The Office

by Lawyer Working Girl

As this year starts to wind down, I have to take a moment to reflect on all of the great opportunities that have come my way career-wise this year. One of those, which is the biggest, is the promotion that I received a couple of months ago that I've already shared with you all. I believe that this promotion is really just the start of more great things to come with my company and I am excited about the possibilities. (Another truly awesome thing is receiving my first bonus with the company! WOOHOO!)

Another thing that happened for my company this year was our move to our new office space. For about a year and a half my company was in a smaller building and smaller office space. Then we began to hear talks about moving to a bigger office space, which was the first sign that the company was growing, and that got everyone excited. Now that we've been in our new space for a few months, I look back at our old space, and I'm telling you, it's like going from a Pinto to a Mercedes. Our new space is so much bigger and better than the old office and has new technology integrated in that helps us to stay connected to the outside world (hey, we spend a lot of time at the office) as well as connected with our colleagues in the various offices. I think the new office has even had an effect on everyone's disposition. After all, when you spend a majority of your day at a place, don't you want it to be nice and one that you enjoy?

That got me to thinking about the pros and cons of working in an office. I often think that I would LOVE to be able to work from home where I could stay in my pajamas and post up in front of the TV while I work (especially on COLD days like today). How great would it be to just walk to my kitchen for lunch rather than the breakroom to heat up the lunch that I brought or running out and spending money on food? Although that sounds nice, there are things that I would miss about working in an office.

I read this interview with the co-founder and President of a web application company, whose main issue with the modern office place is also high up in my "pros" column: that it is structured for interruptions. Well, what he calls interruptions, I refer to as the social aspect of working in an office. I love socializing with my colleagues. That's one of the things that makes going to work fun. And the camaraderie, which goes hand in hand with socializing. We build these relationships that are unique in that if we had not worked together, we probably never would have met and would ordinarily probably never be friends (and here I use the word loosely as I do not consider my "friendships" with all of my colleagues to be equal). Also, for some, but not for me, a pro of working in an office means "the office hookup." That's all I will say about that one.

Aside from those two things another pro of working in an office is that you have people to bounce ideas off of. I wonder how many multimillion dollar ideas came from two people sitting around brainstorming? Also, having to go to an office gives me set working hours. If I'm at home it seems that it would be a lot harder to separate time for work and time for personal. Another personal pro is that I get my daily exercise in by walking to the office and back home everyday. Maybe if I worked from home I would carve out gym time, but at least this way, I'm guaranteed to get in some form of exercise everyday.

So, aside from the con in the interview that I flipped into a pro, what are the other cons of working in an office? Ok, maybe he is right that there are a lot of interruptions throughout the day. And there are always meetings. Also, there are the colleagues whose personalities clash with yours, which is really only a problem if you have to work closely with them. There's also gas money/public transportation fare/parking fees involved with commuting to work.

I really can't think of anymore legitimate cons to working in an office. Now, that's not to say that if I were offered the option of working from home that I wouldn't take it, but I guess coming to an office really isn't that bad. So tell me, Working Girls, what are your pros and cons of working in your office?

What Type Are You?

I like to think that I'm a very pleasant person to work with. Although I try to always keep a good attitude, I will admit that occasionally I can be a bit moody. I mean, who doesn't have an off day every now and again? Once I realize that I'm in a certain mood I try to check myself and force myself to smile. After all, I'm a pretty positive person so I try to remind myself of reasons why I shouldn't be in a bad mood, but more importantly, I don't want to be labeled by my colleagues as Moody Working Girl.

This got me to thinking about how I look at my colleagues and I realized that there are so many personality types in our office. So here's my list of the Office Personalities where I work:

• The Busy Body: This is the person who always wants to appear busy. Most people see right through the act and realize that she's just shuffling papers around and not doing any substantive work. Shuffling papers will not help you move up the corporate ladder.
• Mr. Important: This is the person who not only thinks that he is super important, but wants everyone else to believe that he is super important. (insert eye roll) This person is probably in middle management and wants those not in any sort of management position to know that he is somebody. This person is closely related to The Busy Body.
• Super Stressed: This is the person who lets every single thing stress her out. Bosses beware of putting this person on a project with Mr. Cool.
• "S" On My Chest: This is the person who always wants to save the day. You know, the one who wants to be involved in everything and volunteers anytime the boss needs someone to do something, even if it's something that has absolutely no bearing on their performance evaluation, like picking up donuts for the office meeting.
• The Check Collector: This person comes to work for one reason and one reason only--to collect a check. He isn't giving any extra. He's not staying late. He's not volunteering to do anything. In fact, he's doing the bare minimum to avoid being fired. He will not do any more than is required, so don't ask.
• The Loner: This person is usually seen eating lunch alone. She rarely socializes with any of her coworkers. She is not part of any office clique and likely will not attend any office social function. She comes to work to work, not to make friends.
• The Social Chair: This person is often planning the next after hours function. Birthday, Happy Hour, Monday Night Football? He's got it covered. But don't expect him to be the one to buy the birthday card for everyone to sign. He will let The Den Mother take care of that.
• The Den Mother: This person is the one who handles all of the things your mother would do if she worked with you. Is there an office birthday? Not only will she bake the cake, but she will also slice it and hand it out to everyone. She will buy the card and make sure everyone in the office signs it. When the party is over, she's the one in the breakroom cleaning up the mess. This person is often known as The Busy Body as well.
• Mr. Needy: This person is the one who acts helpless anytime they are given a task. He always come to you with a lot of questions when the answer is usually right in front of his face. He's always at your desk or in your office wanting you to help him with something. He needs you to hold his hand through everything. Bosses beware of putting Mr. Needy on a project with Ms. Independent.
• Ms. Independent: This is the person who would rather work alone than in a group. She feels that if something is going to be done right, then it's best that she do it herself. If put on a team with people, please do not put Mr. Needy on her team. It will drive her insane.
• The Office Gossip: This person knows everything that's going on around the office--who's having marital problems, who's dating who, and who's looking for a new job. If you don't want your business to become part of the conversation, stay far away from The Office Gossip.
• Mr. Cool: This is the person in the office who is very laid back. Nothing seems to bother him and he's never stressed about anything. His motto is, "I will do what I can today and what doesn't get done today, I will do tomorrow." Deadline? Performance evaluation? Presentation? He won't break a sweat. Bosses often think that pairing this person with Super Stressed will have a calming effect on Super Stressed, but they are wrong. This will only make Mr. Cool lose his cool.

Which one am I? I'm probably a little Ms. Independent and a little Ms. Cool, but I would love to know how my coworkers would describe me. Well, now there is a way to find out what your coworkers think of you. At Honestly.com , you can give and get candid reviews of your boss, coworkers, or business partners. You can even take control of your business reputation by creating your own profile (although I personally think what others have to say about you is more telling than what you have to say about yourself). If someone asked for my personal opinion on my colleagues, would these labels be the main thing that stands out in my mind about them? It's very likely. If one of my colleagues had to give a personal reference on me, what would they say?

Working Girls, do you have any of these types on your office? Are there any that you would add to the list? Would you use a service like Honestly.com to rate your coworkers?

*Please note that these labels are not gender specific. He/she, him/her, and Mr./Ms. are interchangeable.