What’s Your Office Personality?

What’s your office per­son­al­i­ty? What’s your office say­ing about you? Your office style impacts cus­tomer rela­tions, work style, time man­age­ment and cre­ativ­i­ty.  The trick is to cre­ate and main­tain an office that helps you stay focused.  Many of you are famil­iar with our Con­fi­dent Con­sul­ta­tion Sys­tem, which includes the Pow­er Words.  Take a moment and use that approach in 3–5 words to describe your per­fect office space.  Let’s see how those words impact your over­all business.

Let’s take a fun look at our Office Per­son­al­i­ties.  Scan your office, don’t focus on one item and be hon­est with what you see. 

Dili­gent Donna:
Order­ly, Sym­met­ri­cal, Perfect

Books neat­ly arranged, cal­en­dar backed up in the cloud, files in per­fect order and you can lay your hands on what­ev­er you need in an instant.   Pro: Dili­gent Don­nas have effi­cient offices.  Con: The need for orga­ni­za­tion can over­shad­ow mar­ket­ing and client rela­tions.  It may even be a place for you to hide instead of find­ing what your busi­ness needs most…clients.
Pho­to: An Orga­nized Company

Friend­ly Fran - Warm, Invit­ing, Con­ver­sa­tion Friend­ly, Casual

Mag­a­zines face the guest, can­dy on the desk and a well-placed chair wel­comes vis­i­tors. Chat­ting with clients, the UPS guy and dog often takes pri­or­i­ty over fil­ing or accom­plish­ing any­thing mea­sur­able. Pro: Friend­ly Frans have fun at work and prob­a­bly even know the names of the UPS man’s chil­dren. Con: Busi­ness may not be as prof­itable as they want because they need to find that mid­dle ground.

Adven­tur­ist Ann — On Trend, Col­or­ful, Inter­est­ing She loves this years’ trend, Glob­al Chic, as it reflects the trav­els she has expe­ri­enced or hopes to expe­ri­ence. The office show­cas­es a vari­ety of col­lec­tions, such as books, maps, rocks, beach glass and more.  These col­lec­tions moti­vate Ann to work toward the next adven­ture.  Pro: Adven­tur­ist Anns have an office filled with inspi­ra­tion. Con:    Col­lec­tions can quick­ly turn into clut­ter mak­ing it dif­fi­cult for one to focus.

Pho­to: Glamour.com

What­ev­er Wan­da -

Warm, Inspir­ing, Casu­al, Comfortable

Wan­da gets it…she does­n’t waste time mak­ing sure every file is per­fect but can find what she needs rel­a­tive­ly quick­ly.  The walls of her office are filled with inspi­ra­tion ideas, mag­a­zines and most impor­tant­ly, thank you cards from delight­ed clients.  She thinks, “If I can find it on my desk in two min­utes, I have a system…Whatever.” Bot­tom line, Wan­da is more inter­est­ed in con­nect­ing with clients then hav­ing the per­fect office. Pro: Wan­das have an under­stand­ing of the

heart of a business…clients. Con:The “what­ev­er approach” to track­ing projects can come back to bite you.

Glam­our Gail Sleek, sophis­ti­cat­ed, ele­gant, professional
Dressed to kill, gro­cery list writ­ten with a fan­cy pen, design­er hand­bags are a must and her office is filled with ele­ments that con­vey class.  If a Nation­al Awards is earned, you can bet it will be dis­played in a gor­geous frame.  Pro: Gails are ready for busi­ness at the drop of a hat.  Con: She can get so caught up in pre­sent­ing an image she may not con­nect as well with poten­tial clients. 

Pho­to: minnesotaplaybook.org

How does your per­sona impact your pro­duc­tiv­i­ty?   The best approach is a blend of Fran, Don­na, Ann, Gail and Wan­da depend­ing on the client or sit­u­a­tion. Exam­ine your Pow­er Words and see if they lead to an office style that allows you to be pro­duc­tive and profitable.
Want to know more about Pow­er Words and how to use them with your clients? Check out the record­ing on The-DSA site.

We hope you enjoyed this fun Office Per­son­al­i­ty game. Go to Sig­na­ture Redesign Face­book page and The-DSA’s Face­book page share your office per­son­al­i­ty.  Did you iden­ti­fy with Ann, Gail, Wan­da, Don­na or Fran?  Don’t for­get to “like us” if you haven’t already.