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When you walk into someone's office and there is a lot of clutter (documents, memos, brochures, etc.) on the person's desk and throughout their office in general, it is difficult not to form an impression. You may think that this person is super busy, or you may think that they are very disorganized.
Some will say that a clear desk is a sign of a clear mind.
Others will say that a busy desk is a sign of an active mind.
Location: ๏̯͡๏﴿ Gwinnett-That's a Civil Matter-County
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It depends on what it is and whether or not there is another place to put it.
I'd be more impressed if they have a creative system for being organized and hiding clutter.
Some people have 2 or 3 desks all lined up to accommodate all their clutter. And they'll keep their main desk relatively clear. That doesn't impress me but if they managed to hide it all in cabinets or behind some doors then that would.
I've known people with messy offices who were extremely effective & productive, and people with messy offices who were disorganized and ineffective. So I take the status of the office, and combine it with what I know of the person's effectiveness and productivity, and then conclude which type the person is.
I've also known people with extremely neat offices with empty desks, and they also seem to have minds that are just as empty. So even though I'm a bit of an organizational neat freak, I don't make the conclusion just based on how the office and desk look.
When you walk into someone's office and there is a lot of clutter (documents, memos, brochures, etc.) on the person's desk and throughout their office in general, it is difficult not to form an impression. You may think that this person is super busy, or you may think that they are very disorganized.
Some will say that a clear desk is a sign of a clear mind.
Others will say that a busy desk is a sign of an active mind.
What do you say?
My opinion is:
If there is a lot of clutter they want you to believe they are very busy....looks good when the boss stops by your cube.
If there is no clutter they realize that they need all their notes and info stored digitally so they can work from anywhere and be productive, not just productive 9-5 in their cube.
Anyone who judges me by the clutter in my office, geez...I have a TON of papers, equipment, I really need someone to clean this place up. A few boxes on the floor too. I need a bigger office. Ha ha...
I'm not a fan of clutter, but my desk has lots of stuff on it....I know where everything is...and I can access it right away. It's not PILES of stuff....everything is neat....but I need stuff at my fingertips...so that's where I keep it!
I do have stuff on the floor...waiting on someone stronger than myself to take it to storage!! I can't lift those full boxes!
I once went to the office of a human resource person, and it was 100% empty and devoid of paper and any personal items so that I thought the office had been vacated. It wasn't -- it was her office. But it made me think she was anal-retentive and obsessive and in subsequent interactions with her that proved to be the case. She was not personable and she was really rigid and obsessive about 'rules' etc.
I also think that the amount of paper people have stored in their offices says a lot about the company's IT dept.
I would love to be almost-paperless, but I end up saving lots of hard copies of important things because there's always some issue with the network being down, or some archived electronic documents being lost, and the IT people can't seem to fix the problems. I can't even count how many times my carefully-filed hardcopy of something saved us when electronic info went missing.
I once went to the office of a human resource person, and it was 100% empty and devoid of paper and any personal items so that I thought the office had been vacated. It wasn't -- it was her office. But it made me think she was anal-retentive and obsessive and in subsequent interactions with her that proved to be the case. She was not personable and she was really rigid and obsessive about 'rules' etc.
I had the same experience with an office manager once. I think you tagged it correctly. The "little people" all had desks full of files and post it notes. They cleaned it up before leaving, but while at work, they were busy working those files.
While we're at it, I always wonder about people who live in sterile homes devoid of any signs of living there.
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