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

"Clear desk policies are the norm pretty much everywhere now"

Ha. Link for this?
People have been talking about paperless offices for about 20 years, but I've never seen one.

Unfolded paperclips with a wet wipe wrapped around one end are also good for cleaning between keys on keyboards.

@Itsanewdah

In our office security puts everything left on desks in big plastic bags and informs the linemanager. You have to get your linemanagers signature to get your stuff back. Solved the problem nicely!

Solved a problem that never existed. I bet retention is rubbish in companies like this.

@Canigooutyet
We use to throw a lot of stuff away , as I say up thread staff were asked to clear their desks before we got there but because they did not we threw all what what we deemed to be rubbish away, so things like post-it notes scraps of paper old receipts , but we got complaints that we binned vital paper work , on one occasion we had a long ranting email saying we had thrown away a vital bit of information linked to a important client , so after a few emails we found out that the info was wrote on the back of a receipt which had been stamped with claimed on the front so we presumed it was no longer wanted
the info on the back was something like

123 - abc -987 nh so did not look like a account number / date / phone number etc .
they expected us to go back through the 30 something bin bags of rubbish / manky food / coke cans / etc to find it , Nope not happening !
But after that unless it was something like a sweet wrapper we never threw any paper away , hence the two bag police we used .

I liked my desk, it was my territory, I spent 30 hours per week there. I liked some of my own photos, plants and bits. I also found it useful sometimes just to abandon a pile of paper on my desk until the next day, where was the harm? I am a professional woman, with a global role, I’m not a child but I miss my desk. I am working from home now and if I ever go back I will be hot desking, I think this is sad. I will miss the intimacy of sitting near the same people all the time and sharing their lives. I am glad I am the end of my career and not the beginning. office life I’d going to be a bit soulless for a while, until some “forward thinking” hip new company “ discovers” the value of giving people their own space..

@AbandonedCharacter

Our clear desk policy was brought in to comply with an enhanced cleaning regime for Covid. I would have thought that would be fairly standard now.

Waste of time because surface transmission is not significant. Where I work we have home working, hand sanitiser and, in theory, ventilation. No need for clear desks.

We have our own desks but the part timers don't. So they use the desk of whatever full timer isn't there. So sort of hot desking but not really.

We have a tidy desk policy rather than clear desk and box files for paperwork we are actively doing something with. If you aren't actively working on it, it goes back in the filing cabinet.

I have some stuff in my desk. A box of painkillers and some hand cream in the draw and a desk organiser on the desk with pens, highlighters, notepad etc in it.

I also found it useful sometimes just to abandon a pile of paper on my desk until the next day, where was the harm?

This very much depends on your line of work. In a bank that's a real no no, all paperwork had to be secure and locked away when it wasn't being used. Huge consequences for abandoning anything.

I can kind of see both side of the arguement. I was working in a place where an clear desk policy was introduced mid way during my time there. I worked with one guy who printed every piece of paperwork/email picked up every crappy flyer that was in reception about anything. Your genuinely could not see him when he sat at his desk for the junk he had. He kept every post-it also,including the one where is said that abcde are going for lunch a z you are welcome to join us.

There was very little hotdesking at our jobs but the deal was you could put up a personal calander, a list like regularly used phone numbers and one or two personal photos on the divider between our desks and we all a drawer where we could put away things like a mug (if that went into the kitchenette forget about seeing it again). Personal stationery, things like deorderant and tampoms etc. Anything that did not fit into drawer you could bring in for the day and brought home that evening. Laptop and Stand, Pen Holder, Document stand and mouse and pad were all that were allowed at close of business and notice board was not allowed to sit on desk. We were not allowed things like soft toys due to possible dust mite allerigies among staff. We could have one cardingan/jumper etc left on coat racks in case we were cold and allowed to leave a pair of shoes under our desks if we walked to waork in trainers etc. Confidental paperwork had to be locked away if it was required but ideally scanned, imputted and shredded.

I used to get the bus to work so I appreciated being able to have a drawer to leave a mug, tampoms, a spare pair of glasses etc..

