Clear desk policy or “no Linda you don’t need 10 teddies on your desk you’re a 42 year old woman”

[Strafficy]

I’m at the end of 2 weeks annual leave and clearing out emails.

Member of the team has taken the opportunity of me not being there to start an email thread with my boss about my clear desk policy and how unhappy she is. Boss rather bemused and “can you talk to XXX when she returns”

I started 6 mths ago and have asked all staff in my division to have a clear desk for a number of reasons

1. piles of paperwork everywhere some of it years old and I want them out of the habit of printing everything (one member of staff was printing all their emails!)

2. We are supposed to hot desk and it isn’t fair on part timers when they come in to sit at someone’s desk when it’s piled high with family photos/teddies/half eaten bowls of cereal

3. Frankly some of them are bloody unorganised and needed a kick up the arse

4. confidential information left all over the desk for anyone to see

This staff member has done nothing but complain about it since day 1. I’ve had just about enough now

i absolutely agree with you. It's lazy, unprofessional, and untidy let alone breaking confidentiality laws to leave certain documents on desks over night.
Why the heck so grown men and women want bloody stuffed toys in their work desks or family
photos??????

Your boss should have supported you in your absence as you are 100%right , & not just passed the buck - maybe have a word with HR, your boss is meant to support you, and sloukd have defended the correct policy

@Bertiebiscuit

Your boss should have supported you in your absence as you are 100%right , & not just passed the buck - maybe have a word with HR, your boss is meant to support you, and sloukd have defended the correct policy

Your boss isn’t supposed to support you if you unilaterally introduce a policy they don’t agree with. I bet OP didn’t run it past her boss before she implemented it.

@Sparklingbrook

I was the doctor person too *@tigger1001*, I just thought it was a bit strange to be looking at the doctor's children as I explained my symptoms. It was a nice picture though TBF.

As for teddies on the bank manager's desk that's a bit unprofessional IMO. I would be

I remember as a young woman asking a new young male GP to take a look at my thigh (outer thigh, & good medical reason). He looked terrified & moved the framed photo of his family across the desk so that it sat directly between us, like some kind of protection.

Confidential info being visible needs addressing but I hate clear desks, I feel a lot more comfortable with clutter and work best in what withers would call an unorganised mess, I just see things as readily available. My brain is a reflection to this, my mind jumps around so I find clear clinical desks quite stressful, I’m a desk mascot kind of person -you would probably hate me. As a part timer I would prefer to sit at someone’s cluttered desk with nice trinkets round than some sterile operating table. In fact I carry round papers that have no bearing on my work just to create a little softening to my working environment 😁.

It's funny, in the past I've been told off for not having anything nice on my desk and told I should get a plant or something.

fair enough to demand no food leftovers or sensitive documents, but please leave teddies well alone.

If she gets the job done properly and consistently, then don't undervalue her. Instead, motivate her by praising specifics aspects of the job done well. Tell her that as her system works so well for her, you will not be imposing the full clear desk policy. Let he have ownership over her desk, and she will be a happier more productive employee. If there are sensitive/confidential papers, explain that these need to be kept secure, but otherwise teddy bears do not threaten integrity. You can allocate (other) specific clear desks for hotspotting. Value her individuality.

Also, having proposed what I just wrote. Ask her to design an unbiased survey for the whole office to find out everyone's opinion in this matter. From this, you will soon find out if its worth having a battle or not. Also, she may learn from others why the clear desk policy exists. LISTEN to her opinions and listen to all. Then get on with the job and ignore the gossip. Employees sometimes need a vent, particularly when they feel a manager is controlling.

@SweatyBetty20

BBC at MediaCity do, and have done since they moved in. Also the branch of the Civil Service that I work in at the moment - we have 1400 staff and only around 800 desks. Most people are at a site visit once a week and in normal times work from home once a week - works really well.

They do but if you’re trying to work on a short project and need your team around you, it’s a mare. It’s also means that people don’t connect with their colleagues because everyone puts headphones on to block out the noise of working in a vast open space. It’s like being in a library and you get shushed for having a normal volume conversation. Plus no privacy when you need to have a difficult or confidential conversation because all the meeting rooms are always booked up. Hot desking is not always a good thing.

I don't go in for teddies, but my desktop is fairly cluttered because I like to leave equipment (stapler, hole puncher, calculator, pens etc) where I can get hold of it easily, and if I haven't finished a job at the end of the day I like to leave the papers out because I've arranged them in the way that's most convenient to me. If they're confidential I'll put them away, but not otherwise. I can find everything I need to find perfectly easily. If I have to spend 10 minutes at the end of the day clearing everything away, and another 10 minutes at the beginning of the next day getting equipment out and finding stuff in the file etc and sorting it all out again, that's 20 minutes wasted for no benefit whatsoever. Leave my desk alone!

@Jemand

I don't go in for teddies, but my desktop is fairly cluttered because I like to leave equipment (stapler, hole puncher, calculator, pens etc) where I can get hold of it easily, and if I haven't finished a job at the end of the day I like to leave the papers out because I've arranged them in the way that's most convenient to me. If they're confidential I'll put them away, but not otherwise. I can find everything I need to find perfectly easily. If I have to spend 10 minutes at the end of the day clearing everything away, and another 10 minutes at the beginning of the next day getting equipment out and finding stuff in the file etc and sorting it all out again, that's 20 minutes wasted for no benefit whatsoever. Leave my desk alone!

Well said!