From shelves lines with awards and certificates to desk littereds with bobble-heads and novelty souvenirs, they all reveal snippets of a colleagues’ personality.
For many workers, their desk is just a commodity that’s utilised to get their day job done, but in fact your personal workspace can reveal a lot about you. Introverts and extroverts often make themselves known without even realising it, and similarly, workspaces belonging to clean freaks and jokers are equally as obvious if you know what to look for.
Here are the seven things your workspace might reveal about you:
1. You don’t really like entertaining
If you’ve purposely positioned your desk to face away from your peers and the doorways where guests will enter, you probably don’t like to entertain. Pair this with the fact any nearby chairs are piled high with discarded documents and files so that no-one can sit down with you, your workspace is telling others that they’re not welcome to linger and shouldn’t stick around.
2. Your door is always open
Besides literally keeping your physical door open, there are a number of giveaway signs to indicate that you’re always happy to entertain. A dish full of sweets placed on the corner of your desk, a drawer full of painkillers and other first aid supplies, a number of chairs placed welcomingly around your workspace, and well-fed plants decorating any available surface. This is likely the place your colleagues flock to be.
3. You’re not planning on sticking around
You’ve got files piled up in boxes, your desk is lacking any kind of adornment, there’s no books on your shelves and not a plant or award to be seen. Either you’ve just been fired, or you’re planning on leaving very soon and don’t feel the need to spend time making yourself at home.
4. You take yourself very seriously
You’ve had all of your degrees and certificates professionally framed and they’ve been hung up in a perfect row behind your desk; your numerous awards have been polished to a ‘T’ and placed neatly on your shelves; the same shelves are full of magazines featuring articles either about you or that you’ve contributed to; your name plaque says your full name, title, and lists your qualifications. And as if that weren’t enough, your accomplishments are tastefully showcased in a Medal Display Case, adding another layer to your impressive array of achievements. But remember, while it’s important to take pride in your successes, humility and approachability go a long way in earning respect and building meaningful connections.
5. You’re just daydreaming about your next holiday
A few (office appropriate) holiday photos on your desk of your most recent trip abroad is perfectly acceptable, but a calendar dedicated solely to counting down the days to your next getaway (146 days) is a bit too much. Combined with the stack of cruise brochures piling up in your drawers, your workspace only serves to tell everybody else you’d much rather be anywhere but here.
6. You’re a super clean freak
A clean, tidy workspace is pleasant for anyone working in or around the area, but if you keep bottles of antibacterial spray in your drawers, your desk is piled high with packets of cleaning wipes and there’s not one single item out of place besides a stash of sanitiser, your workspace is verging on actually being sterile – and that’s intimidating.
7. You’re a bit of a joker
If your workspace is littered with humorous posters, novelty souvenirs, ironic bumper stickers and bobble-heads, you probably don’t take work too seriously. To some, this could portray you as a creative and light-hearted individual, to others it might indicate a lack of focus – particularly if on the desk of a financial type.
Getting to know your co-workers has never been easier – just look out for the giveaway signs listed above and you’ll get an overall idea of the people you’re working with.
