Category: office space

office space, technology, time, work

Beautiful: Marissa Mayer’s “No Telecommuting” Policy and the Quest to Make Time in the Office Meaningful

Christa Avampato

-1“Hmmmm…” I thought as I heard about Marissa Mayer’s decision to end telecommuting at Yahoo! As someone who loves to work from home, I had a hard time understanding this decision. In my efforts to be as open-minded as possible about opinions not my own (and believe me this ain’t easy, folks), I tried to understand Ms. Mayer’s point-of-view. Personally, I don’t believe Yahoo! can be saved by anyone, but is getting everyone around the same physical table the only way to give the company its best shot at survival? Is there any truth to the media soundbite “you can’t build a culture via email”?

I reflected on my own office experiences. Some of them were a blast. I made some of my very best friends of my life working side-by-side with them in the same office every single day. Many of them are still some of my nearest and dearest. Others made me want to curl up in a ball under my bed. A lot of them made me quit my job in search of greener pastures.

I don’t think Ms. Mayer’s motivation is a bad one – she wants to build a collaborative culture where innovation is a common, every day practice. The trouble is that she thinks mandating time in the office will provide that. I know there’s this old wives’ tale about innovative ideas happening around the proverbial water cooler in large corporate towers. It doesn’t happen. Offices grease the gossip mill; they don’t foster creativity.

And I have proof – Harvard said so, and therefore it must be true! Being a Penn and UVA grad, I am logically suspicious of anything Harvard says. However, I read an article that the Harvard Business Review ran in September that gave me a jolt of shock. “A study of 6,000 people conducted by the NeuroLeadership Group in collaboration with a large healthcare firm asked respondents questions about where, when, and how people did their best thinking. Only 10 percent said it happened at work.”

10 percent!? That’s Marissa Mayer’s worst nightmare. And while some may think that we need to then alter the office environment to improve that, my question is why not dump the office altogether? Why put money, time, and effort into improving something that feels beyond repair? After all, if a company’s product or service only met 10% of its revenue or profit targets, companies would bury it deep into the ground and make it the Lord Voldemort of their product line.

The HBR article goes on to explain how to increase our chances of doing our best thinking. One is to distract ourselves, giving our brains even just a short break from our problems so that the unconscious can provide a fresh perspective. Another involves planning out three goals we want to accomplish and giving yourself 4 hours of uninterrupted time every day to work on those goals. The other involves structuring our time to do our most challenging work during a time of day when our minds are most clear. None of them involve getting people into the office more often.

I’m a fan of togetherness. I like to be with people, but forced togetherness isn’t fun for anyone. It’s miserable. I’m all for bringing people together so that they can get to know one another, so that they can use one another as a resource for a challenge they are tackling. There are lots of ways to do that, some of them involve bringing people together in-person and some of them involve bringing people together through virtual networks. I’ve found the best way to foster collaboration is a combo of in-person and virtual time. Bringing people together, in-person, is something sacred. Make is purposeful. Make it matter. Do something with that time that people cannot do virtually. That’s the way to win.

career, comedy, holiday, office space, television

Holiday card mishap

Christa Avampato

This story is just too good to keep to myself. I debated about whether or not to tell it in a public forum but I just can’t resist. My friend, Jane, had me laugh so hard today that my eyes were tearing over. My stomach was aching. 


She has a boss who’s a bit of an exhibitionist. For example, when they needed to use some photography for a new product her company was launching, he used a photo of himself. In a muscle shirt. And the presentation was being sent to perspective clients.

So with this year’s holiday cards, he got a little creative. Most people get a family photo where everyone’s smiling, the dog seated on the couch, etc. Not this guy. He took a trip to Bali this past summer and thought he’d like to showcase that. Now, a normal person would choose a picture of the sunset, the ocean, maybe even a picture of himself sipping a tropical looking drink. 

Jane’s boss decided to have someone take a photo of him in a black speedo (what Jane describes as an ill-fitting banana hammock) and used that for his holiday card. Yep – sent it to family, friends, co-workers, business contacts. I was floored. Talk about lack of judgement!

Now the card is all the talk about the office. People crowding in corners, at the copier, at the water cooler. Some are laughing, some are appalled, all have lost respect for him. Even clients are commenting on the card. It sounds like a stunt that Steve Carell would pull on The Office. (I’m thinking of sending the idea in to NBC.) Would anyone in their right mind seriously do that? Well, you know what they say – in all good comedy, there’s a little bit of truth.     
career, creativity, cubicle, job, office space, social work

Improving officespace: death to cubicles

Christa Avampato

How the color taupe ever made its way into U.S. offices I will never know. I am so sick of this color I could scream. My friend, Alex, and I talk about this regularly. Humans love and crave color; so how did corporations miss that? There is nothing inspiring about taupe and if I can’t be inspired then I can’t work.

I’ve been thinking about the subject a lot lately as I am in the process of moving into a new space at work. Originally, the facilities people were trying to figure out how to cube it up as I am sharing the office with another person. I fought my urge to roll my eyes and gag. Cube up this beautiful office? What??

If I had my way I’d paint it some fabulous color, put down Tatami mats, create a “Beautiful Mind” wall, and leave that space as open as possible – no walls thank you. I’m getting my way, partially. No fabulous paint color (white is all that’s “allowed”), no Tatami mats. I am going to have a beautiful mind wall and though the space won’t be totally open, it will have bookcases and a credenza in a cherry finish as a “wall” as opposed to taupe cubicle walls. It’s a start.

The progress has been driven by my boss and to the members of the facilities team who took us downstairs into the depths of our corporate building to the warehouse where they hide the cool furniture. We’re hoping to have the place set up and be moved in by the end of the month. And here’s the kicker: the maintenance team is excited to do the project. It’s something new and different for them. Finally, a creative outlet for them! They hate the taupe, too.

I came across a post on the website http://www.coolhunter.net/ that addresses the problem of boring office space with outrageous ideas. And given the rut that corporate office design is stuck in, I think being outrageous may be the only way to wake us up from our cubicle-induced coma. Enjoy these wild officescape photos and I hope they inspire you to buck the taupe.

http://www.thecoolhunter.net/design/CREATIVE-WORK-ENVIRONMENTS—Do-you-work-in-one-/