MEDIA CENTRE

Some people are fans of potted plants, personal framed pictures and novelty desk mascots. Others prefer desks to be pristine and free of personal clutter. And then there are those whose desks resemble the council refuse tip.

I was musing on this only the other day when some interesting research came across my own very busy desk in which a business psychologist had teamed up with online office broker officebroker.com to try to find out what your desk really says about you. Apparently you can gain some useful insight into an individual's personality and what motivates them by looking at how they organise their desk. It can help you improve their working performance and motivation. So do the following findings ring any bells with anyone you know at work?

• A person who displays targets or project charts on or around their desk - highly motivated.
• Those with pictures of their family or friends on their desk and an array of personal paraphernalia - people focussed.
• Screen savers or calendars depicting tropical beaches - hedonistic.
• 'Stylish' desks - motivated by culture and working environment
• Desks without any personal objects, facing into a wall - introverted.
• Desks with joke calendars, toys, facing out -extroverted.
• Neat and tidy desk - conscientious, well organised.

• Spontaneously organised desk - multi tasker, flexible, erosive.
• Messy, totally cluttered desk - these people are the worst. They believe if their desk looks busy then people will think they are very busy and important. The reality is they are totally disorganised.