Your desk is a reflection of you

Unless you are hot desking or in secret organisation with (an enforced) clean desk policy, your desk speaks volumes about who you are. It represents you, when you are not there. Have you heard the ‘dress for the job you want’, well, it goes beyond the fabric on your back. If your desk sends conflicting messages, it might be time to address it.

Sorry, there is no excuse for a mess. Even the creative people of the world. Mess = inconsiderate and lack of organisation. Is that what is written on your resume key objective?

Analyse your desk from the perspective of a passer-by, keeping the following in mind:

Commit to the present – if your desk is about your holidays; past, future and planned, than your employer could wonder if you emotionally committed to the present. Of course, have some tasteful images, but travel catalogues, lays and cocktail umbrellas, says your mind might be elsewhere.

Toys toys toys! Not to be confused with Innovative gadgets. But if you look like a kid, than chances are you might be treated like one. You can show personality and creativity without your desk being a playschool arena.

Overload of sticky notes – don’t know how to use a computer? Can’t organise tasks? A couple are okay – but an avalanche can indicate a techno-phobia. If there is a computer on your desk, use it to organise yourself.

Do you decorate your desk like a shopping mall? Christmas, Australia Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter… where do you get the time to be so decorative and is that the reason why you missed a deliverable?

Personality missing. If someone could be excused for thinking that your work-desk is abandoned, consider injecting something that represents you. Lack of anything personal can send a message that you are about to jump ship. Of course some people are wall-flowers, but they are still flowers…

There is clean and then there is sterile. But if it smells of hospital-grade detergent, it can show an unhealthy obsession. It’s like the person that immediately goes for the hand sanitiser after shaking your hand… if you can’t survive without cleaning, be discrete about it.

Most workplaces have some sort of greenery. If you have a personal plant, consider it a commitment. Nothing says lack of responsibility and failure than a dead pot-plant… which is right in front of your face.

Empty food containers, dirty cups, ring marks and spillage. Not to mention smell. Yes, you might be working late, but you might also have a lack of balance or care for those working around you.

Ideally your work should speak for itself, but your desk does send a silent message. Give it a good message to share.

Display your strengths, if you want management to see potential, leadership and management qualities, use your desk. Have leadership journals, industry publications, a discrete award, article clippings. Look like you are the resourceful go-to person. Be organised – files, folders and in/out trays. If you want to invite conversation (and allowed) have another chair or small candy jar. Otherwise have something on your desk that is uniquely you (art, gadget). An icebreaker conversation starter is always helpful for those awkward moments.

#desk #whatyourdesksaysaboutyou #Workspace