This is part of my arsenal when cleaning desks ( cloths and other chemicals used too ) I still do it occasionally, I also clean quite a few local shops tills/ card readers / etc .
The different coloured brushes different firmness and a red plastic sheet is where I collect all the crap on to bin it in it.

While working for the same company when not doing desk we also used to go and clean cash line machines I've had some strange jobs in my time !

Adherence to a clear desk policy & putting a stop to eating al desks made all the difference to the office mouse population.

See one, there are loads lurking.

I've never worked anywhere with hot desking or a clear desk policy, thankfully. I like a tidy desk, I straighten it all up every evening, put my pens away, mouse and keyboard under monitor, all papers in one pile and straight (nothing confidential) but I have a photo of my DC, a homemade penpot and a plant which I treasure. I like seeing other people's personal items too. As for printing, it's an important part of my work still, I frequently have to compare documents from several sources and need to annotate them which is a lot easier to do with paper and pen and type up later. I also retain some heavily annotated reference documents and prefer handwritten to do lists etc. A break from screens is good for avoiding eyestrain too. Luckily my boss is not a dictatorial type and respects the fact that we all work better when allowed to use our own judgement about such things.

@AlCalavicci

While working for the same company when not doing desk we also used to go and clean cash line machines I've had some strange jobs in my time !

Is it quite satisfying though? Going from greasy mouse and crumby keyboard to all sparkling clean and hygienic? I love the kit.

@megletthesecond

I eat at my desk. I can't go breakfast to lunchtime without food. (I'm already underweight and walk to the office). What I hate is that we are no longer allowed to put memos up on our desk. I simply don't have the memory to remember the information unless it's staring me in the face. I waste a lot of time searching through electronic folders for phone lists and codes when what I really need are some coloured post it's in front of me.

Use sticky notes on your computer, they are in Outlook. And save documents directly to you desktop rather than having to search through your computer files

I have a Linda in my team. She is 32.

@UniversalAunt I have found mouse crap in keyboards plenty of times , just think
. . . tap . . tap
Dear Mr Bloggs . . . .
tap tap. . .
touch mouse / rat crap . . . . .
tap tap. . .

thank you for your email . . . .
grab crisps . . .

eats crisps but drops one on key board . . . . .
pick up and eats crisp . . .

tap tap . . . . .

touches mouse crap again . . . .

here are the details of our next meeting . . .

eats more crisps . . . .

person is off work the next day with stomach bug
blurg

Done with Karen, start on Linda.

So miserable - going into a sterile little box every day to do pointless drudgery for most of our waking hours.

I'm with Linda.

@Sparklingbrook, yes very satisfying, esp if you won the bag of sweeties to eat at the end of the night ( after washing hands ! )

The little white plastic doofer , has a ( frankly crap ) sponge on one end but the hook on the other end is great for wheedling out crumbs and staples , I use them at home to clean assorts of things ( you can buy them from lakeland )

I see the OP only posted once ...

@DupontsLark

I see the OP only posted once ...

She's breaking into the office with a black sack as we speak.

[quote AlCalavicci]@Sparklingbrook, yes very satisfying, esp if you won the bag of sweeties to eat at the end of the night ( after washing hands ! )

The little white plastic doofer , has a ( frankly crap ) sponge on one end but the hook on the other end is great for wheedling out crumbs and staples , I use them at home to clean assorts of things ( you can buy them from lakeland )[/quote]
Do you have full training when you start. Which doofer to use for each crevice?

I think encourage is the word rather than coercion or disciplinaries. Covid and the resulting stringent cleaning regime has really helped our workplace to move towards clear desks. I used to work with a lady who stopped work an hour before finishing time to clear her desk. Five hours per week to clear her desk.
Workplaces are going to be difficult territories in the next few months so I'd proceed with caution.
As previously stated, many people like to work from printed emails so I'd be careful of that.

@MistySkiesAfterRain

Does anyone have a permanent office where a clear desk policy actually works? Not seen it myself.

Yes.

We don't even have printers.

It works exceptionally well.