A couple of years ago, we got some new space for my teams to move…

Previous | | Next

24 October 2013 @ 03:58 pm

A couple of years ago, we got some new space for my teams to move into, and I was the point person representing my department for pretty much all of the decisions about furniture, layout, colors, carpets, etc. We've been in it for a little more than a year, and it's great; it works well for our various teams, and it's a lively and interactive space. We know of some features that are lacking or things that need improvement, but I'm very happy with the stuff I had control over.

One of those things that was totally my domain was soft seating: we have lots of little areas with sofas and comfy chairs, all of which I picked out.

Interestingly, as the company continues to grow and expand into new space, I'm noticing that many of my decisions are being copied for new spaces -- lots of the furniture is exactly the furniture I bought, to the color! And plenty more is the furniture I bought but in different colors.

Cool! This is satisfying. And I want to figure out how to put it on my resume, because I feel like it's relevant to the value I bring to athena that I make decisions that are good in themselves but also good enough that other parts of the company copy them. This is actually true for my role, too, which several other departments have copied in the couple of years since I became Manager of Special Projects.

Any ideas on how to describe this on a resume?

Tags: good, recs, work

I'm feeling: chipper

chipper

9 deposits | deposit 2¢

9 deposits —

( 9 deposits — deposit 2¢ )

lazyz on October 24th, 2013 08:13 pm (UTC)

"Manager of Special Projects." I like the implications.

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

crosslet on October 24th, 2013 08:35 pm (UTC)

Do you want it viewed as a skill or as an accomplishment? Accomplishment is easier since you can use more words to describe. As a skill the thing that comes to mind is office dynamic design or office feng shui design.

Although using feng shui in a resume could raise a minor concern in some organization. But that might be a good litmus test for the organization.

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

harimad on October 24th, 2013 09:51 pm (UTC)
Here's one possibility to mess with

"Many of my decisions as Special Projects Manager, such as designing spaces that encourage collaboration and productive interaction, are voluntarily adopted as company standard."

This probably isn't the best way to put it, but maybe it'll give you a starting point.

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

entrope on October 24th, 2013 11:29 pm (UTC)

Personally-spearheaded morale initiatives frequently turned into pillars of company culture? Something like that?

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

wotw on October 24th, 2013 11:34 pm (UTC)

Why not just say it on the resume the way more or less the way you said it here? "I'm proud of the fact that many of my decisions have been implemented elsewhere in the company. For example, the seating areas that I designed to facilitate interactions in our department are being widely duplicated, right down to the specific furniture choices."

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

mr_privacy on October 25th, 2013 02:44 pm (UTC)

I like the basic approach wotw suggests--just freakin say it. At the same time, to refine, what sort of decisions?

I hate to say it, but can you somehow measure? What fraction of furniture replacements use your choices?

Lastly, can you say something about what you want the reader to know?

Example, "Generate culture by example (rather than exhortation or policy). As an example, furniture choices made to facilitate more frequent and comfortable team interaction have been copied at 65% of seating area upgrades in our office."

That's a little overly dilberty, but I hope it helps you by contrasting with what you wrote.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread) (Link)