To think working from your sofa is unprofessional?

[LajesticVantrashell]

Like most people, I’ve been working at home now for close to six months along with the rest of my colleagues. We have a spare room for an office, so I’ve had to set up in our bedroom working from my vanity table/desk where I normally do my make-up.

My colleague, so as not to drip feed, earns considerably more than me (think £30k more) and lives alone paying a nominal amount of rent in relation to her salary (I know this because she told me). Yet, she works from her sofa every day. Yes, none of my business, she can do what she wants but she’s constantly moaning about her back and being uncomfortable.

Yesterday, we had a meeting with a potential client and we all dialled in. We all had certain bit we needed to present and my colleague was again, sitting on her sofa with her laptop on her knees. This meant the screen was wobbling about everywhere as she scrabbled to reach her notes around her. To me, it just looked completely unprofessional and I’ll admit, it really annoyed me.

So AIBU to think that on a high earning salary, with enough space in your living room (because I can see from the Teams calls) and after six months with potentially long term home working being suggested, that she should invest in a bloody desk?!

I don’t think it’s inherently unprofessional to sit on a sofa for work meetings (at home or not) - plenty of expensive sofas in offices in London for meetings. But I do think poor lighting, wobbly screen and lack of preparation in terms of notes is.

It's a mixed bag.

Sometimes I've been knackered and working from my bed in my pyjamas.
But normally I prefer my desk, more comfy for typing.
And I always dress properly and sit at my desk for video calls.

Not having an office and a desk can be a barrier, but doesn't she have a kitchen table? Also lots of cheap small desks can fit in a living room or bed room. The one in my office I bought 13 years ago for less than £50, and I lived in a studio flat back then!

So... mostly YANBU. She's not really trying, and given it affects both her comfort and the other people in the call, yes, unprofessional. However, HR is also not doing their job: she should be provided a desk if she's getting a bad back. Health and safety and all that.

Well aren't you a bundle of joy!

I sit on my bed on work calls. We have 2 working from home at the moment and in a small flat with no space to put a desk in. No one can see my bed. As far as anyone knows I am just in front of a cream wall. I am not going and buying a desk with nowhere to put it and no need for it when I go back to the office full time. I have seen a lot worse on video calls than my set up.

I perch on a giant exercise ball while working in my office. My husband is currently draped over a sofa working on his laptop. He only sits at his desk in his office if he needs to use multiple screens.

As long as the work gets done, nobody seems to care.

I work in IT and working from home for our users and us has been a nightmare, I work at a kitchen table, others are sat on beds etc. as it's not a situation any of us planned for. As a company we've got round it by deploying a teams corporate background, so customers aren't looking at sofas etc. As for the wobbling, suggest she use a tray with legs. I also think you should be less judgemental as at the end of the day everyone is just trying to do their best under really difficult circumstances.

HRTFT

You're talking about 2 things - her being uncomfortable and her looking unprofessional.

re complaining about her bad back. If you've suggested she make changes to her set up, or pointed her to who she needs to ask at work, then it would be fair enough for you to say you don't want her to complain to you anymore as it's dull.

re looking unprofessional, unless you are her manager it's not your concern. If you can't work effectively because her screen is wobbling then just speak up.

"Like most people, I've been working at home..."

🤣 What world do you live in? Not everyone has an office job.

Ps exh got a £500 allowance to buy equipment or could take things from the offices on a certain weekend (beginning of April) apparently it was as if the place was being burgled with equipment being loaded into people carriers and 4x4, he said it was a funny sight with security running around like headless chickens trying to itemise everything being removed worth more than £10! They also have offered to visit houses to do an ergonomics check up. They have been told it's ok to wfh most the time now but are expected to maintain office hours once per week for students, this can be virtual, all teaching online can upload whole years worth now if they want so as long as they have an internet connection they could go on an extended trip, I told him to go

YABU. Sofa is no problem but she should get a table so the laptop doesn't wobble. I think a bed in the background, no matter how tidy, is worse.

I think your title is misleading OP. No it's not unprofessional to generally work from your sofa, half the folk I know are doing so and their bosses are too. But not having a steady screen for meetings is the only issue here, not where she works in general.

