“What are you doing in Frank’s office,” I ask Bob who is staring at the overhead light fixture. Startled, he quickly looks down. I continue to tease him, “What is this? A meditation room? What are you doing?”
Bob mumbles, “Counting.”
“Counting what?” I ask.
Bob takes a second, takes a breath and confesses, “ceiling tiles.”
It takes me almost a minute, then I realize what Bob is doing: he’s measuring the size of his office against Frank’s. Bob’s anger replaced his embarrassment. He realizes he has a smaller office. They were equal on the org chart and at the same pay grade, but not equal in square footage. It was important.
I was now to get more practice in the anger management of a staffer who felt slighted. It was my turn to mumble, “Oh no…I’m sorry…this was the best we could do in allotting the limited space to our dedicated people…we attempt to be fair, but sometimes things are not perfect…” It was the truth. But I knew exactly how Bob got his crappy office.
I assigned it to him…
Read the article Is Bigger Better? Office Politics and Working Real Estate Space
Unfortunately, today, in business, something such as a high ego can be the difference between surviving the job and not being a part of the community. When an employee has an ego that is infectious in the office setting, it can play a big part in bringing down the morale. It is important that a manger do their best to try to manage the egos and attitude of subordinates in an office setting. In the article, the manager tried their best to control it.
Unfortunately, aspects of a team environment can be lost with egos. I also believe that by using effective communication can reduce the chances of egos taking over the office environment. In the article, bob wanted a bigger office, but did not want to perform at the level that he is expected to perform at. In situations like this, the manager will need to do their best to diffuse the ego, or it can pose a problem for the office environment.