Having a shared office space can be either a very good thing, or a very bad thing as far as your work and productivity are concerned. Some people love working in a collaborative environment where they can easily stand up and speak to people in their vicinity, while other people absolutely hate the sometimes-invasion of privacy that comes with working in a coworking space. You need to know what works for you and hopefully work towards that – and it also helps to know how to keep a happy home as far as your shared office space is concerned.
There are some ‘unwritten rules’ if you will, that apply to working in a shared office space, so let’s take a look at some of them here in the hopes that it helps you to keep a happy office:
Don’t assume people want to brainstorm or collaborate.
A closed door is a clear sign not to disturb someone, but when you’re working in a coworking or shared space it can be harder to map out those boundaries when you only have your cubicle to separate you. As someone who is working in a shared space you need to be able to read other people’s body language and to interpret it directly. Make sure that you act on the language you read and you’re sure to enjoy a happy workplace.
Make the most of your workplace – respectfully.
When you’re in an office you can feel a bit restricted by your desk. That’s normal. Make sure that you take the time to move into a breakout area when you need work on something different – as a new location can help you to spur your creativity on. Take advantage of a relaxed working environment by going out into an outdoor area to answer some emails.
Keep your noise levels to a minimum.
When you’re a huge fan of working with music there’s nothing more awesome than plugging into Spotify and cranking out the best of the 90s to keep your workday going. When you coworking team values absolute silence you might need to invest in some good headphones to keep both you and them happy.
Utilise the space allocated for small discussions for their purpose.
As part of the day to day operation of working in an office you sometimes need to talk about things that are confidential or that need a little bit of privacy in order to keep things civilised. If something sensitive comes up and you want to speak about it privately, use a small breakout room or keep things away from the main office floor so that you don’t disrupt other people or put them into a situation they might not be comfortable in.
Keep your phone on silent and keep it out of sight.
Unless you’re on a sales team and you work off your mobiles, it’s best for office morale and for creating a distraction-free zone if you keep your phone away from the main run of things. Hearing a dinging or beeping can be a particular nuisance for your neighbours so do the right thing and keep it away.
Keep things classy.
There’s nothing worse than dressing to impress when your compatriots and colleagues look like they shuffled out of bed and into the first thing they could find on the floor. You need to make sure that your ethos and fashion style fits that of your office so put a bit of effort in and reap the rewards.
I hope that this has been an illuminating look at the right way to work within a shared office space.
