To find this a bit petty at work?

But I’m presuming they aren’t school children

I'd sit with her people you know are her friends just to make them squirm

The manager is trying to get them all to mingle

I worked in a group that did the hot desking/hoteling thing. All the people under 35 would save seats for each other or get up and move to sit near their friends. Altho I was in my 40s I felt it was rude and hurtful. I can sit next to anyone and be chatty and friendly. It felt like grade school and having to deal with being unpopular. Was so glad to finally leave that group

I don’t understand, so the ‘other’ team are friends and prefer to sit together. Your original team are friendly, so why don’t you just sit with them?

People who are suddenly polite because they want something from you would get a slower response than those who don't ignore you otherwise.

They might not be trying to make them bond but rather learn from someone who was in the other team. It makes perfect sense and most grown adults would just do it

I read that. I think they're on a road to nowhere.

I appreciate that I wouldn't fit in in that company because what I would find annoying and overbearing is management trying to 'bond' grown adults. I work to make a living not more friends. As long as colleagues deliver to deadlines and are polite, that should be enough. But I appreciate that is my opinion.

Some people are just quiet - some people are told lies about you possibly - it could just be that for whatever reason the person does not like you and there could be many reasons you are not aware of or a single incident that was totally misread by the person

We used to get in our office - "I don't want to sit next to.." all of the time

Try not to worry to much OP

I'm not sure what the answer is as some people can be unreasonable as you have already tried the olives branches

Good luck.

You can’t have a lot going on in your life if you’re posting about someone (that you don’t even appear to like very much) not sitting next to you at work. Your colleagues sounds polite and personable, but also have their own preferences about where they want to sit. Perfectly fine in a workplace full of adults.

You need a different job then

Except the manager has expressly said no swapping desks. They are clearly trying to get the team to unite and it one happen while people are stuck in their silos

Seriously?

She is at work to do her job, not to be your friend.

As long as she is polite and collaborate with you on work tasks when needed, she does not need to do anything else.

Maybe you are actually even too chatty and she prefers to seat next to someone quieter.

I can also completely understand why she would want to seat next to someone she knows and has an established friendship with. It is not about you.

It really is a non issue. This is a workplace, not a school playground.

It's unprofessional to swap desks mid way through your shift.

Depends on the company culture, surely? Perfectly normal where I work -generally it’s because we work on overlapping projects so you might be working on similar things to person A in the morning and person B in the afternoon, so change desks. But it could just be because you didn’t realise person C was in when you chose your desk and haven’t seen them for ages.

This tbh. Like you said, it's not school. People should be able to sit where they want, as long as the work gets done.

That's what matters, surely. You're overthinking this hugely.

I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to hurt someone’s feelings by moving away from them and it does seem either thoughtless or petty.

On the other hand, having a work friend really helps me get through my day and makes it easier to get through. She starts an hour after me and I countdown to it, we’ve both said it’s rubbish when the other is on AL. I couldn’t bring myself to deliberately move away from someone if we had to hotdesk though.

“I don’t want to sit next to the person who gets offended if you ask how her weekend was”

On the one hand you are being very unreasonable to get pissed off by someone including normal pleasantries in a message (I find if anything my youngest colleagues do this more). On the other hand you are clearly hurt by people moving from sitting next to you for no real reason - honestly I would be too if I were feeling a bit sensitive. Can you make a joke of it next time it happens? “Oh that’s fine don’t worry about me I’ll just hang out over here on my own!” with a smile.

If you’re all working on things together why don’t you all sit at one lot of desks since there seems to be plenty of room?

No don't make it anonymous. Feed back that you're trying to make the bonded team work but it won't when people keep ignoring their instruction not to move

Personally I'd be thrilled to be sat a desk alone but thats just me, you seem to be a bit lonely and want someone to sit next to for company. Can you not move to sit next to a friend of your own, especially if everyones moving? If you can't beat em, join em?

I mean yeah, just get on with your work? You won't notice and will get loads done.

Ok. So does it bother you because you are trying to make the team more cohesive? It does suggest to me that management are aware of the seat moving and aren't that pleased with it. So if you REALLY think it is causing issues with your work you could tell your manager that despite their directive to not move seats people are and that you're finding it makes it difficult with the team bonding.

And the moaning about your colleagues “insincerity” is pathetic, by the way. That’s just the way it’s done. I start almost every request at work with “hope you had a nice weekend” or “hope all is well” sort of thing. It’s a basic social nicety that you are grossly overthinking