To ask those who WFH with a partner who also WFH if you have separate offices/spaces?

[HairyHocks]

DH and I have both been WFH for the last year and it's not obvious when either of us will be back in the office.

I've always had my own office in the past, and have struggled not being able to talk to myself, wander about when on the phone, and even just be quiet/still to think.

DH has always been in open plan offices and enjoys the company. He genuinely can't comprehend that I'd like my own space, and he takes it a bit personally.

We have a room that could be turned into a second study without it being a great loss.

Out of interest, how common is it to work in separate rooms?

YABU - partner and I work in the same room without wanting to work separately

YANBU - partner and I work in different rooms of the house (or absolutely would work in a separate room if one was available).

@Workingfromhomeishell

I'm just absolutely gobsmacked companies are ok with people working in the same room as others who aren't employed by them.

What an absolute joke!

Why?

We already had converted the box room to an office so DH worked there lots at night/weekends anyway and got sent home before I did, so claimed that.

I started in the kitchen but within a month, we had tidied the spare bedroom enough and reassembled a small desk so I could work there. And last summer, got a reasonable sized desk.

We would have gone absolutely insane trying to share a space, especially as DH spends most of everyday on vc's/calls, while I can spend a lot on Vc/phone, but equally need a lot of time to quietly work on research and drafting things.

@Lipsandlashes

That may have been the case a year ago. People for some time have been allowed into offices if they can't work from home. "Work from home IF YOU CAN"

If you are unable to maintain business confidentiality WFH then you should absolutely 100% be back in your office now.

No way is this acceptable on a professional level.

Definitely separate rooms.

Although we are similar to you and your DP in that I have always had my own office at work while DH is used to open plan working. I am simply not comfortable taking calls and being in meetings while others are around as I've never had to work like that. It's not my responsibility to provide company for DH, he can chat to colleagues or play with the dog if he needs a friend.

@Workingfromhomeishell

I'm just absolutely gobsmacked companies are ok with people working in the same room as others who aren't employed by them.

What an absolute joke!

Whilst DH and I definately have seperate rooms, we talk about our work days and know what is going on with each other's jobs. Unless a person's work is completely confidential i imagine most companies couldn't give a shit if another person overheard a person's tedious zoom meeting.

We started last year sharing the second bedroom/office. Now I'm in the dining room (with proper desk etc in the corner) - I need to be able to talk to myself, make calls constantly, video calls with important clients etc, and I was forever having to shush him quickly which was a nightmare.

Much prefer having my own space (and being closer to the kettle).

@Workingfromhomeishell

I'm just absolutely gobsmacked companies are ok with people working in the same room as others who aren't employed by them.

What an absolute joke!

...what?

I can see this being an issue with some businesses (confidential information etc). But nothing I do is confidential, nor is my DH's - makes no difference either way.

Plenty of people work in co-working spaces or coffee shops and that seems to be fine, so I can't see that working with your spouse/housemate would be any worse.

I'm back at work now but the nature of our (very different) jobs meant we had to be alone in a room with a closed door when WFH. Therefore we couldn't share even if we wanted to. Neither of us would want to anyway.

Separate offices here. We both spend a lot of time on calls, often interviewing people or managing our teams, being in the same room would be a nightmare.

My DH is Southern European and LOUD when on calls - separate offices on separate floors have saved my sanity.

He normally works away and I’m in office 2-3days a week so both at home is not normal.

DH permanently WFH and I did for a few months this year. I worked on the dining table a floor below. We both speak to clients so it wouldn't work with both of us stuffed in a bedroom-sized room.

My husbands self employed and has his own office/study. I now work from home from one of our spare bedrooms/now my office. We're on different floors in the house so don't get in each others way. We "meet up" for tea breaks and lunch in the kitchen. It works pretty well for us.

We work in the same room because it’s the only feasible room we can add desks to. I am the loser in this scenario because DH’s job requires him to be on the phone most of the day and he is very very very loud I attend zoom meetings for about half the day and if it’s a meeting I know I’m likely to speak in I have to leave the room (DH conveniently can’t because he bought himself a desktop computer to replace his laptop!) it’s not ideal but my work have been really good about it (DH and his work couldn’t give a shit because it doesn’t really affect them but there you go!) never really thought about confidentiality but neither workplace have brought it up. I should think that if it’s just your SO then discretion would be expected unless your work was really sensitive?

