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

@EspressoDoubleShot

Did you see the bit I said depends on the job ⬅️that’s a clue Work place culture and personal preference determine how well hot desking works Some workplace culture don’t enforce it, and some individuals won’t adhere to it. A designated Desk can become a politicised thing linked to a preference familiarity and the perceived status of own desk

Out of interest if archived documents aren’t locked away how is confidentiality maintained?

If you are referring to my post - I never said archived documents were not stored away.

Confidentiality is easily maintained as no one has access to the office who has not signed confidentiality agreements.

Locking working papers away comes with it's own set of pitfalls as different people and departments need access to them.

@Sparklingbrook
Do you have full training when you start. Which doofer to use for each crevice?
Yes we get full training when we start , the job is relatively straightforward although different clients have different ( and sometimes bloody odd ) requests . Bending over each desk for hours at a time can cause backache but other than that it is not physically hard work.

The chemical we use the most is the one in the pic , Selsafe , its alcohol based so dries quickly without streaks and it smells nice .
One other we use is for removing stick stuff like Sellotape and stickers but it is great for getting pen marks off too , unfortunately it can also take the letters / numbers off some keyboards too !

The dooffers are as follows
Top - soft brush with two different lengths of bristles ( to clean tops and sides of keys at the same time )
White thing with hook & sponge for hooking out crap from under the keys and corners of the screen
Brush with light bristles for dry cleaning
Brush with dark bristles for wet cleaning ( when keys are manky )

Red round brush with short bristles for wet cleaning phones
Red round brush with long bristles for dry cleaning phones
The black square has foam on one edge , thats used on screens ( as well as cloths )
The giant paper clip is used on all sorts !
The long narrow brush for nooks and crannies' on the back of the screens and chairs as is the black handle - red bristle brush .
But to be fair most of them are interchangeable as long as you keep the wet and dry ones separate .

We also use paint brushes , cloths , anti static sprays , I am one of the few that uses the plastic sheet , it means I can go from desk to desk carrying the crap rather than walking back and forth to a bin every time , but it can be a bit counter productive if there is a load of toys / pics / paper work in the way .

Good heavens that was longer than I expected it to be , sorry for derailing the thread . . .

People are different. I believe quite strongly that it’s wrong to force everyone into your own mould and expect everyone to work well under regimes that are laid down from above and into which they have no input.

I agree it's draconian and smacks of micromanagement. If people are hot desking then 11yes they should leave it clear at the end of the day but other than that leave people to manage their desks how they want.

I agree that your manager should have acted and not just dodged the issue. I think if this had been custom and practice for years that you are tackling, then you need to deal with any breaches by the individual, starting with any confidential information being left around.

I agree that your manager should have acted and not just dodged the issue

Why? The manager couldn’t have made it clearer they consider it a complete non issue, they’re not backing her because they don’t care.

@AlCalavicci

Good heavens that was longer than I expected it to be , sorry for derailing the thread . . .

It's really interesting, thank you. where I work now we don't have this service so we do our own hot desk cleaning, but also no food at desks which suits me just fine.

@Crinkle77

People are different. I believe quite strongly that it’s wrong to force everyone into your own mould and expect everyone to work well under regimes that are laid down from above and into which they have no input.

I agree it's draconian and smacks of micromanagement. If people are hot desking then 11yes they should leave it clear at the end of the day but other than that leave people to manage their desks how they want.

We hot desk but nobody sits at one all day. It can be anything from 5 minutes to maximum of around 2 hours. There's about 6 desks and you just go to the one that's free at the time you need it. You can actually use all 6 in one day.

My organisation hot desks, and so has a clear desk policy. Even though the only things that are supposed to left on the desk at at the end of the day are:
*Screen
*Mouse
*Keyboard
It still amazes me how much personal detritus each desk has. I was in the office a few weeks ago, no one is supposed to be in more than a day a week but someone had clearly "moved back in" to their desk.

I don’t understand the family photos thing; presumably you’re going to see them again at the end of the day so why do you need a photo of them? It’s only an office, you’re not going off to war

@Shoxfordian

I don’t understand the family photos thing; presumably you’re going to see them again at the end of the day so why do you need a photo of them? It’s only an office, you’re not going off to war

Plus there's probably a couple of hundred in your phone as well, if you feel the need for a look. I don't understand it either. I remember going to the Doctors and them having family photos staring at you while you were disclosing your intimate medical problems...

@Shoxfordian

I don’t understand the family photos thing; presumably you’re going to see them again at the end of the day so why do you need a photo of them? It’s only an office, you’re not going off to war

Different strokes for different folks.

Same could be said why you need photos in your house.

I like having a photo of my kids on my desk. Almost all desks in my work have a photo or 2.

Some people like photos and some don't. It's just personal preference.

I had a photo of me and friends on our travels on my desk. When work was stressful (often) it reminded me why I was doing it. I don’t see why that should bother anyone else.

Oh my, you'd all hate my desk. Star wars toys, photos, kids drawings. Dying plants. Food, mugs, pens everywhere. Trainers, smart boots, emergency blazer. Papers piled high. A rubber rat wearing. Christmas ribbon. Tub of sweets. Used batteries, ancient pritt sticks, non sticky post it's. Shared office with one other equally equipped person 😁, we're fine....

