Dear Sue: I work at a University. In our office, people are extremely territorial about their workstation, equipment and their job in general. In an effort to overcome this, we are attempting to cross-train people in order to implement an environment with rotating jobs. The hope is that this will encourage people to be less territorial and ease the transition in the constant flow of people moving on. But until this happens, the problem exists. How should this be addressed?
- Breaking the barriers
Sue Says: You are taking steps to address part of the problem. Once everyone is cross-trained, you still may find that people are territorial about their workstations. It's human nature.
People are protective of what they have. When it comes to the workplace, there often is very little space that we can call our own, causing some people to be quite possessive of whatever personal space they have.
Using a phone, borrowing a pencil or taking something from someone's desk without asking can appear rude and be offensive to a coworker.
While you certainly want to create an atmosphere in which everyone works together, you may need to address the issue of boundaries and the importance of honoring personal space. Sometimes we get so comfortable with our coworkers that we lose sight of our professional perspective and forget all about boundaries.
It sounds as though some of the people in your office need a reminder both about sharing responsibility and respecting each others ...
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