Oct 112011
Productive Eavesdropping
Productive Eavesdropping
We’re in the midst of some pretty extensive renovations of our offices in New York at the moment. For better or for worse, we’re doing this work without moving out. We’ve basically crammed everyone into the back half of the office right now while the contractors are working on the front half. When that’s done, we’ll all move into the newly-refinished front so they can do the same in the back.
One of the interesting side effects of this project is that I’m sharing my office with Anita Absey, our head of sales. It’s the first time I’ve shared an office in quite a while, at least since the first year of the company’s life when we all sat in one big room together. So the two of us are getting in a lot more time together than we usually do. As much as we try to block out the sound coming from across the room, I’m sure there’s been plenty of inadvertent eavesdropping in both directions.
For my part, I’ve enjoyed it. I have much more of a window into what Anita works on than I usually get. I’m more in the flow of what’s happening with the sales organization. I’m seeing what a strong manager she is, and I’ve picked up at least a couple of tips from her around her leadership style. And we’ve had a lot of quick back-and-forth between things. When we sat down to have our weekly check-in last week, it was half its normal length since we had already covered much of the topics in the daily flow of conversation.
I wonder if there’s a way to accomplish the same thing with others on my team…or with everyone on my team…without rearranging the office!
As for Anita, well, I suspect I’ll hear from her as to whether or not the arrangement is working for her shortly after I press “publish” on this post!
I do agree that sharing an office with one or more individuals can actually be quite productive and, with the right indifidual, insightful. Can you share with us the tips you have picked up around her leadership style? Don't mean to be nosey, just wanting to learn!
Many good things…I’d say the best is that she brings an incredibly high degree of self-awareness to her meetings with her staff members and is very conscious of working on her own development plan even as she is helping her team work on their own.
You know what this means right? Sleepover in Matt's office!
Party on!Matt
I think sharing an office has been great in so many ways, and makes the temporary disruption worthwhile. I love talking and thinking about the business, and the chance to do that in real time, with an equally engaged "office mate," has been both fun and helpful. I know that it is said that fences make good neighbors, but for me, the opportunity to connect with Matt, to share ideas, and to get a view into his day, has been rewarding. There is something here about open space, connectivity, and engagement. I have a feeling those of us in the NY office will reap some unexpected benefits from our forced proximity!
Should we just tear down all the walls? <g>Matt
Maybe. One of the things I miss from RP Colorado's previous office in Superior was the wall-less nature of it. The office was arranged in bull-pen, ad-hoc style that I really liked. First we could much more easily re-arrange seating as conditions required and second we had a lot more informal discussions and thus less need of meetings. Also, perhaps it was the size of the company at the time, but I think I picked up much more on what was going on with the other groups within the company. It helped helped we had "phone booths," which allowed for private space if needed, but the default was wall-less.
I fear that's more about size than walls, Jacob, but hard to say.Matt
Me and my partner decided to move to New York with our business and we try to find an office space to share it. We were share our office from Chicago for 4 years and we never had any problems with this. It was even better to share it because every time I had a question I could discuss with him and get the information right away. It is also depends with whom you are sharing it, because I don't think I can do it with everyone.
That is certainly true! Thanks for the comment.Matt
I never shared my office with anyone and I don't think I could. I was thinking about the cubicle workstation while I was reading your post, of course you can't compare it with an office for 2 persons, but still, how people can be productive and efficient working in that environment? Maybe depends also on what you are working and how you are as a person, but for me the most important thing when I am doing my job is – silence, that is why I don't think I can manage to share my office.
As the sirens wail outside my New York City office, I wonder how much of this is what you’re used to!
Yup, sharing a office sometimes can be hard. I used to share an office with a state farm agent and he was complaining from the previous tenant. We did not have any problems at all. So I guess it is all up to what kind of people you are dealing with.