co-workers being nice suddenly

[pinkytoe]

I am completely puzzled by my work situation. A year ago, I was unceremoniously told I must move to a windowless office removed from the rest of the group. In the interim, I have continued to do my job the best I can always with an eye out for better opportunities as I felt very unappreciated. Within the past few weeks though, I was offered to move to a large windowed office with everything just as I want it. And a new Mac with two large monitors. I have received appreciation notes from staff and given a nice birthday celebration recently. Just now another staff director came by and repeated how grateful she is for my presence and to let her know if anything is bothering me. What the heck is going on? I am totally perplexed by the change in attitude - it's nice but weird. Is this what happens before you get fired?

[herbgeek]

Did they see your resume up on Dice? (kidding)

[CathyA]

Hmmm.....are there a few different staff members who may have convinced others of your importance/value there?
Is there new management? I don't think they'd do this if they knew you were going to be fired.
There must be a good reason for it..........you'll figure it out sooner or later. (and I hope its good!)

[Tenngal]

did more space become available? Hoping more great things come your way!

[iris lily]

So who or what vacated the office that you are now in?

[pinkytoe]

I haven't moved to the new office yet as it is being prepared - still in the windowless one which will now be an office for part-time student workers and researchers. This all started when I got back from vacation ten days ago so something must have transpired in my absence.

[Tweety]

They missed you and realized how important you are to the smooth functioning of the business, so decided that they'd better fix it so you won't decide to leave again for good!
Enjoy!

[Bastelmutti]

I would be weirded out by that! Are you getting a promotion and now they have to be nice to their new boss??

[fidgiegirl]

Yeah, I think it's weird, too. I hope you will keep us updated as you find out more. Maybe someone had a blowup over how you'd been treated!!

So glad for you that you are going to get a window. And as a Mac person who has had to relearn Windows XP in this job, I am drooling jealous, truly drooling.

[Jemima]

It sounds to me like someone knows or suspects you have a good chance at an interesting job elsewhere. Usually when someone is in trouble at work other employees avoid them like they have something contagious.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Yea probably just saw how much they missed you when you were gone. I guess if you wanted a more crazy theory: they might have done some looking at what else was out there to replace you, saw it was slim pickings and ... Regardless I can't see any of it being bad or a plan to fire you.

[lhamo]

I would also take it as a good sign, rather than something to be worried about. And YAY! I had my desk in an interior section of our office for the first few months of my job, and it was really hard. I noticed a major improvement in how I felt once we expanded and I got moved to a space with a window. There is actually a fair amount of sun in Beijing in the winter, and having those extra rays coming in a nearby window REALLY helps mitigate my SAD-ish tendencies. I would really struggle with an office with no window. I had one for awhile in grad school, actually, and rarely used it as anything other than a storage space because it was so depressing.

lhamo

[pinkytoe]

I am so looking forward to a window again. My eyesight has deteriorated in the past year with no ability to focus on long distances during the day.

[CathyA]

And just to have sunshine again!

[Zoe Girl]

Sometimes I think that companies may or may not do things purposefully but a lot of watching people during changes is seeing how graciously they handle the change. So I think this is a compliment to how you handled yourself at work. Honestly I would look for opportunities for a person who handled a negative change without walking around with a sour face or gossipy stuff.

[iris lily]

Speculating only:

OP made it clear that she was very unhappy with the no-window office, and boss man took note with the intent to open up a better office when that was possible (OP--seriously, you have NO CLUE why the office is now open? I find that hard to believe.)

One person in the office noted that OP had been extremely helpful and competent, and mentioned it to others who agreed: gee, that OP has been very helpful to me and I need to show appreciation.

I doubt that it's a big plot.;)

But OTOH, it might be.:~)

[pinkytoe]

OP--seriously, you have NO CLUE why the office is now open? I find that hard to believe.Actually, the new space was happily occupied by another research group. My boss demanded that the space which contains two offices be made available for our group right away. Because he is a "super-star", he gets what he asks for. Someone told me today that he was at his wits end when I was out on vacation for two weeks, so perhaps he fears my absence more than he lets on.

[chrisgermany]

Here we have an adage: "if you want to be valued, make yourself rate".
It seems to works in the office world, too!