The Go to Office Became the Go to Guy

Even with the mobility of today’s communication devices, most businesses are still dependent on stable locations for part of their operations, because people have to be someplace. Although we once dreamed of a paperless office, storage companies still make lots of money keeping old records dry. Most workers still need flat surfaces to work on, filing cabinets and specialized tools.

 

The situation has improved, after WWII office furniture was designed like battleships, grey and heavy; Bell Tell owned the telephones, laptop computers were called slide rules and you couldn’t bring a telephone with you. Businesses only changed locations when they had to.

 

Although many businesses are still location dependent, for many industries the shift has from their location being all-important, the corner store, to their team’s performance and technology being the power driving the engine. That is why it so important to be fluent in the language of design controlling work place dynamics.

 

The Left and Right Message

What is the message in a desk position? If instead of facing the desk at the door we tilted it left, so the person’s right side is open to those entering, what does that say?

It says ‘I’m a mover and a shaker. I’m ready to jump up at a moment’s notice and head out that door to bring products to my customers. I’m the person who expands my company’s reach, market and power’. How does it say that? Because the right-side of the body is the muscular, armored side! In boxing you hold the left hand close to protect the body, while the right hand reaches out to attack. We offer our right hand in greeting because it is our less vulnerable side.

‘Hi, my name is Ralph, can I sell you something? Trust me, you’ll love it’!

Let’s spin the desk the other way. What does it say when your left-side is open to the entrance?  It says, ‘I receive, I accept, I’m open to what you bring me and I’ll provide guidance and help because of our emotional connection’. The left side is where we feel our beating heart, it is the more emotional and responsive side of the body.

Think of it this way: We hold a new baby on our left side so they sense the beating of our heart, emulating the protective environment of the mother’s womb. You can’t get much more nurturing than that! Meanwhile the right side of the body is stronger and tougher, so that’s the side that we use to fend off the offers of others to hold the baby, until they start crying of course.

 

Back to work, when we put our left side towards the entrance it says ‘welcome in, I’ll be here, I’ll listen to you, and together we’ll solve your problems. It is not about jumping up and leaving the space, it is about being there and accessible.

 

When you face the door, either directly, or angled left or right, it says you are facing the outside world ready to take it on. You are a problem solver.

 

The right side facing out = Expanding your horizons beyond your close circle.

Directly facing at the door = Being in charge, yet balanced and adaptable

The left side facing out = Open to connections within your organization.

Drs. Ralph & Lahni de Amicis conduct their Ergo Dynamic Work Space Quiz for groups throughout the Bay area. They are authors of numerous books on environmental design and well being and have consulted for thousands of clients internationally in multiple languages. For more information visit www.SpaceAndTime.com and to arrange a talk and get a speaker’s package email Ralph@spaceandtime.com or call 707-235-2364.

 

 

 

 

Who Should Face East?

The flexible office is good because individuals prefer specific directions; natural sales people work best facing east and philosophers like facing north. By allowing for directional differences you promote individual genius. That’s why we developed these guidelines.

Work spaces are oriented in dominant directions based on the main entrance. Traditionally bosses faced so they could see who was coming in the door. Symbolically the boss is in alignment with the company’s mission. With the boss on the 20^th floor they don’t see who is coming in, but facing that same cardinal direction keeps them in philosophical alignment! Using traditional methods makes us feel safe and confident.

 

Because of personal programming some people benefit from the work space’s orientation more than others. We say they are a good fit with the company. Their personality type describes what that direction signifies. Stable, dependable workers like to face south, so when you put them in a southern aligned work space of course they feel supported by their surroundings.

 

Before wide spread electric lighting people had a more prevalent experience of sunlight and the night sky, the phases of the Moon and the constellations. They decided the timing of important activities and were illumination and guide posts for night time journeys along unlit pathways.

 

Recall that primordial sense of the cardinal directions when you plot the route that you want your business to travel. When have your whole crew facing the same direction they are navigating by the same stars. What direction would that be?

 

Sharing Sunlight

Before electricity entered the workplace teams sat at their stations facing the same direction to take advantage of the sun light illuminating their tasks. Understanding light sources is critical for creating effective office designs because the body reacts automatically to them and magnetic influences. Geese navigate long distances using magnetic nodes in their skulls. South sea islanders prize their traditional navigators who feel their way to the islands over the horizon. We react to these influences even when we’re not consciously aware of them.

Our GPS and Google maps speak to our conscious, frontal brains, but the primal brain where emotions and fight or flight live navigates by the cardinal (light source) and magnetic (particle based) directions. The glandular system times the body’s cycles to the electromagnetic fields of the Sun and Moon and growth and healing cycles depend on them. The body grows in Solar cycles and heals in Lunar cycles. Without you realizing it your body leans against the current of magnetic particles flowing from the North to the South Pole. How does that affect you sitting at your desk?

Ralph & Lahni de Amicis conduct their Ergo Dynamic Work Space Quiz for groups throughout the Bay area. They are authors of numerous books on environmental design and well being and have consulted for thousands of clients internationally in multiple languages. For more information visit www.SpaceAndTime.com and to arrange a talk and get a speaker’s package email Ralph@spaceandtime.com or call 707-235-2364.

Who is in Charge Here?

When you walk into the boss’s office and they are facing you, what message does that send? It says, ‘We both know who’s in charge here’. That positioning, that posture shows that the boss is ready, willing and able to face issues and solve problems NOW! When you walk into that office arrangement be prepared for decisions to be made, whether or not you like them. Managers who set up their office with a commanding posture have a clear vision for the future of their enterprise. Their decisions will fit into that long-range plan which can be confusing when you’re just looking for a short-term answer.

 

If you’re habitually frustrated by a boss’s decisions, then turn yourself around and look at it from their side of the desk, literally. It is like the Indian adage of walking a mile in a person’s moccasins before you criticize them. Consider what they are seeing when they are working, adopt their perspective. Face the same quadrant of the compass as your boss and see if you are inspired by the same stars.

 

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