Just when you think they're trying to RAISE morale...

[BeenThereDoneThat]

...they find a way to take it back down a few notches. OK, so I know we don't have assigned seats in my group, except for the leads/managers and a few unlucky people who got in trouble and have to sit near the boss (tee hee). But as we have been working over the past few months, there have been places we've found that we like to sit better than others, and it's been common practice to put personal stuff out on a desk, put up photos and your name, etc. It's still not YOUR desk but if you can sit there on a given day, at least it feels homey. Seemed like that was OK in the past, and we even had announcements warning people not to take others' personal belongings off desks.

Apparently someone must have made a stink now that we have all these new people on the floor...maybe they were afraid to sit at a desk that had a name tag on it, or some such. When I was new, if I couldn't find a desk that was physically unoccupied, I'd sit at a desk that was "claimed" by someone else or ask where I could sit. No big deal. Late this afternoon we get a message from one of the managers that says (paraphrasing - and some phrases were in red text):

"There are only 2 people who have assigned desks with their names on them. All other desks are for anyone's use. Remove all your personal belongings from these desks and make sure you log out of your computer after EVERY shift. We have new people on the floor and they have the right to sit anywhere they choose."

Well, duh! I don't remember seeing such an announcment being made when *my* training class came onto the floor in March. I had just found a desk that was vacated by someone who moved to another row (and she had, and still has, tons of personal stuff at her desk and she's not one of the "two people" either) and was starting to decorate it when I got that message today. I never would have taken offense at anyone sitting there when I wasn't there, even if they sat there earlier in the day and were still there when I get in at 1:30 PM. And really, I do understand the reasoning behind it. I guess it just hit me the wrong way. Somehow I think there's going to be a backlash against it too, or people just ignoring the "request" to remove their belongings...

[telecom_goddess]

I hate that kind of seating arrangement....it really is just a way to lower morale. I'm glad I have my own desk that no one else touches and it's got my stuff on it. If I have to plant my ass here for 8 hours a day I want it to be homey.

[dbuzman]

I agree with your work, No assigned seats and no personal belongings at the position means just that. It's not your companies fault that adults decided to break a rule.

[ArcticChicken]

I agree with your work, No assigned seats and no personal belongings at the position means just that. It's not your companies fault that adults decided to break a rule.

They weren't breaking the rules. 'No personal belongings' is a recent addition.

[rose_metal_nz]

Is it possible that someone told a newbie "you can't sit here, this is my seat! See this is my stuff!" ? Just wondering....

[emt_cookies]

I don't think it means no personal stuff at all. I read it as take your stuff home with you when you are done with your shift. I kind of agree with taking stuff home with you and not leaving it up constantly. I would be annoyed if I had to rearrange stuff because someone left their pictures/name tag/papers/whatever else up.

[BlaqueKatt]

If I have to plant my ass here for 8 hours a day I want it to be homey.

I worked in a cube farm-it was great sitting at someone else's desk with all their stuff, making it homey for them but very uncomfortable for me. I was there for 8 hours as well I just worked 3-11.

Is it possible that someone told a newbie "you can't sit here, this is my seat! See this is my stuff!" ? Just wondering....

Or something got moved or broken and the owner of said item got upset.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I talked to my boss about it today. It really is mostly about making the new people feel welcome. Like I said, I understood the reasoning behind it, it was just a bummer. I noticed today there weren't too many people taking personal things down, though...guess we'll have to see if management gets tough about it or not.

[telecom_goddess]

I worked in a cube farm-it was great sitting at someone else's desk with all their stuff, making it homey for them but very uncomfortable for me. I was there for 8 hours as well I just worked 3-11.

I'm sure that would have sucked, I wouldn't like it. But here we have our own desks and don't swap out ever so I"m the only person who has to deal with my stuff.

[dbuzman]

Sorry, the first paragraph made it sound like it was always no personal stuff not just no assigned spaces.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I worked in a cube farm-it was great sitting at someone else's desk with all their stuff, making it homey for them but very uncomfortable for me. I was there for 8 hours as well I just worked 3-11.

And I can certainly relate to that since I work 1:30 - 10 PM most days. I never really minded sitting at a desk with other people's stuff all over it, though...I was just hoping one day it would be my turn. Anyhoo, so far I don't see anyone really having taken any of their stuff down...but also since my original post, a change was made to the original announcement saying "Good News! Now we have ZERO agents on the floor who have assigned desks so now NOBODY has an excuse to leave their personal stuff behind!"

I don't think it means no personal stuff at all. I read it as take your stuff home with you when you are done with your shift. I kind of agree with taking stuff home with you and not leaving it up constantly. I would be annoyed if I had to rearrange stuff because someone left their pictures/name tag/papers/whatever else up.

Correct, it's OK to have your stuff on the desk while you're on your shift (including while you're on breaks or lunch), just not to leave it behind when you leave for the day, apparently. And yeah, if there was so much stuff on the desk that I couldn't put out anything of my own that I needed to do my own job, and/or the person whose stuff I moved complained that I didn't put it back just so, I'd be pretty upset too. I've not had that issue personally though. One other thing that was really getting annoying (and I was annoyed too): Some people would lock their computers when they left for the day so if you tried to sit there the next day you'd have to reboot the computer to be able to log on yourself. I totally agree that was not very considerate and I never locked my computer when I left...just rebooted it so the next person had a clean start.