People sneaking up on you at work

[mbcdefg]

A bunch of us at my office had to switch our desks around. We're in cubicles. At my previous desk, I was on a slight angle so I would occasionally not see people coming, depending on which way they entered my area from. 

I had to move to another desk today and now I have my back completely turned to who's coming to me. I've already had four people come right up behind me without first announcing themselves or trying to get my attention, and they all scared the hell out of me.  

It's also frustrating when I've been working on work-stuff all day, and then I take five minutes to look at personal stuff (I'm not talking NSFW stuff, I mean social media and shopping sites) and then someone sneaks up behind me. HR came up to talk to me about the new setup while I was buying clothes online so now it looks like I've been slacking all day, ugh.

It's also really frustrating because I personally make it a point to knock on people's cube walls or get their attention before I come up close to them to talk. Meanwhile others think it's OK to just sneak up behind me and stand there for a second before they say anything. Creepy and rude, ugh.

I'll go get one of those little mirrors to stick on my computer monitor, but is there anything else I can do so I'm not surprised every single time? It's Day One, 6 hours in, and I'm already super-frustrated with this setup.

[womet]

Apr 21, 2017 13:59:21 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

A bunch of us at my office had to switch our desks around. We're in cubicles. At my previous desk, I was on a slight angle so I would occasionally not see people coming, depending on which way they entered my area from. 

I had to move to another desk today and now I have my back completely turned to who's coming to me. I've already had four people come right up behind me without first announcing themselves or trying to get my attention, and they all scared the hell out of me.  

It's also frustrating when I've been working on work-stuff all day, and then I take five minutes to look at personal stuff (I'm not talking NSFW stuff, I mean social media and shopping sites) and then someone sneaks up behind me. HR came up to talk to me about the new setup while I was buying clothes online so now it looks like I've been slacking all day, ugh.

It's also really frustrating because I personally make it a point to knock on people's cube walls or get their attention before I come up close to them to talk. Meanwhile others think it's OK to just sneak up behind me and stand there for a second before they say anything. Creepy and rude, ugh.

I'll go get one of those little mirrors to stick on my computer monitor, but is there anything else I can do so I'm not surprised every single time? It's Day One, 6 hours in, and I'm already super-frustrated with this setup.

Ugh, I hate being in a cubicle with my back to the entrance. I bought this rear view mirror for mine and it helped. Depending on how high your cubicle walls are, I have also seen people hang curtains using a tension rod (obviously this only works if your walls are tall). Someone I worked with used a mirror that you would hang on the back of a door and he placed it sideways along his desk so that he could see who was behind him.

[hermione]

I understand your frustration but, honestly, I think all of this is pretty normal in a cubical setting. I don't know of anyone who knocks or announces themselves as they approach.

Any idea why they switched things around? I ask because my friend just did this at his company specifically so people would be less like to go on social media during work time. I have no idea if it's working though.

[raangoli]

Bah I hate that, which is why I like to be purposefully loud when I walk up to peoples cubes. I was going to suggest one of those mirrors or a privacy screen for your monitor so only you can see what's on the screen head on rather than at an angle. Would that help?

I basically sit in a hallway now - and we have low cube walls so it's annoying. But I am only in the office a few times a week, and when I am, I do personal things on my phone (like go here or shopping, etc.).

[Poppy]

Is it possible to have your desk reconfigured so that your back is not to the door? That sounds super annoying.

[mokes]

Is there a way to move your computer within the cube? I once had a cube like that, but the desk part was L-shaped, so I was able to move my computer a bit with some longer wires.

In another cube, I couldn't reconfigure and ended up getting one of those privacy screens for my monitor. I told people who asked it was a glare filter (I was next to windows). That obviously didn't prevent people from scaring me, but did prevent the second issue you mentioned!

Re: Knocking, I always knock on the top (metal) part of our office cubes and usually say "knock, knock" verbally since most people wear headphones.

[yentl]

This won't help with sneaking up on you, but there are privacy screens you can put over your monitor so if someone is not at the same angle as you are they cannot see what you are looking at. I don't know how your work would feel about it but I think they're pretty awesome.

[VillainV]

Apr 21, 2017 17:11:30 GMT -5 Stan said:

In my line of work, people get punched when they sneak up on each other. But I need to be with my back to the wall anyway.

That sounds like a dumb reorganization. I'm sorry.

Me too. Crazy how prevalent this is in he military. I absolutely cannot have my back to the door. CAN'T. Though, neither can anyone else, so there would be 100% agreement from everyone that a back-to-the-door arrangement is unacceptable.

I would see if you can reconfigure your cube so you're at a right angle at least. And definitely get a privacy screen for your monitor.

[noodleoo]

Apr 21, 2017 17:18:59 GMT -5 mokes said:

Is there a way to move your computer within the cube? I once had a cube like that, but the desk part was L-shaped, so I was able to move my computer a bit with some longer wires.

In another cube, I couldn't reconfigure and ended up getting one of those privacy screens for my monitor. I told people who asked it was a glare filter (I was next to windows). That obviously didn't prevent people from scaring me, but did prevent the second issue you mentioned!

Re: Knocking, I always knock on the top (metal) part of our office cubes and usually say "knock, knock" verbally since most people wear headphones.

