Decorate Your Office Tastefully

By Deborah O’Connor

 

Whether it be a full-size office or a cubicle, how you decorate it can speak volumes about you and your career. Think about walking into a colleagues or a client’s office. What are your first impressions? Is it so over-decorated that it seems cloying? Is it so barren you wonder if their work will be skimpy? You want to walk in and feel comfortable, curious, and with a sense of admiration for your colleague for making you feel so at home. Your office should reflect who you are without getting too personal. Many times, the first place you make contact with a new client or a colleague is your office. It is your responsibility to make it professional yet comfortable, while reflecting your personality and work style. Here are a list of do’s and don’ts to follow:

• Whatever your decorating style, cleanliness and tidiness must come first. A cluttered, dirty office speaks volumes, and it is not speaking well of you. Clients and colleagues began to doubt your abilities.

• On the other hand, if you are a compulsive neatnik and your office is pristine with every little thing in place, this can reflect badly on your ability to be a cooperative team player.

• Do put your personality into your office décor. A warm, inviting space makes people feel at home and creates an ambience that is conducive to business. A photo of your family is a plus, it shows you have outside interests that lead to a balanced life.

• Don’t go overboard with the photos. Two tasteful photos are nice and normal; ten is obsessive and can take away from your credibility. “My student is on the honor roll” plaques and 20 photos of the little darling doing gymnastics is too much as it gives the impression you are not concentrating enough on your job.

• Definite no’s are things in your office that convey extremism in any way. These include religious, political, or sexual items. Fly your confederate flag at home, not in your office. These things make people nervous and take away from business as usual.

• Don’t confuse credential, degrees, and honors with braggadocious items. We all have our favorite teams, dolls, etc, but most of these items really belong at home. A few discreet items are okay, but your first place trophy in the church softball league or your autographed photo of Elvis just clutter up your office.

• Credentials are important. Frame your highest undergraduate degree along with any graduate degrees. People are always interested in where you went to school and it can be a conversation starter as well as the beginnings of a new friendship.

• Remember who you work for. If you have any honors or plaques from your company, display them proudly. If you write a column, have a few of your best displayed.

• Personal items need to be kept personal. Gym bags, clothing, personal hygiene items, medications, all need to be kept out of sight.

• Live plants are a plus, no more than two, but make sure they are healthy and attractive. Droopy, dead, lifeless plants do not project a positive image.

• Make sure the lighting in your office is good. You need enough light so that no one has to strain, but you don’t want anyone to feel as if they are in a line-up.

• If possible, have a small refrigerator in your office so that you can offer everyone a bottle of water. Most people appreciate this. Do not offer alcoholic beverages, you can be liable if someone drives and gets in an accident.

• While there are times when you want someone sitting across the desk from you, sometimes it makes people feel more comfortable to be sitting on equal ground. If possible have a separate sitting area in your office. If space is limited, you can always bring your chair around your desk.

•  Always have business cards available on your desk in a cardholder.

• Should you have your name on the door? Go with company policy. In fact, take a look around the office and see what others are doing. While you want to have your own individual style, you don’t want to be too different form the office norm.

 

Please feel free to send questions to Deborah at: www.successfulimage.biz.

She will answer them in her weekly column.

 

 

Deborah O’Connor is a social strategist and founder and president of Successful Image LLC with offices in Columbia and Atlanta. She offers training and seminars on image management, workplace etiquette, and social skills necessary to succeed in life professionally and personally. Contact at:  [email protected]        www.successfulimage.biz