Interior Motives
If your office talked, what would it say about you?
According to Joseph Juhasz, professor of architecture and environmental design at the University of Colorado at Boulder, it’s already saying plenty.
“Through a work space, you tell a story about yourself to various audiences,” said Juhasz, who has studied how office space reflects people’s personalities. “You communicate success or failure, popularity or lack of it.”
Does your office boast that you’re a rising star? Or does it tactlessly inform co-workers, superiors and clients that you’re yesterday’s news? Here are some pointers to help you decide and improve your “office image.”
Analyze Your Environment
“Know who you are and what you do,” said Marian McEvoy, editor in chief of Elle Decor magazine.
“Are you in a highly strict corporate environment such as a stock brokerage or law office? Or are you in a creative environment, like advertising, film, fashion or computers?”
If you work in a “kingdom”--a tightly hierarchical setting in which the CEO has a ballroom-size office and file clerks toil in cell-like cubicles--you’ll want to express your rank and aspirations through the office environment you create.
Upper-echelon kingdom executives should practice good taste and understatement. In today’s cautious post-recession climate, few want clients to think they’re spending money foolishly. “The private palaces of yore are seriously tacky,” said McEvoy. Los Angeles designer Mimi London advises top execs to keep their offices “simple, controlled and comfortable.”
If you’ve been granted a decorating budget, consider hiring a designer to give your office a polished look. Paige Rense, editor in chief of Architectural Digest, cautions executives against turning the job over to family members who lack professional design expertise. “It’s usually a big mistake,” she said.
Today, the “residential hybrid” office has gained popularity. Typically, it may contain a coffee table, antique desk, reading chair, bookshelves, and be illumined by natural lighting, said designer Craig Wright of CM Wright Inc. in Los Angeles. Artwork is important too, agree the designers interviewed. “It should be meaningful to what you do,” said designer Shari Canepa of Interior Spaces in Santa Monica. Vintage photography and abstract art are particularly good choices, said Rense, “because they’re not intensely personal and are open to interpretation.”
If you’re an up-and-coming knight in the kingdom, sans decorating budget, designer and kingly resources, don’t despair. You still can create an impressive work space by carefully choosing personal elements, such as lamps (if you’re permitted), work tool baskets and bins, pen-and-pencil sets and fresh flowers, said McEvoy.
“When things wear out, replace them,” she added. “Because if you don’t, you’re giving the impression that your personal grooming isn’t too good.”
The rising star in a “kibbutz” setting works in an open expanse of look-alike work spaces where CEO and employees labor side by side. Here, you have to be more subtle in your self-expression. If you’re a fast-track kibbutzer, make your work space better organized and more aesthetically pleasing than those of your peers.
“The ‘egalitarian’ concept of that environment is pretense,” said Juhasz. “It’s not any more democratic than the other style of management. Leaders hold all the power and earn much more money than their employees. So remember, you don’t get to be a visionary by being a team player. You get to be a visionary by convincing others that you’re playing on their team, when actually you’re not.”
Create an Image
“If you were a stage designer, what props would you select to reflect the successful person you’d like to be?” asked Juhasz.
Your work space is a theatrical set in which you enact the daily scenes of corporate life. What does it tell others about you, the protagonist? What does it say about your relationship with other characters at your job?
According to Juhasz, crafting successful “image architecture” requires three steps: 1) correctly reading others’ expectations about high achievers in your field 2) meeting these expectations 3) adding an element of surprise.
Corporate landed gentry have the power to set industrywide trends, said Rense. “If someone like David Geffen, who is at the top and can indulge his personal fantasies, chose to have a cell-like office with a card table and a bare bulb, it would very likely be emulated throughout the industry.”
On the other hand, if you’re an up-and-coming film producer, be aware of the industry’s office design trends. “Homeyness” is in, say West Coast designers. Creative movers and shakers are furnishing their suites with residential sofas, window treatments, soft chairs, floor coverings and even draperies. Visit the digs of the most successful producers. How can you approximate this look? How might you infuse your own panache?
To distinguish yourself from the madding crowds, consider practicing a little rebellion.
“Some of the most creative people in the world do this,” said Juhasz. “They set up their offices to tell a story that says, ‘I am in rebellion against the values being upheld here.’ They’re often creative because they take that kind of chance. But you must be careful because some of the most destructive people in the world do this, too. And there are companies that don’t want either type.”
Select articles for your office that express your interests, skills and background. Be personal, but not intimate. Most office designers caution against converting your work space into a family-and-pet temple. “If you wish to keep photos of your loved ones on your desk, keep them turned toward you,” said Rense. “Otherwise, visitors feel compelled to comment, ‘Oh, is that your wife? And are those your dogs and cats?’ ”
Through prowess, position and tenure, you can build up what psychologists call “idiosyncrasy credit”--permission from others to “do your own thing.” The computer wunderkind who has tripled her company’s software sales may be allowed to keep a surfboard in her office and practice riding the big wave during staff meetings. However, a newly hired stock-brokerage secretary is well-advised not to try this in her cubicle.
What if you work in an environment that discourages personal expression? How can you still stand apart?
“These companies want you to tell a corporate story, not a personal story,” said Juhasz. “If you depart from the prescribed norm at such a company, you’re on the way out.”
Your mission at this kind of firm, should you choose to accept it, is to “tell the corporate story” better than your peers can, through pro-company props and collections of materials that reveal your industry expertise.
Keep it Neat
Is your desktop littered with pizza crusts, Big Mac wrappers, laundry lists and Post-It notes bearing long-forgotten phone numbers? Are your papers stacked so high and densely that frightened co-workers must wear hard hats and carry lanterns to visit you?
You may want to hire a clean-up crew (and a search-and-rescue party if necessary) to help you redefine your work space and corporate image.
“Clutter makes the statement, ‘I’m giving up. I can’t handle this,’ ” said McEvoy. “Recently I entered an office like that--bedlam city. And I was scared of that person.”
Some occupations--such as law, insurance, real estate and script-reading--generate considerable paperwork. If you’re in such a field, use storage furniture such as built-ins, cabinetry, baskets and desks to keep work materials away from public scrutiny.
Only an “unbelievably competent supernerd” can get away with unbridled office entropy, said Juhasz. “Somebody like a Nobel Prize-winning chemist can have an office piled high with papers. He’s saying in effect, ‘I’ve never thought about anything but chemistry.’ And he wants you to know that.” This is an example of idiosyncrasy credit at work.
Dress your office for success by giving it props to show off your competence, good taste, intelligence and wit. Nurture it well. For if you ignore it or attend to it haphazardly, it just might say bad things behind your back while you’re gossiping at the water cooler.