I have no particular issue with clear desk policies, but I want a cast iron guarantee that

i) useless managers aren't going to ask for a document to be printed out and kept by me in the non-existent filing cabinets
ii) this applies to almost ALL staff and is not solely aimed at staff below a certain grade (this is particularly galling with regard to hot desking)
iii) useless managers don't endlessly demand stuff "be printed out as I can't read it on screen" and then corrections made in pen and handed over to me. This is 2021, not 1991

There are a few rules for our staff.

• No plants on desks. We have a 'biophilic' office so plenty of plants (none flowering ones for allergies) in the office, boss just doesn't want more or to have to deal with allergies/hayfever complaints. Also doesn't want cleaners to have to tend to them ontop of the rest nor does he want dead plants.

• family pics and kids drawings are to go on the built in pin board. Boss doesn't think it's fair to ask cleaners to dust and wipe down photo frames, and let's be fair, the staff certainly won't do it.

• no plates, wrappers or mugs on desk at the end of the day. Pop it in the dishwasher or wash it in the sink.

• no toys on desks. See point 2 re cleaners.

• no laptops left on desks overnight. Pop it in your drawers or take it home.

• no paperwork on desk. If possible, don't use paper if it can be digital.

So we still sort of personalise desks. I have a fan on mine, my monitor and laptop riser, my to-do notepad, post-its things like that, but I really like how well boss treats the cleaners and doesn't just expect them to deal with everyone's shit.

Our cleaners are told to only clean bare surfaces, they aren't to touch or move stuff. We do our own keyboards etc (we did step this up at the start of the pandemic but scaled it back again when it became apparent surface contact was not a significant infection source, only doing shared ones regularly now).

Email warning.

Bin bag, dramatic sweep. Data protection needs taking very seriously regarding material left about.

Are these people deranged? Teddies on a hot desk.

Or perhaps in a calmer way provide a large lidded plastic box to scrap all their nonsense into.

People print email if they're struggling to read on a screen sometimes. Speak to that person alone.

When I worked for a large FMCG company (household name) in the 90s we couldn't leave anything out at all on our desks except the computer and phone. Security was the main reason. Industrial espionage!

@EyebeIbewe

FoxgloveSummers "TRY NOT TO"

And it was to encourage further communication and ideas outside of our direct project / management lines - it was really, really good (I thought I would absolutely hate it but it was way better than sitting in project bubbles).

I'm guessing extrovert-type ('communication and ideas') industries will be fine with hot desking & meeting new people every day, while technical, precise, more thoughtful & introverted ones aren't. In the same way, I was once in an engineering group which had the misfortune to be permanently sited next to the shouty, excitable marketing group. They were a nuisance & we despised them.

Different people, different needs, different jobs & different ways of working. One size doesn't fit all. If only companies understood that.

Are these people deranged? Teddies on a hot desk

It’s not a hot desk.

I’ve never seen any sign of our office cleaners doing desks, phones, or computers. 🤮 I do my own, at least twice a week. At the moment, we’re in 2 days per week, so I do it at the beginning and end of each work day.

I have a special, height adjustable desk and fancy chair, which means that no-one else is to use my workstation. However, as long as they don’t adjust anything, I’m ok with others using it.

We don’t have formal hotdesking, but with some part-time members of the team in jobshares and the like, there are some shared workstations. Everyone has their own side locker with a drawer, etc., to keep personal stuff, and anything confidential they’re working on. However, it’s a confidential office, with only about 35 people who can access it, and we all work in a similar way. Most files are electronic now anyway, which makes it easier to comply with confidentiality requirements anyway.

I have to admit that I do judge people who are all cheesy photos, teddies, etc. How they have room on their desk to work, I don’t know. I have my own pen pot, my mug, a couple of folders of frequently referred materials, a couple of nice postcards, and my long service certificate! Some people might think that’s unprofessional, I guess. 🤷🏻‍♀️

If you do hot desking then you should have a storage area for portable pedestals/work boxes where everyone puts things as they leave and then take to whichever desk they use next time they are in.

Other than essential/shared equipment like phones, screens, basic stationery then the desk should be clear so that it can be properly cleaned for the next person.

If you have people that are in all the time then only right that they have a permanent desk but these need to be kept uncluttered. Both for general good housekeeping and security but also it stands a better chance of being preserved in the event of a fire, water leaks, etc.

I have to say, printing emails is actually very common. it can be difficult to digest large quantities of information on a standard screen to offer large screens, but also many people find it really difficult to file emails in such a way that it relates to various work, projects etc.

I used to print many of mine until I created a proper 'TO DO' work book. Being a hardcopy work book worked best for me.

Oh! And we have quite a lot of plants in the office. Trying to brighten up the brutalist architecture of concrete everywhere! 🤣

I can see this is necessary if you hot desk, but otherwise if it isn't affecting the person's work and doesn't present any risk in terms of confidentiality I'd leave people to it. The amount of time that's wasted making a fuss about how a desk looks really can't be worth it.