I think an academic institute probably needs one or two private rooms, but these wouldn’t have to be assigned offices. They could be for whomever needs privacy at any given time.

This would allow for those private, personal conversations that sometimes need to take place in academic settings or any workplace for that matter. You could also use them for conference calls, video conferencing, or small group meetings in which you don’t want to disturb others.

I’m not sure if you’re the academic exception, or the academic exception when people have had a choice. Many academic research offices, typically much less well funded than yours, seem to grab whatever space they can get — at least that was my experience with them. And, sharing 250 square feet with four other people made for great collaboration and cooperation.

Our big room has turned into an incredible project space. The offices are doubled up in. Our library/lounge has become a seminar room, we had a class of 20 or so there today.

If we had to do it again, we’d probably give up all 3 offices. I spend precious little time in mine.

We’d take as much reconfigureable group space as we could get out hands on.

Yet we are by far the exception in an academic environment, which is built around private offices for professors, classrooms, and cube farms for research assistants.

I may well be the first professor in my unit to give up a private office.

Private companies, even giants like the big 4 accounting firms, can still shift directions quickly when it comes to workplace policy.

Elizabeth’s comment raises the subject of gender and workplace. I haven’t found too many formal reports addressing this. But anecdotal interviews with workplace consultants suggests that having more women in senior positions is contributing to greater use of more collaborative workplace layouts. One consultant told me she believes that women “bosses” prefer to be surrounded by the people they work with and are less concerned about privacy than male bosses.

Other consultants would say this is generational and not male/female. I’ll write about this soon in this “column.”

I came from private practice having worked in the banking/brokerage business. There I was use to bigger promotions bigger offices. But this government setup seems a little wierd. Cubicles are noisy, people hear your conversations, the smell of other peoples’ food is always present and it just is not as private as having an office. Also being a 50 year old finance executive with an MBA and six professional designations managing $100s of millions of dollars or other people’s money, you’d think privacy would be important. But like I say, the government is different than private business.

When I worked in a cubicle, the atmosphere of my department was collaborative so that was fine. But the one thing that always drove me nuts was that the layout of the cubicle pretty much forced me to have my back to the entrance. One particularly odd coworker – rather than announcing her presence – used to linger in peoples’ cubicle doorways until they turned around and noticed her. After several instances of having the bejeezus scared out of me, I situated my computer so that I could see out.