You would hate me. I've perfected laying in bed working it is peak comfort. Fan on. Duvet on. Cat at my feet. It feels good.

I realise that not everyone has space for a desk or dinning table but everyone does have a kitchen worktop and with a couple of thick books under the laptop it brings it up to a comfortable height to work from , I did this for a couple of weeks than bought a cheap desk from argos. I also prefer this set up as it means if I need / want to leave paper work/ laptop out I can do , it keeps work and home life as separate as possible so when I leave my desk in the evening i have finished work , if I work at my sofa it all just merges together .

One of my workmates keeps using their phone to do zoom calls from and they hold the phone all the time , which means it is very unsteady they also frequently put their hand over the mic so we can not hear them , last week our manager had to take them to one side ( metaphorically) and tell them to sort out a better working environment / practise as it was unprofessional . ( we get up to 50% back if we buy desks / chairs )

So @LajesticVantrashell I agree with you she needs to get a set up that works for her both physically and practically as wobbly screes are very distracting , she can can work from her sofa the rest of the time but not on video calls.

Glad I don't have nasty colleagues like you OP! Me and my colleagues have all been helping each other and been very understanding about working from home when we're not in the office. We have no idea how hard or difficult it is for people. Also not everybody has space for a desk. Stop being such a nosey 🐄 too, and looking around her house and focus on the teams call!

Goodness, I have had to work from my sofa before, it's a fucking nightmare on your back and hips. I'm really surprised she hasn't wanted to sort out a more ergonomic workspace. Surely this is good reason people need to go back to the office, I wouldn't want to be sat in my bedroom all day either.

She sounds unprofessional. I worked from my bedroom for a few months but it was mentally really hard. Now taken over the dining room which is affecting family life. Its a lose/lose choice, but I always have a tidy smart looking background.

If people would just be honest about their feelings of envy, things would be a lot easier ...

I realise that not everyone has space for a desk or dinning table but everyone does have a kitchen worktop

Some people have very small kitchens! There’s no way I could work on my kitchen worktop, we just don’t have the space.

She showed me (virtually) around her flat. I wasn't being nosey.

I became a millionaire working from my sofa I do client work in my pyjamas and they love it because a huge part of my brand is my real-ness. Nothing polished.

I wouldn’t meet a client or go to a clients home in my pyjamas but I’ll happily call them from my sofa/car/garden.

I work from my sofa/bed sometimes - but always move to the dining room for any work video calls. Definitely unprofessional to do them from the sofa!

If she's getting her work done, why does it matter? I'm on maternity leave now, but during lockdown my DH and I took it in turns to work from our study and the other would be on the sofa. You sound judge AF. Maybe there's a reason she's on more than you?

Yanbu

YABVU for thinking you know all about her finances, despite what she may have told you about her rent and how you know her gross salary.

As an example, about ten years ago, with promotion, my salary doubled and I was earning a very significant amount. At the time, I was renting a small cottage for about €500 pm. Anyone looking in from the outside would have assumed I had bundles of disposable cash. But in reality, I was lending my friend €1200 pm to pay his mortgage (as he had become seriously ill, his wife was on SMP and as he had just moved jobs from public to private he didn’t have income protection sorted) and I was giving my sister money to help her after her ex husband had cleaned her out in a divorce settlement. And I was trying to save for a mortgage and also paying privately for some medical treatment for myself. I got so fucking sick of comments from people about why I wasn’t changing my car, buying more expensive clothes, living a higher-end lifestyle with my new salary etc. So don’t assume you know everything about someone’s financial circumstances just because you know one or two things about them- if anyone commented to me about my disposable income I didn’t divulge anything about my outgoings, I just passed it off with a vague comment and changed the subject.

Op people are asking you repeatedly what you have said to her but you are ignoring them.

YANBU!

We've had to set up two offices as we're regularly on calls.

We moved my DH into the bedroom from our front room and a client said to him oh you've been demoted!!

Clients do note these things so we turned his desk around so he had a wall as a backdrop over the wardrobe. Another person in his team was told to buy a backdrop as he had his wardrobe open on display which doesn't look great either.

But how much she earns etc has nothing to do with it - it's just professionalism