strange ways some business work

[Bird]

Talking with a lady near home last night and her work is moving to a new building in town. Nothing unusual about that.

But at the new site, it will be first come first served every day who gets what desk - every day Not even a managers desk.

There's around 100 staff, possibly more over a couple of floors.

So nobody has their "own desk". So chances are no 2 days a week will you sit at the same desk.  Add to that in the office ALL users will have laptops WITH a monitor.. No desktops.

Did someone con the **** out of them when they quoted this gig? Is the manager a tool?

Strangest **** I ever heard.

[WilSurf]

I have heard about this before.
They are saving on desktops and monitors and you are plugging in te network wherever you have a seat.
This does also mean that you can't leave documentation etc on the desk as it could be used by someone else the next day.

How will you find someone if they are spread over different floors?

[Mace]

I beleive they are called "collaborative" workspaces!

http://www.theage.com.au/business/property/working-in-smarter-spaces-20130226-2f3zy.html

Do SFA for me too. ive tried working in an open office, too many distractions (apart from myswag that is).

[Bird]

I have heard about this before.
They are saving on desktops and monitors

but laptops are more expensive than workstations, and they still have a monitor AND laptop.

I think she mentioned cubicles not just open flat desks with 0124823498039 interruptions and distractions.
I'll ask tonight.

I beleive they are called "collaborative" workspaces!

ahhh I see where it fails, it was designed by an architect. Gotcha.

[fabulous]

We are moving offices next year and have been told that how our office will be, and this will be for well over 100 people, maybe in the 000's

[chester ver2.0]

It is called hot desking it is used for a largly transient workforce that may only be in the office 1 or 2 days per week. so if you have a 1000 people instead of a 1000 workspaces which may only be all fully utilised 35% of the tim you build 500 workspaces and utilise them 100% of the time.

However in most cases admin staff or others who are there 100% of the time are usually allocated a desk

The other appeal of laptops is that the power consumption is much lower than a desktop hense the appeal on electricity savings for large workforces

[Mace]

The other appeal of laptops is that the power consumption is much lower than a desktop hense the appeal on electricity savings for large workforces

To be offset against the higher purchase cost of Laptop, docking station and remote keyboard, as well as their inherent ergonomic deficiencies if used for long periods without these.

A fad.  Give it 3 years and someone else will produce data to show there is some other way to go!

[GeeTee]

hot-desking is SOOO last century!

It was a fad that lasted about no-time as it simply didn't work, even for the street-wear and surf clothing companies that tried it in the 90s

Lack of 'ownership' of the workspace, proivacy etc and the added anxiety this adds to a worker (no matter how subtle) means a less efficient worker and workforce

[Hairs]

And 90% of them would be using Facebook.
I wonder what the collective term for shiny arse is?

[chester ver2.0]

To be offset against the higher purchase cost of Laptop, docking station and remote keyboard, as well as their inherent ergonomic deficiencies if used for long periods without these.

A fad.  Give it 3 years and someone else will produce data to show there is some other way to go!

Yeah i agree my worplace has just gone back to desktops and is actually creating more offices for people as half the workforce is outside on their mobiles having conversations that cannot be held in open plan e.g would you like me discussing your workers comp claims with company Lawyers in an open plan office

[Bird]

how do you work in that environment with 100 people on the phone all trying to out yell each other?


It still doesn't compute. but sadly nothing much in the 00/10's does for me anymore.

[Spada]

[quote
I wonder what the collective term for shiny arse is?

[/quote]

Public servant

[Hairs]

Public servant

[Kit_e_kat9]

how do you work in that environment with 100 people on the phone all trying to out yell each other?

That's called a Call Centre.  It's hard trying to work in one.  I worked in one for a year.  I had to have a headset with two ear pieces as some people talk quite loudly and I couldn't hear my clients ... but it got stolen over a weekend.  We did have a desk as such ... it was a black plastic draw which went into a pigeon hole type thing in one wall ... where ever you found an empty space.  All the desks had zero view so hot desking wasn't an issue as no desk was better than any other.  The further from your manager you got the better you felt, but since you have no time to chat to your co-workers where you sit doesn't really matter.

