<p>As some of you know, I did freelance work for 22 years before taking a full-time job 2 years ago, so I am not as knowledgeable as I should be about the subtleties of being an employee. </p>
<p>Thus, the following inquiry.</p>
<p>A member of our department’s support staff quit several months ago, and the company has decided not to fill the position. Because this person was support staff rather than a professional, she had an inside office with no window. That office has been unoccupied since she left and probably will stay that way. </p>
<p>I am considered a professional, and therefore I have a window office. I absolutely hate it. The glare on my computer screen bothers me constantly, and the presence of the windows makes the office too hot when the sun shines and too cold when it doesn’t. Everyone else on my side of the building shares the heat and cold problem, but the glare situation seems to be unique to me because I’m older than most of my colleagues and my vision is not as good.</p>
<p>I would sell my soul for the physical comfort of my ex-colleague’s windowless inside office. If I asked for that office, I could probably get it. But I am worried about the message it would send. I am concerned that if I moved to an office that is considered lower status than the one I occupy now, I would come to acquire the status associated with that office, at least in the eyes of new employees and those in other departments.</p>
<p>What do you think? Should I ask for the inside windowless office on the grounds of comfort and risk the loss of status, or should I stay where I am and divide my time between sweating, freezing, and squinting?</p>
<p>If you’ll be more productive in a quiet interior office, take it. </p>
<p>Many years ago my husband took the “worst office” on the floor even though he was the boss–and assigned his assistant the “best office”. He got nothing but respect for making a decision that helped everyone be more productive.</p>
<p>Believe me, people will learn quite quickly not to judge by appearances.</p>
<p>I don’t have any opinion not having enough experience with corporate culture but there are films out there that are applied to windows, sort of like sunglasses for windows, that cut down on glare and heat without compromising light or the view. I think there might even be temporary ones that are easily removed. Perhaps you could request them for everyone on your side of the building? Also, they come in a roller blind type set up which is pretty easy to install.</p>
<p>Put blinds up or sun shield or potted plant, that’s what DS did to his rooms in his coop house.
One room is literally a jungle (he set the potted plants in additional potting soil on the rubber protected wood floor. Another room (bed and work room) he put blinds, muslin cloth and sunshield on his bay windows. </p>
<p>Block off the vents and get a floor heater.</p>
<p>The potted plant idea is a good one. They are permitted. Some of my colleagues work in offices that look like jungles. I mean, they have TREES in there. I have never had houseplants (my husband has lots of allergies), but I suppose I could learn how to take care of them. Although my office is small, I do have space for one or two.</p>
<p>Space heaters are forbidden by the building owners as a fire hazard; if you get caught with one, you get fired. Blocking vents is forbidden because it changes the temperature of adjacent offices. We already have blinds, but they’re the kind with slats, so light gets through anyway. I keep mine closed always. Management has criticized me for this from time to time, but every time it happens, I say that I have trouble with glare on my computer screen, and that this seems to have gotten worse as I have gotten older. The mention of age always causes them to back off and not actually forbid me to keep the blinds closed. (I think they understand that my next sentence would include the words “age discrimination.”)</p>
<p>Any kind of curtain would be forbidden as unauthorized decoration. Except for plants (which seem to be permitted largely because a couple of the senior managers love them), extra decorative stuff, other than a small picture or two on the walls, is frowned upon. One of my colleagues moved from a larger apartment to a smaller one and brought in some stuff that didn’t fit in his new home to decorate his office; he was told to remove all of it. A window film that doesn’t show might be permitted, though, especially if I play the age card. </p>
<p>I don’t know if I’m in the majority or the minority, but personally I am less concerned about what my fellow employees think of my status. I am far more comfortable with what I think of me, and what the boss thinks of me.
If I didn’t think my work would suffer, then I’d ask for whatever office made me more comfortable.
