Workplace Doctor: office air conditioning gives me the chills

I'm literally freezing at my desk. How can I persuade my manager's to fix the AC units at work?

The air conditioning in my office is completely unpredictable. While some colleagues complain about being too hot, the rest of us complain about being too cold. Sometimes I sit shivering at my desk with a blanket over my knees and a coat on. Surely that's insane when it's over 30°C outside. The management say the temperature is regulated across the office and there should not be any hot or cold spots. So what should I do? I'm literally freezing at my desk. SZ, Dubai

Oh SZ, you are a person after my own heart. The temperatures we endure inside buildings seems nothing short of ridiculous to me, and also appear to be such a needless waste of electricity. People show shock and horror when I state that I never, ever use my AC in my house as I simply don’t need to. The temperature in the common areas is like ice and when it seeps in under the front door, my house is cool enough without turning my own unit on. Alas, it seems your work situation is different.

At times like this I would consider my own health first and foremost, thereby ensuring a constant supply of jackets, scarves and heavy covers at all times. While wearing all of this, do check though if you are the only person being an Eskimo lookalike. If so, you probably don’t have weight enough to influence a change in temperature in the building or office, I’m afraid.

Once you are warm, the next focus can be the maintenance or engineering staff. Why not invite them to your workspace, provide them a chair at your desk and ask them to sit there for the whole day without your heavy duty clothing for use. While they are there, strike up a conversation about the difference between temperature controls and fan speed. With both having different impacts, there may be a combination worth trying that you are technically unaware of. From this you will know what the likelihood of any change will be.

If no change is likely, you may be down to other alternatives:

• Redirection of the AC vents may be a small assistance, ensuring they direct air away from you

• Build in many “thawing out” breaks for yourself. The one and only place for this is outside the building and where possible in the sunshine, like it or not. After all, if smokers can take these breaks so can you.

• Warm yourself from the inside out with hot soups (a lot healthier than coffee, and often chunkier too, which means it will hold the heat more)

• Hold heat pads in your hands which emit a constant high temperature (I recently discovered them on a trip to the Arctic – fabulous, yet not sure if you’d be able to wear mittens in the workplace)

Distractions and distortions are the worst enemy of interaction, collaboration and basic productivity in the workplace. A typical distraction is something we can see and feel outwardly that interrupts a message or takes focus away from the topic or subject. Typical examples may be the fan’s fluttering effect on papers on your desk, a facilitator’s voice in a workshop or the constant and repetitive nose-sniffing by a colleague.

Similarly, distortions reduce productivity and are harder to eliminate yet can have an even stronger negative impact in the workplace. This is because they are invisible, happening on the inside of a person and often involve judgements, prejudices and misconceptions.

In your case there appears to be a double whammy, with the visible discomfort being layers of clothes, constant references to how cold you are and an emotional irritability combined with the preconceived attitude each morning of “oh no, here we go again”.

Any smart leader would work to remove this negative combination of distraction and distortion on you, as this will have a knock-on effect to others. However, I do need to concede that “just because it’s common sense doesn’t mean it’s common practice”.

Apply any creative approach you can to ensure an active blood flow combats office frostbite.

Debbie Nicol, the managing director of the Dubai-based business en motion, is a consultant on leadership and organisational development, strategic change and corporate culture. Email her at [e-mail] for the Workplace Doctor’s advice on your challenges, whether as an employee, a manager or a colleague

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