STORY TOOLS Printer-Friendly Version E-Mail This Story POLL INSTANT SURVEY >> My company provides sexual-harassment prevention training: Periodically Once, when the employee is hired Never Not sure VIEW POLL RESULTS >>   PEOPLE SEARCH Search for business contacts: First Name : Last Name : Company Name : PREMIUM SEARCH Search by job title, geography and build a list of executive contacts

Just over a month ago, an increase in staff and a delay in moving to a new, larger location started causing a real space crunch. Figuring that I should lead by example, I abandoned my desk to give one of our new customer-service people a good work space.

All I needed was a cardboard box to store some items that didn't fit in my computer bag with my laptop. I had to laugh at how strange this must have looked. It was like a scene from a bad movie: The company president is unceremoniously escorted from the building after being fired by the board of directors. Luckily, my move was self-induced. I resolved the only tricky issue, the loss of a phone line, by using my cell phone to make calls and the company electronic voice box to take incoming messages.

At first, not having a desk was somewhat liberating. I could go where I wanted and meet with people on the fly at their desks or work spaces. I started getting back in touch with members of the company I hadn't interacted with in months. One bright spot was an afternoon I spent with a couple of customer-service people. I was pleasantly surprised to see improvements their team had spearheaded in the past few months. It's one thing to hear about an idea when it's being hatched, but it's quite another when you see things actually working as planned. By being mobile, I was able to get a firsthand view of how far the company has progressed.

NO PAPER TIGER. I also started receiving virtually all correspondence via e-mail. No more in-box stack for me. When people realize that you don't have a place for paper, they don't give it to you. Documents for my signature were whittled down to the bare essentials. The receptionist handed them to me first thing in the morning and right before I left in the evening. This was a real time-saver.

The experiment ended last week. Space opened up when the technical team moved out to our new building. Although being mobile had been refreshing, the novelty of not having a desk had begun to wear off. I longed for a place to call my own. After four weeks of never sitting in the same place for more than a few hours a day, I wanted a desk. I decided to set up shop in the operations department. I picked up my cardboard box, put up family photos and my daughter's art, and I was back at a desk -- but not to the old routine. I now know you don't have to be anchored to your desk. Not having a permanent spot made me aware of the benefits of spending more time with people in our company.

See you in two weeks.




Scott Kucirek is president and co-founder of zipRealty.com, an online real estate brokerage. The company's Internet site and online real estate agents let people complete the entire purchase or sale of a house via the Web. The company's Web site is www.zipRealty.com, and you can E-mail Scott at Scott@zipRealty.com.