Roblog

I walked there that day from my client's building where I work, several blocks from the Accenture office. I have an assigned office there, which was designed for one person, that I share with two other people. It has a nice floor-to-ceiling window (partially obscured by the cubicle furniture placed in there). My desk faces away from the window. It is faux-wood-grain cubicle furniture, with one above-desk shelf, an above-desk cabinet, two below-desk drawers, and a slide-out shelf for desk accessories.

Even though most of my documents are electronic, I use all my storage space for something. I have my paper recycling piles on my shelf (along with my Galilean thermometer), and I keep a few manuals in the cabinet. My file drawers hold some random electronic gear, my emergency umbrella, cans and bottles to recycle, salt, pepper, and some random utensils. My slide-out compartment has my pens, change, post-it notes, scissors, paper clips, a swiss-army knife, band-aids, and several kinds of medicine. My desktop itself, besides being where my computer, monitor, keyboard, and phone are placed, also has my hand lotion, tape dispenser, two coasters, and several of my personal decorations: a lava lamp, a colorful puzzle/toy, and a stress ball. I also have some animal magnets adorning the window above my desk (that leads to the hallway), a small metal sculpture taped to my window, and googly eyes on my phone. I also have a few items on the bulletin board panels just above my desk space: pictures of my daughters and a map of the tunnel system of Houston. There are a larger file drawers in the hallway, too. I have commandeered two drawers right outside my office for my drinks (I keep caffeine-free Pepsi and bottled water in there) and paper files that I rarely need but want to hang onto.

People like the lava lamp and the animal magnets the best. Some have just come in my office to comment on them, even people who don't know me! These little touches also make my space feel like mine. Not to mention I can keep things here from day to day (electronic doohickeys, pens and post-it notes, an umbrella, medicine) so I can use them when/if I need them.

There is a coffee area on my floor, which my office is geographically farthest from on the floor. It is pretty typical. I don't drink coffee, and only have tea on occasion, but I use the refrigerator regularly and snack machines once in a while. They stopped supplying caffeine-free black tea a few months back, so Donna got me some at the grocery store, which I now also keep in my desk drawer along with my mug I use for the tea.

The next day that something that had been percolating just below my conscious thought about my encounter with Laura came to me. I used to keep a jacket at my desk for when I was cold. My current office isn't cold, so I don't have one there. But I could, because it's my own space that no one else uses. Laura could not. She was cold because she didn't have a jacket at her desk, because her desk isn't really hers.

The new Accenture office is clean, visually interesting, and full of modern functionality. It is based on the premise, however, that most of the occupants are transient and don't need a desk there every day. It is similar to the "hoteling" concept, where you show up each day and reserve a space for that day. Although there are a few enclosed offices, people are expected to use the open areas unless they are in a sensitive call.

So without a space dedicated to yourself, you have to bring everything with you each day. If you think you might get cold, you'd need to bring a jacket. If you think it might rain, bring an umbrella. Do you have some files you need access to, bring those. What about your preferred drinks or special tea? Cart them in each day. If you might have a tummy ache, make sure you bring medicine for that. And what about the various personal items that makes work less antiseptic and more comfortable? All of that would have to be lugged in each day.

I can't argue with the rational, economic reasons for this arrangement. Many times, when I went to visit Laura in the old office (where she did have a dedicated office), her office was empty. She might have been on a trip, perhaps she was at a meeting, or maybe even working from home that day. The amount of space that was unutilized at any given time in that old office was substantial. In some areas, it was hard to find anyone occupying a desk.

I suspect the majority of the people who work at the new office don't work there full time. They have meetings with clients, off-site meetings to go to, working at remote locations for a week or two at a time, or working from home. Paying for office space that is left empty for a large amount of time must be unjustifiable. But how large is the cost to employee efficiency, productivity, or morale? Surely that was part of what Accenture thought about when preparing the new space, but I wonder if this was actually studied or measured. Was this impact accepted as not being great enough to justify the (presumably) large cost savings by being able to use a smaller office space?

Perhaps I am thinking too old-style. Certainly, there are many of my colleagues who do business anywhere they happen to be. For these people, a dedicated desk at the home office doesn't make much sense. I see the importance of my company keeping up with the modern and young employees' style of working, so I am willing to accept this new office paradigm. But I don't think I'd like it that much. I'd probably be lugging most of my stuff in each day (well, not my lava lamp), so that I could personalize the space where I happened to be that day.

I also have a nagging sensation that there may be something more at stake than even a slight dip in productivity or employee morale. I wonder if people would feel less connected to their group or company under this arrangement. I know my sense of team has kept me going during those times when the work was too onerous, frustrating, or unceasing to bear otherwise. Would I feel more like a commodity and less like a team member if I was sitting at a different place each day, and therefore less likely to stick with my company or team through the really difficult times? I'm not sure.

I think I'd probably be able to go with the flow. I'd probably find out several benefits to the new arrangement. Maybe I'd feel more connected to my company overall and energized, being among lots of other work and people each day. Perhaps the flexibility to work anywhere in the office at any given time would be a wonderful option. And certainly the new technology embedded in the office space (teleconference facilities, electronic whiteboards, software phones) would be enjoyable to use.

For now, though, it doesn't affect me directly. I still have my desk at the client that I show up at every day and is populated with all the things that help me feel settled. Someday, when my work arrangements change, I may appreciate the flexibility the new office provides. For now, though, I'm happy with my three-to-an-office space because it's mine.