Working well together in desk-sharing offices

The following principles have been devised to support and encourage each other to work well together within desk-sharing environments.

Dynamic working

In line with the University’s dynamic working arrangements, colleagues are typically expected to work the majority of their time from campus but may also spend time working at home or another suitable location off campus. Colleagues can also choose to work all of their contracted hours on campus.

When working on campus, please be mindful that:

Where desk schedules are in operation, these should be observed and colleagues should feel able to politely remind others to observe them when required.
You should not book meeting rooms to work in alone for extended periods of time.
You should not take up a desk if you are working away from it for a long period of time during the day.

If you experience any issues, please raise this with your line manager in the first instance.

Taking calls in the office

If you have several Teams calls planned within a day, consider working at home if you can, or book meeting rooms (especially for confidential calls).

If you need to answer an unexpected call in the office (and the meeting rooms are unavailable) please put headphones on (to ensure their privacy and minimise disruption to others in the office). You should inform the caller that you are talking to them in an open plan office, and give them the option to reschedule if the discussion is sensitive.

Welcoming new starters

New colleagues should be made to feel welcome and supported as they begin their new job. This may involve coordinating team members' working from home days, ensuring that someone is present in the office to assist new starters as they settle in, or helping them to plan their working from home days around tasks such as mandatory training. New employees should be briefed on the University’s dynamic working arrangements and local desk sharing protocols and principles, and invited to ask questions and discuss any concerns or requirements they have.

Office environment

Please be mindful that you are working in a shared environment and ensure that we extend each other the following common courtesies:

Avoid eating at your desk where possible as you should be taking regular screen breaks. Lunchtime breakout spaces are available in the first-floor lounge outside the learning and development training rooms and HR offices, or in the Collaboration Space (RUT.0.02) when not in use for meetings.
If you do need to eat at a desk, avoid very pungent-smelling foods.
Leave the desk and surrounding area clean and tidy when you leave. Materials are provided to clean up.