If you were able to work from home on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, would it matter to you if you shared a desk with someone worked from home on Tuesday and Thursday? Desks that aren't your own - Sharing raises territory concerns By Diwata Fonte, Staff Writer, News and Observer, Raleigh, NC (July 27, 2003) takes the perspective that humans are territorial in nature, so desk sharing should be avoided. But since one of the telework benefits for employers is the potential real estate cost savings, desk sharing makes sense.

So what steps can be taken to minimize negative impacts? As an exercise, think about the last time you had to stay in a hotel: if we can tolerate time-sharing a bed, we should be able to handle time-sharing a desk. What things were done (or should have been!) that made you feel more comfortable? Was the room clean and orderly? Did it have some decorations, but nothing too unique or distracting? Did the sheets on the bed look "new"? Did the previous guest do these things? Of course not.

Businesses could provide a similar "cleaning" service for shared office spaces. Chairs could be popped back to "normal" height. Phones should be returned to their "starting positions". Personal momentos could be stashed in a personal storage space and brought out only when you're there. Sorry, I don't want to see a photo of someone else's spouse on my desk, much less their empty soda can. And as for "new" sheets, just make sure my computer's desktop doesn't have anyone else's files on it.

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