Can my boss make me clean my office?

Dear Workplace Dilemmas,
At my most recent performance review, my boss was very positive about my work but cited one negative – my office is too messy. It’s true I’m not a neat person and I have stack of papers on my desk and on the floor. I don’t like to file and the clutter doesn’t bother me. I’ve always been this way and I don’t think it interferes with the quality of my work. I know where everything is and I never miss a deadline.

My boss keeps his office very tidy, but this just seems like a matter of personal preference to me. Why is he picking on me about this? Do I have to become a neat person just to please him?

Not a Neat-Freak

Dear Not,
The short answer is that you’re probably sabotaging yourself and your future chances at promotion if you choose to ignore the boss’ request for a neater office.

But that said, you should gather a little information before you act. The first thing to do is take a walk around your office. What does everyone else’s desk look like? Where do you fall in the spectrum of orderliness and messiness? The reason you want to scope this out is because unspoken office culture can explain a lot here. If you’re the only messy one, you probably need to start paying more attention to the norms of the office, and just clean up your desk more often. When in Rome and all that….

But if you’re not the only messy one, you should have a conversation with the boss about his reasons for citing you on this. Don’t be defensive or accusing with your boss; that’s not going to gain you anything. Start by saying that you feel singled out and you’d like to know if that’s true.

Has he talked to the other mess-makers in the office about it too? If it’s just you, why does he hold you to a higher standard than others? Is there a legitimate reason for this? (like your office is the one that visitors see when they walk in, or other people have jobs that just require more stuff). While this will help you understand where your boss is coming from, it probably won’t change the bottom line. So compromise and clean your desk. No one says you have to file, just clear out the bottom drawer and hide your stacks when you’re not using them and pull them out again when you need to work.

Good Luck,
Nicole LeMieux-Rever

Nicole is the founder of Learning and Performance Systems [2] located in Dearborn Mich. She has worked with all levels of organizations from the board room to the front line providing creative and innovative learning to help organizations attain the results they desire.