Today I’m working from a special slice of paradise – Mission Beach. It’s just south of Cairns, a hop, step and a jump to the Great Barrier Reef in Far North Queensland. I’m here for my friends’ wedding. Me and 107 other guests who’ve come to share their special day.
This was the view from my room at sunrise this morning. That’s Dunk Island to the right.
Views are prime real estate everywhere, and office-land is no exception. When I first started working, in the days before open plan, your office signified your status. In Melbourne, the biggest bosses had views of the Bay.
They also had the biggest offices. In fact, you just had to count the ceiling tiles to know the level of the person whose office you were in. I kid you not! And people were very sensitive about having the right number of tiles.
Proximity mattered too. The closer you were sitting to the biggest bosses, the more important you were.
With more flexible work options, and thanks to technology, the status of who you’re with isn’t so clear. But you do have a greater choice of views. I’m not a fan of open plan, but I am a fan of choosing your view.
Natural light is my thing. As long as I’m near a window I’m happy. I can even work in paradise.
How about you? Where’s your favourite place to work? Scroll down to let me know.
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We decided years ago that all our team members have equal status and their value to the company is in the execution of their roles which are all equally important. No reserved parking. No offices. Same desks. Should we decide on bonuses everyone gets the same amount as they’ve all contributed to the success of the company. The only difference is in the salary structure where the lowest-paid team member will not earn less than 1/8th of the highest-paid. This idea was taken from the book Maverick. Salary increases decided on performance and accreditations obtained.
Odd? We don’t think so and it works for us
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Hi Rob, Thanks for sharing. It’s not odd at all. Sounds impressive and a great place to work. I love the 1/8th idea. Not sure that’d be so popular with the haves, given the ever-increasing divide between the haves and have nots. I might struggle with the open plan myself. But it always depends, for example, the noise level, space between the desks, and of course, the view.