I don’t know how serious you are, but I advise great caution playing the age card. Every time you mention it, a person may be reminded of it and find roundabout ways to inconvenience you- or worse. My experience the more often a person says or implies “I can’t do this, I can’t do that” because “I’m old”, then the more likely a boss will think he needs someone who can.</p>
<p>Inside personnel. Meetings with clients take place in our conference rooms, not our personal offices, which are quite small. We happen to be a company where everyone has a private office, but almost everyone’s office is tiny, and except for the public areas where we meet with outsiders, the building is distinctly shabby. </p>
<p>Younghoss, that’s a good point about the “age card.” Thank you.</p>
<p>I have a similar office but the sun only shines in for about 90 minutes in the morning and then it’s gone. I just adjust the blinds for the light issue. We have the same issue with the air vents. My only suggestion is to wear default clothes for the high-end of the temperature range and keep additional clothes around that you can add when the office is cold.</p>
<p>On computer monitors, most used to have matte displays which are great working in offices, especially with fluorescent ceiling lights. Then the consumer LCD display revolution hit and manufacturers found that consumers preferred glossy displays for entertainment so most of the displays available are glossy and widescreen. The previous format before widescreen was better for work as you had more horizontal pixels.</p>
<p>Computer companies found that they could charge more for traditional screen resolutions and matte screens because it was mostly business users that bought them. So you might be better off with a matte display on your monitor over a glossy display - assuming that you now have a glossy display.</p>
<p>Apple offers what they call antiglare displays on some of their laptops and I always go with those.</p>
<p>I recall complaining about the temperature issue to a manager many years ago. He went into his office and brought back a roll of duct tape and taped up one of the vents. Facilities removed it a few years later.</p>
<p>Consider an anti-glare screen for your monitor, as BCEagle mentions. Also consider rearranging your office, or at least your desk, so you don’t have the glare from the window behind you and glaring onto the computer screen. It might help if you can turn everything around so you look at the window, with your screen in front of you.</p>
<p>And IMHO, you should go for the inside office if it ultimately makes you more comfortable and more productive.</p>
<p>Can you squat in the inner office for a few hours per day?</p>
<p>I’d keep the more prestigious office unless you can not find a way to reduce glare. What about a portable screen (Asian-style for example) standing near the window? What about a tented covering for the computer? Brainstorm a bit - it might help.</p>
<p>I have a windowless office, but I have a terrible problem with florescent glare (very bright and my eyes are sensitive). Also our building has terrible air control ( the emphasis is on keeping the labs in spec), so the office areas vary from roasting to freezing. I reside in one of the freezing areas.</p>
<p>Since space heaters are not quite verboten yet, I keep one running, even during the summer. And I can’t wear short sleeve during the summer, or at least I have to keep a jacket on. As for the glare, I wear my prescription sunglasses while at my desk. My coworkers are indulgent, calling it my ‘Jackie O’ look. ;)</p>
<p>I guess because I do it and nobody else does. And it does look unattractive. </p>
<p>I’m not sure whether moving furniture is permitted. There are several people who sit directly under air-conditioning vents and complain about it incessantly but never move their desks, which would solve the problem, so I suspect not.</p>
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<p>No. We have desktop computers, not laptops, and the IT people rendered the computer in that office inoperable as soon as the occupant left. Besides, you don’t just go somewhere other than where you’re supposed to be. I tried sorting some documents into piles once on the large table in an unoccupied conference room and was quickly reprimanded for it.</p>
<p>There is a certain control-freak nature to the place, yes. But at least I have a job.</p>
<p>With all that said, Marian, it sounds as if you can’t improve your situation by making small changes and staying in your current office. In that case, I’d take the big step and go for the other office. Will they allow you to do that??</p>
<p>Marian, given all the information thus far, I would stay put. It sounds like this is a very controlled environment where an attempt to change could make life difficult. Do your best to make your current office more comfortable.
(The post about using the conference table to compile documents tipped the scale for me…yeesh!)</p>
<p>a long time ago, I used polarized sun glasses when viewing monitors. They got to be nuisance because I had to remove them when I needed to look at the hardware. Eventually added a big sun shade on the monitor.</p>
<p>I am sitting in my office right now, and I have realized that some of the glare comes from the excessively bright fluorescent ceiling lights as well as the windows. New lights were installed several months ago; they are supposedly an improvement over the old ones because they’re more energy-efficient, but they’re also horribly bright. </p>
<p>We have an opportunity once a year to request new office equipment, as long as it’s fairly cheap and is listed in the catalog of our one office equipment supplier. Some people who requested and received desk lamps in the past started relying on them exclusively when the very bright new ceiling lights were installed. I may request a desk lamp when the time comes and try that. Asking for a sunshade device might also be possible if sunshades for our model of computer monitor are in the catalog. Annual request time is only 4 months away, so I have some good ideas to look forward to.</p>