The open office is a blessing – and a curse.
As a means of socialising the workplace so that teams can bond, support each other and solve problems as a cohesive unit, an open plan workspace is second to none. People laugh together, hold each other accountable while being constantly on hand to help with advice and a spare pair of hands, and they can see when a colleague needs more than just presence, and needs to be provided with emotional support. Perfection!
As a means of engendering constant interruptions, enabling people to pass you telephone calls when you really don’t want one, and ensuring that you can hear the snorting of a cold-ridden colleague who swallows rather than blows his nose, it’s equally perfect.
I think it would be fair to say, as well, that it is front line staff who work in those environments, while the higher up the ladder you go, and the less ‘interruption-prone’ your work, the more likely that you will have a ‘door’ and ‘walls’ to help you avoid the aforementioned challenges. *
I can’t change that. Hierarchies will always exist, and perhaps they exist for good reason.
The answer?
Your circumstances may hamper application of this idea, but if you can utilise it I guarantee a less stressful environment, albeit temporary.
Get out. Wherever I have worked, I have always been able to find and occupy an ‘empty room’. Consider where you work. Are there rooms you could use when their normal occupant/s are away?
- CID offices during major incidents will have empty desks.
- Administrators offices at weekends will invariably be empty.
- Inspectors and other senior officers rooms are empty when they are on Rest days.
- There’s probably a car that isn’t being used that you could take to a quiet car park and use the time productively.
(And yes, when you’re really overwhelmed, taking that car on a patrol specifically to have some self-serving quiet time is a perfectly valid use of that kit. Just don’t abuse the privilege.)
“But what if I am needed?” I hear you ask.
You have probably been equipped with a radio or smartphone that makes you available if something comes up that truly requires your input. But it’s amazing how your absence reduces the number of times you are ‘needed’ by other people. Suddenly, they take messages when people call. They seek help elsewhere. And you get more done so that when you do have time, it is time you can use to help others, too.
Yes, quiet time out of the office enables you to be more present when you have to be in the office.
It is actually a good thing to be elsewhere when you need to get things done.
Why else would WFH have been a (temporary) good thing?
*That said, I am equally amazed at how many office-dwellers complain about constant walk-ins. I once suggested to a Detective Sergeant that he close his office door to avoid ad-hoc visitors and he later told me it was the best time management advice he’d ever been given.
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