What peeved me the most was asking permission to print something ... I wasn't allowed to move from my desk for 8 hours - lunch and two smoko breaks excepted (and timed).

I now work in an office where we have "cubicles" (or should that be 'rectangicles').  I take ownership of my desk and can put out personal stuff.  The office is open and I still have trouble hearing my clients.

Kit_e

[austastar]

Hi,
  we were moving from 1950s style offices (min 3.6x3.6m, opening windows with a view, own lockable door, 20 minutes on a bicycle to work, no traffic lights in a nice suburb to a megalopalis horribillis architect designed, cellular themed, pre-cast, multipurpose open spaces in the cbd on the 1st Dec 2009.


I retired on 31 Nov 2009, best move I ever made.


cheers

[jnik]

Hot desking is so yesterday ...

If you want to impress the boss tell them about Activity-Based Working (ABW) ...

http://www.itnews.com.au/News/331142,aussie-firms-embrace-the-deskless-office.aspx

The next iteration of hot-desking

While early adopters energetically espouse the benefits of this new approach to work, there are still many that view it as a nothing more than a trendy architectural fad, a cynical attempt to save money by reducing the floor space available to each employee or just another way of describing the well-established practice of hot desking.

By definition, ABW is not hot desking. Hot desking essentially means that staff have an assigned desk, but now have to share it.  Activity-Based Working, by contrast, does away with all notion of owning your own desk and the hierarchy this infers in a workplace, in order to help staff  focus on the task at hand. It allows staff to choose where they want to work to produce the desired outcome.

I actually prefer the open office, but hate the idea of "hot desking" ... or ABW.

[D4D]

ABW is great however you need the backend collaboration infrastructure to support it otherwise it will end it tears.

[ozbogwam]

I've always worked in open offices, part and parcel of working in the design industry. It amazes me now I'm freelancing that some places don't allow music to be played or chatting is discouraged. Could never work in a quiet cubicle farm, need to have the music in the background

[Bird]

It amazes me now I'm freelancing that some places don't allow music to be played or chatting is discouraged.

I've never worked in IT where music was allowed except through headphones, which is wat I've always done.


This NBN ABN ACC ABC sounds like **** to me..
People should have a desk and keep their sht there..
theres no arguing no bitching about who sits near who...
You have your own Mouse, and phone and headset... not some sweatty sneezing snot bags gear.

if theres conflicts you can control it before it becomes an problem. This is how it works at Nutcase Central where I work.

[Nomad]

I pay a sh!te load of rent for my office but still do the best work in the car with a phone............some mornings I arrive at work at 8am and don't walk into my office until 9.30 or 10.00 am, because I sit in the car and get all the crap done I need to. My laptop picks up the office wifi and I don't have to talk to the animals.

[Jon]

We are moving to a open plan office in about 3 weeks which sucks balls as 6hrs/day I am on the phone.

My current office is a nice 4x5m. The story we get is that offices are a thing of the past.

Funny though how everyone one that is telling us that, has one....

[Nomad]

My current office is a nice 4x5m. The story we get is that offices are a thing of the past.

Your office may cost anywhere from 10K to 20K per annum to have. That's before equipment and support staff etc.
Cheers Nomad.

[MR MAC GU]

I think it's awesome...

Clock on in the morning, disappear until after lunch and clock off in the afternoon.

Nobody would know who was missing...lol


Sent from Behind you...BOO

[speewa158]

And 90% of them would be using Facebook.
I wonder what the collective term for shiny arse is?

Publis Service  am l close 

[MattNQ]

And now for something completely different....Here's a workstation (called a walkstation) for those rendered morbidly unfit by the 9-5 cubic-hell in which they work.