The changing office environment

[HidinginPlainSight]

I'm not sure how many here work in an office environment, but there are changes that are happening at many of them and none of them are friendly to autism.

In my work, I have had my own office for ever since I've started working. There is something coming called office 2.0 where basically offices are going to be eliminated in favour of an open environment which is dynamic. I don't do particularly well with changes in the short term but in the long term I can adjust. The issue here, among many others, is the dynamic part. That means things change every single day. You no longer have your own space. Instead you are to sign out a work station every day; in this I would have to choose a station and book and so forth. Not only that, but there is nowhere to put my stuff, it has to go into a locker and this changes every day too.

Then the fact that, to promote interaction, the work spaces are placed right next to each other, as in sneezing distance. There is little to no chance that I'm not going to annoy people with my multiple (as in a long list) and unappealing stims. Worse than that, they are certainly going to annoy me to no end as well.

I'm not really sure what to do, but this is causing me all sorts of stress. I suppose I could tell my manager about my disposition, but I don't know what can really be done. If they find a way to isolate me then that will still be a problem for everyone else and I will have to live with the stigma as a badge I wear on my shoulder. I have enough problems not standing out as it is.

It's sort of ironic that they're have having a gathering to congratulate themselves on effectively addressing the mental health issues of the work place while at the same time rolling such a plan out.

Has anyone had to deal with this yet? Is there any option that would be worth raising my condition with management? I'm not the type that wants special treatment, but really I may have a very hard time doing my job under these circumstances.

 

[Judge]

Lot of discussion on this in another, older thread:

Not entirely sure I understand this, but it looks like hell for an Aspie

 

[NTGUY]

I am NT and this would annoy me. it seems cruel to me if they were to make you adhere to this being on the spectrum. I would definitely approach your manager about it.

 

[Autistamatic]

I've worked in open plan offices and I'm not keen on it. I manage it, but it takes it out of me. At least my company has never tried hot-desking...yet.

 

[tducey]

I've always liked having my own office at work. I don't mind working with others but I do like privacy at work.

 

[MeghanWithAnH]

That sounds terrible. If you have a decent manager, it might be worth bringing your concerns to him or her. You could explain that you're concerned that the new office layout is going to affect your ability to do your work. Then explain the specific things you are worried about and ask if anything can be done differently to help. You can also explain that you don't want to be isolated from everyone else, you just need a little space, quiet, and consistency. Presenting it as a concern shows that you're not just complaining to complain, you're trying to make sure you can do a good job. A decent manager would try to accommodate you, both to help you and because they want employees to be productive. Some accommodations are even easy, like being allowed to wear earplugs to reduce the background noise from so many people working close together. They might have other ideas that would help without isolating you or making you stand out. Even if they can't do anything right now, bringing up your concerns in advance may help you if the changes cause problems later. For example, if someone complains about your stimming, the manager will already know that you aren't trying to annoy people, or if your productivity goes down they will already know why you are distracted. It sounds less like an excuse when you bring it up in advance and more like an attempt to solve the problem, which managers like. Are you officially diagnosed? If so, bringing it up could lend more weight to what you are saying, although you may be able to get some help without mentioning a diagnosis. Of course, all this is assuming that you have a good manager. A bad manager could use it as an excuse to discriminate against you. In that case it might be better to look for a job with a better work environment.