March 28, 2007
Dear Everyone:
Let’s talk about Space Standards at work. A few years ago, Company "Boring and Really Expensive Services” (CBRES, or just BRES for short) decided that everyone would have, generally speaking, the same kind of space for work. Everyone would have an eight-foot by eight-foot cubicle.
At first, they let people choose what kind of accessory furniture they wanted in their cubicles; but then they realized this was a mistake. It cost too much money and, when someone moved out of a cubicle and someone else moved in, person B was stuck with whatever person A had chosen. So now everyone gets the same things.
First, there’s the Sit-to-Stand desk. This is a state of the art triangular desk with a monitor mounted on an arm so you can position the monitor wherever and however you want without giving up any desktop surface. We all love the Sit-to-Stand desks.
Next, the phone. Each comes with a wireless headset, so you can talk on the phone with both hands free. You can even get up from your desk and walk down the hall while continuing to talk on the phone. (Pay attention, this comes up again later.)
Everyone gets an overhead bin for book, binders, etc. And everyone gets a table that fits neatly under the bin. Everyone gets a “storage tower” that stands in the corner of the cubicle. This has a closet (about four inches wide), two standard file drawers, a short drawer and two shelves. Everyone gets to choose how they use the drawers and shelves. My closet is too full of other things, including a “fridge pack” of diet colas, to hang a coat in it.
Last, but not least, everyone gets something called a “pedestal”. This is actually another file drawer and short drawer together in a case with casters, so you can roll it around. And it is lightly upholstered on top because this is also your guest chair.
In addition to the cubicles, Space Standards also includes different sizes of meeting rooms. The largest meeting rooms are conference rooms that seat sixteen people. They have specialized tables with wells in the surface of the table. Inside the wells are power outlets and connections to the company network and connections to the overhead projectors.
There are also conference rooms for ten or eight people. After that, there are “huddle rooms”. These are small meeting rooms that fit six or four people. They have wall mounted flat screen monitors that you can connect to a computer so everyone can see what’s going on at the same time. These rooms cannot be reserved the way the conference rooms can be; they are strictly first-come-first-served.
Finally, there are the “Touchdown Rooms”. This is about the size of a cubicle with a wall mounted desktop surface, a phone, two chairs and two computer connections. The idea is, if you’re a visitor, you might want to “touch down” for a few minutes to answer some phone messages or check your email. Then you leave. This is also some place where you can make a private phone call that you’d rather not have the rest of the room hear. It’s also available if you and your boss need to have a confidential conversation.
So that’s Space Standards.
When we moved into our current digs in Building E, the first thing everyone noticed was that it was “Space Standards Lite”. No conference rooms and no Touchdown Rooms. There are conference rooms in Building F, next door, that we can reserve. And there are two huddle rooms, which the manager is free to bounce you out of whenever he needs one.
BRES promised to find us a “touchdown room” of some sort. A few weeks ago, it arrived in a very large crate, which took up most of the space between the two rows of cubicles. After some time, someone came and uncrated it, leaving the pieces leaned up against the cubicle walls. And eventually, someone came and assembled it.
It’s a sound booth. The inner walls are covered with soft, sound-absorbing foam “egg crates”. It has so far produced much hilarity around the workplace. Lots of joke about “behave yourself or you’ll have to take a time out in The Box.” “Confessions will be heard at 11:00 and 2:00.” “I feel like screaming. If anyone wants me, I’ll be in The Box.” When our manager’s manager arrived for his monthly visit, he took one look at The Box and laughed so hard tears were streaming down his face.
Only one person so far has actually used The Box, walking in with his wireless headset while speaking on the phone, to try it out. The people on the other end of the line indicated that there was, indeed, an improvement from their end.
Needless to say, The Box is only temporary. It has already been declared too tall for the room. It almost touches the ceiling and that could interfere with the sprinklers should a file break out. They’re looking for a suitable replacement.
If you’re interested, you can go to www.voicebooth.com and see for yourself.
Love, as always,
Pete
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