Day fifteen, and things are still awkward. Not that we mind sharing our office space. Sharing is great. Sharing…is caring. But it’s just that what we do is very different to what they do, and I think it’s ruining our vibe a little. Our boss knows their boss and is doing them a favour by letting them crash here while their office fitouts are happening, but still. I’m actually not sure after all this time what it is they actually do; like, it’s number crunching, or maybe housing documents? They don’t talk much, and none of them seem to like our music. Whatever; you just keep showing up in your suits and ties and sensible-length office skirts, and we’ll just…you know, enjoy our work.
Maybe they can request some of those office design people available in Melbourne to turn their place into less of a snooze-fest. Not that I’ve seen where they work, but I can guess every detail: dark blue carpet, white cubicle walls, water cooler in the corner, those long lights that give off super harsh, functional light, and the walls are blank aside from a few pictures of employees of the month, or something. Must’ve been a bit of a shock for them, coming into our open-plan office with beanbags, casual dress and animal-print wallpaper. Sorry if we want to have a bit of fun, but while mood bracelets can be serious business, we need a good vibe around if we’re going to make the idea work. You can’t design a bracelet that increases the euphoria of the wearer if there’s some dour corporate suit hanging over you, telling you to have the Ingham documents on his desk by 5pm. BORING.
I guess we’ll just have to grin and bear it for now. But seriously, maybe we will have some kind of impact. They’re realise that their quality Melbourne commercial office design could be so much more than new carpet in the same colour. Maybe go for lime green, rip out the cubicles and let people loosen their ties and bring in a portable speaker every once in a while, you know? You won’t get more work done, but your employees might smile every so often.
-Mark