Seperate all the way. DH spends so much time on zoom calls we could never share a space. Our long terms plan is to turn one room in the house into an office with both our desks in, but flex wfh / office so there's only ever one of us wfh. But who knows when that will be, neither place of work is I a rush to get people back in.

DH has a table he sets up/takes down each day in our bedroom; I work in the living room. Ideally we'd move to a bigger house so that we can each have our own offices but we'll have to see what happens going forward. DHs work are implying wfh is here to stay for the majority of time; my employer hasn't made any noises about us returning to the office anytime soon. We'd both prefer wfh in the main.
I could not work in the same room as DH though - he seems to be on the phone constantly & I like to listen to music.

I used to WFH permanently but when I shifted jobs a few years ago gave up the box room/study so DH could use it. I adopted the spare room and have organised it so there's space for the spare bed and all my stuff.

If we didn't work separately, we would be divorced or he would be dead. As it is he is loud on calls and it drives me batty when he is noisy and I need quiet. He also thinks his job is terribly important. It is not, but mine is. It's been an eye opener!

We both worked in the kitchen for a while, but like others have said my DH is soooo loud on calls. I have a lot of meetings and it wasn't possible to do them at the table if he then took a call and was shouting a couple of feet away. We don't have a separate office space.

I used to go and sit on the living room sofa for meetings, but often had 5-6 meetings a day and just 10-15 mins between them and ended up typing on the laptop perched on a footstool. Now the kids are back at school, moving to one of their bedrooms is an option, but they are back earlier (shift in timings of the school day, and no after school,clubs - though in fact some are just starting). So like another couple of people, we got a folding desk and I can now set up properly in the living room.

DH is now back in the office one week, WFH the next, so I can mix it up and use kitchen or living room. I've also got fed up of the same aspect all the time and have starting throwing my colleagues off by sitting on different sides of the kitchen table so it looks like yet another room

I am honestly so surprised that so many people cannot see the issue with sharing workplaces and that employers haven't taken steps to safeguard their companies data and working processes.

Some very sloppy HR departments out there!

In essence it is gross misconduct for anyone to have access to what you are doing if they aren't a co employee. I'd make sure your firms are aware of your working practices.

There have already been law suits about this

Will try and share a link

E.g.

www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/experts/legal/home-working-confidential-information#gref

DH has just returned back to work. But through lockdown he has worked in the dining room and I’ve worked upstairs in the study. I think we’d have fallen out if we worked in the same room. We’re both on calls a lot of the day: he thinks I talk too loud. And I think his colleagues have annoying voices and they would irritate the life out of me. When we are in separate parts of the house we can shut each other out. If he catches me in the kitchen he’s always asking questions about excel; so I’m glad not to have that all day long

Silly question, but will he be terribly lonely on his own? I prefer my space and can't comprehend wanting to be glued to someone all day but DH but he seems to be genuinely happier when he's in a shared office. I'd hate to think it makes him very unhappy.

Can’t you meet up at break and lunch times? Dh and I run our own business for years and usually work from home in separate offices. Dh is very loud and spends most of the day speaking to people, my work is computer based so I just can’t concentrate listening to dh all day long. We do have coffees/chats and meetings most days, which breaks things up.

In essence it is gross misconduct for anyone to have access to what you are doing if they aren't a co employee. I'd make sure your firms are aware of your working practices.

Not if the company hasn’t specifically told their employees not to share rooms. And if there are no separate suitable places, are employees going to provide extra money to allow them to move house?

I have always had a home office. DH arrived home in Feb 20 and commandeered the kitchen table. Drove me mad and so I gave him my office and I decamped to the dining room.

We now have 2 home offices. He goes to his like a work office- comes out for coffee at set times and lunch

Mine is more of a chill space.

Both now have sofas and giant screens so we can lounge on TEAMs.

We have separate home offices on different floors of the house - both worked at home in some capacity when we purchased this house so made the conscious decision to have separate office space after 10 years of sharing and essentially sitting back to back with headphones on. We both like our own space, and I need confidentiality for my patients anyway, but we make sure we take a couple of tea breaks in the day where we’ll sit in the dining room together and have a 10 minute chat etc. Always schedule lunch together too wherever possible which is nice

DH and I have separate offices. We both have Teams meetings during the day and we both deal with sensitive material, so sharing an office wouldn't work. I like the silence between meetings but DH likes listening to Radio 3 - too noisy for me. We meet in the kitchen for coffee and we have lunch together most days. When we finish work, we change and then make dinner together. Smug marrieds. Sorry.

Our offices are on different floors as well.