Whenever I see one of those, I assume it is because they don't want people seeing them browse the Internet. You aren't fooling anyone! 

I hate cubes in general for all these reasons. 

[steph96]

The same thing happened to me at my old job. I ended up putting a mirror up. I also made it a point to knock on my coworkers cubicle walls when approaching so they would hopefully catch on. The majority caught on.

[mokes]

Apr 22, 2017 19:10:58 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Apr 21, 2017 17:18:59 GMT -5 mokes said:

Is there a way to move your computer within the cube? I once had a cube like that, but the desk part was L-shaped, so I was able to move my computer a bit with some longer wires.

In another cube, I couldn't reconfigure and ended up getting one of those privacy screens for my monitor. I told people who asked it was a glare filter (I was next to windows). That obviously didn't prevent people from scaring me, but did prevent the second issue you mentioned!

Re: Knocking, I always knock on the top (metal) part of our office cubes and usually say "knock, knock" verbally since most people wear headphones.

Whenever I see one of those, I assume it is because they don't want people seeing them browse the Internet. You aren't fooling anyone! 

I hate cubes in general for all these reasons. 

Heh, this was like 6 years ago. As long as I had a somewhat plausible excuse, I didn't really care about total believability. 😀

[sju]

I would definitely invest in a mirror asap. I sit sort of sideways in my cubicle so I see most of the time when someone comes in. I had people in the past sneak up on me like that and I absolutely hated it. It is disrespectful. On the other hand,  I also find it annoying to announce myself, knock of their desk and the person still does not hear me because they have their headphones on. 

[dottyblue]

People took the hint after I screamed a couple of times... seriously, if you aren't acknowledged right away, clear your throat or something! I get very focused while working and it's seriously terrifying to catch a lurker as you turn around.

I ended up buying a bigger mirror (about the size of a sheet of paper) and attaching it to my cubicle wall because the little "rear view" mirrors don't really help unless if you are actively looking at them.

I was never more thankful when i got a new cubicle where I could sit at an angle to see people coming.

[nessness]

My back is to my cubicle entrance too and I hate it. I always knock, but of my two co-workers who come into my cubicle most often, one will sneak up on me and stand there silently until I notice her, and the other will walk in and immediately start talking before I've even turned around.

[mrssandro]

When I was in a situation like that I put up some mirrors on my monitor. I hated when people did that. It did help.

www.amazon.com/iViEW-Computer-Laptop-Monitor-Mirror/dp/B007TLABSY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1493059038&sr=8-2&keywords=monitor+desk++mirror

[rbp]

God, that would drive me nuts. I am paranoid about people sneaking up on me, and I've never served in the military. We put our treadmill in a small room in the basement and had to turn it around after a few days. I was so freaked out that H was going to accidentally sneak up on me when he came to say goodbye in the morning that I kept looking over my shoulder and losing my balance LOL.

[halfpint]

I hung mirrors on both of my cube walls that I look at when I'm working. I can see who is approaching from either direction. It's especially tricky here because we have all the white noise pumped in, so I never hear people until they're right up on me. I physically jumped/yelped several times in my first few days, which I hate - I feel like it makes you look like you were up to something!

[silva]

yeah....this is my new set up in July and I'm not looking forward to it.

[mbcdefg]

Apr 28, 2017 14:15:08 GMT -5 silva said:

yeah....this is my new set up in July and I'm not looking forward to it.

Sorry I'm not a fan either obviously.


Thanks all. I will look for a mirror.

I've also joked around about nobody startling me since I'm pregnant and don't want to startle myself into birthing her on the office floor, so hopefully people will get the hint!

[silva]

Apr 28, 2017 14:29:22 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Apr 28, 2017 14:15:08 GMT -5 silva said:

yeah....this is my new set up in July and I'm not looking forward to it.

Sorry I'm not a fan either obviously.


Thanks all. I will look for a mirror.

I've also joked around about nobody startling me since I'm pregnant and don't want to startle myself into birthing her on the office floor, so hopefully people will get the hint!

worse, my cube will sit right next to our Exe. Director.  

[mbcdefg]

Apr 28, 2017 14:31:06 GMT -5 silva said:

Apr 28, 2017 14:29:22 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Sorry I'm not a fan either obviously.


Thanks all. I will look for a mirror.

I've also joked around about nobody startling me since I'm pregnant and don't want to startle myself into birthing her on the office floor, so hopefully people will get the hint!

worse, my cube will sit right next to our Exe. Director.  

[ty454]

Back when I was in cubicle-land, we would just pin up a recordable CD on the side of the cubicle wall so that it sort of acted as a mirror. Mgt never seemed to figure out what we were doing since it wasn't as obvious as a mirror.

[LoveTrains]

We are moving to an open floor plan in August. fML.

[mbcdefg]

Apr 30, 2017 22:48:37 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

We are moving to an open floor plan in August. fML.

Ugh, sorry. No fun

[LoveTrains]

May 1, 2017 8:04:03 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Apr 30, 2017 22:48:37 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

We are moving to an open floor plan in August. fML.

Ugh, sorry. No fun

Good news I saw the seating chart today and I get a mini office. My team of 12 will be in open floor plan land. Still sucks though.