Critics are striking hard at recently-elected Premier Mike Rann for some rather extravagant spending habits. While the rest of the world looks at tightening the purse strings, former South Australian, Mike Rann has spent $100,000 to refit his office to his liking.
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It leaves the rest of the world wondering what a $7000 meeting table must look like and what a seat in one of the $2000 leather armchairs would be like. That, clearly explains Rann’s felt need for a security guard to oversee the renovation. Opposition Leader, Isobel Redmond criticizes the office for another earlier renovation this year when Premier Jay Weatherill spent $160,000 on his own office re-vamp.
“That will be two taxpayer-funded office refits to the premier’s office in two years at the same time that South Australians are struggling with increasing cost of living pressures,” Redmond told an interviewer on Monday. Whether or not the two lofty offices can be adequately justified to avoid more scrutiny, it begs the question of how much is too much.
Political red tape mounts, and the melee is sure to grow increasingly louder until elections have passed, but it draws up some interesting thoughts about the way businesses must spend to earn.
Office spending is often justified through the need to impress upon clients a certain level of affluence and capability. Many believe that an office says a lot about its occupant, and if that stands true, then it becomes vitally important that business owners and managers understand precisely who they are before embarking on an office that reflects the image.
It was at one stage unthinkable to start a business without acquiring a loan, or at the very least, allocating part of one’s home to the start-up of a new idea but that is no longer the only option available. A representative from Regus stated “With a short term office, you can project a level of professionalism and prosperity without having to break the bank signing a huge lease.”
Counsellors and therapists set up their offices with awareness of what the final design will convey to clients and what it will subliminally say about the therapist as well. The rest of the world sets up offices and work spaces based on what we think certain components will say about us, or even just based on what we like to have around us.
Psychology of office design reveals a lot and it turns out first impressions are as important as we assume they are. BNet Business Dictionary (2008) as, “the arrangement of workspace so that work can be performed in the most efficient way.” If efficiency is all that matters, then we would have stuck with cubicles.
But humans are complex and the joy gained from being in an environment that is pleasing to the senses creates morale, better work ethic, and self-esteem. If Rann’s office is an indicator of his self-esteem, he appears to be in need of a whole lot of encouragement.
If, on the other hand, an office does more than facilitate work, and it creates more than a boost in morale for employees, certain components will tell future business partners and co-workers a bit about you. According to Social Psychology by Smith and Mackie, “Because people select and create environments that reflect and reinforce who they are, observers can quite accurately form impressions of others from environmental cues like dorm rooms and single-person offices.”
Psychology doesn’t seem to support the need for several hundreds of thousands in overhauls for functional offices, but it does indicate that to a degree, the office makes the man. A dental office is best suited with a sterile, professional feeling, but a pottery studio or the office of an interior designer should be anything but sterile. Let your personality come through in the design, as well as some of the key components of your line of work.
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