to maintain a clean desk. As for a messy home and car, don't... judge a book by its desk!!
August 4, 2005 9:57 AMWhen my co-workers exclaim "What a neat cubical. You must not have many assignments." I point to the computer monitor and say "Don't look in there." I am a CAD design technician and keep my un-organization out of sight. Counters and desks were designed for your use and not intended as a long term storage area.
August 4, 2005 3:17 PMMy desk is cluttered. My computer is not.
I wear a lot of different hats. A lot of stuff comes in that would be nice to look at, if I have time (someday) I will look at it. If it gets dusty without being looked at then it goes to the circular file. I use a relaxed 3 stack system. The first stack has to be completed, the second should be if possible and the third, it would be nice to complete that but no one is complaining about that stack so every once in a while it just gets (or parts of it) dumped.
I keep several applications open in my computer and constantly switch back and forth between them. That is organization.
August 5, 2005 8:35 AMIn the workplace I am involved in product development, so in keeping with the creative personality type my desk is a disaster. At home however, I am much happier with a spotless house. I don't mind working in clutter, but I don't want to live in it.
August 8, 2005 8:37 AMAs is always true, when you make broad generalities you leave remarkable room for contrary examples.
In reading the comments prior to this, I am amazed at the need for those with the "cluttered desk" to make excuses for their work style. To the gentleman
whose work "is judged by how well you perform", I have some news that may startle you. Most capable upper management involved in evaluation are as concerned as much with what you COULD DO as with what you do! Saying that neat and organized doesn't get the job done...how would you know? Now who is "narrow minded". Regarding the comform taken by those who choose to hide in the often stated "if a cluttered desk signifies a cluttered
mind..what does an empty desk signify?" It signifies nothing...empty is not the opposite of
cluttered...perhaps uncluttered or organized or clean are better choices...but that would come from an uncluttered thought process, one not trying to justify a subconciously undesired trait.
Trying one size fits all just does not apply here
anymore than any other place....One of history's most famous photos of the century's most organized
mind is set in a horrid mess of an office..it was
Albert Einstein's office. Another example is an office where I am employed...the leader in messy desks...who "knows where everything is and it's all current" has a piece of paper in a stack that was dated and placed there three years ago and it hasn't seen daylite nor moved since! I personally can not work efficiently that way...but maybe others can. But I am continually reminded that in business most of us rise to the level of our incompentcy. Don't let your cluttered style be excused by what you accomplish....but wonder what you COULD ACCOMPLISH with a little organization.
Me, I am organized to a fault. But if I am not, nothing gets accomplished. I am a researcher for a small business newspaper. Along with a mulitude of other duties. If your desk is cluttered, where do you work? Now I have a co-worker whose desk scares me. Looks like everything is about to come down, and I mean everything. It works for her, but would make me insane...my opinion is it takes more effort to work in a mess than at a clean desk. Besides, who wants to face all of that on a Monday morning?
February 28, 2006 7:59 PMI have had a cluttered desk for all of my working career.
During the last five years, I have added a cluttered floor. Almost everyone who comes into my office is startled. It looks really bad. I've tried cleaning it up, but that's never worked.
Over the past few years I've spent time analyzing it, and I think I've come up with the reason for this "filing system". I am very, very busy. Working on a lot of things, and I do mean a lot, at the same time. I am in a manufacturing environment, and the priorities of the things I work on changes almost daily.
Occasionally, the person who cleans our offices will "help me out" and stack things in neat piles. Whenever this happens I get extremely anxious and I have to look through the piles and separate things out into a clutter. Why? Well, here's what I've come to realize. By seeing small pieces of different papers I am constantly reminded of what's out there to do. When it's in a nice neat pile, I can't see any piece of anything except the one thing that's on top. I am strongly convinced that this is how my system works. When something's not active, there's no problem filing it away. I suspect that almost everyone who has a cluttered workspace is using it.
I am an extremely organized person, but the clutter persists, and I realize now that it is organized. I used to worry about it, but now I don't. I really think that are a lot of people who can't imagine how many things you can be actively working on --- usually in your mind --- at one time. When the time comes to activate a particular task, I do know where the paper is --- approximately --- and it's easy to retrieve.
May 20, 2007 8:12 PM
