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What Your Workspace Says About You

You Demand Respect

Evidence: Multiple degrees on the wall, awards on the shelf, pictures of you and important people, magazines featuring articles about you. The plaque on your desk says your full name and title and lists your advanced degrees.

“Name plaques form a strong impression,” Luccioni says. “If it says just your first name, people assume you’re friendly and approachable. If it has a formal title, they think you want to be respected for your rank.”

You’ve Just Been Hired, You’ve Just Been Fired or You’d Like to Leave Soon. Or You’d Rather Be Temping.

Evidence: Files in boxes, no decorations, no books, no plants, no pictures and no name plaque.

They Should Avoid Doing Business With You

Evidence: Messy piles of papers on every surface. Half-eaten donuts atop teetering stacks of binders. Carpet stains.

Experts agree that a messy office can seriously damage your reputation as a conscientious person. “It’s hard to function in a messy office, and people assume your office chaos will spill over to their project and their files will be lost in your mess,” Pachter says.

Gosling pointed to research that shows people read much more than they should into a messy office. “People think that someone with a messy office is less agreeable, which may not be accurate,” he says. “My guess is, people assume a mess is inconsiderate.”

You Don’t Take the Whole ‘Work Thing’ Too Seriously

Evidence: Humorous posters, ironic bumper stickers, whimsical images and toys.