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Ethics: A Good Reason To Sit Further Away From Your Boss (telegraph.co.uk)
schwit1 writes to point out an interesting finding about ethics in the workplace, but one that might not surprise anyone in the vast majority of workplaces: namely, that sitting far from your boss has some important advantages when it comes to stopping the spread of unethical behavior; ethics are a chief focus of researcher Gijs van Houwelingen . The research, published in the Journal of Management, sought to find out "how spatial distance between higher and lower management" affects the spread of behaviour and fair procedures in the work place.
"Distance is a very useful tool that can be used to stop negative behaviours from spreading through an organization,... It creates the freedom to make up your own mind."
"Distance is a very useful tool that can be used to stop negative behaviours from spreading through an organization,... It creates the freedom to make up your own mind."
On the other hand, being away from one's boss is a good way to not get recognition for even large accomplishments, while those that are close to the boss, providing that the boss likes them as people, move up and get the perks because even doing their normal duties gets them recognition.
I've known two people that served in the US military, one in the Marines and one in the Navy. Both observed that officers and enlisted that worked closely with the CO moved up much faster than those that did field work. Those that did the most real work and were good at it were passed over. On top of that, sometimes displaying vulnerability and weakness, if the right kinds of those, could move up out of sympathy when they were arguably worse candidates.
So maybe don't get the office next to your boss or the cube right outside of his door, but if you want to move up don't be on the other side of the building either.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Really depends on the situation, but I've observed that people that sit closer to their manager end up developing more friendships with them which has obvious advantages. If a manager has a lot of direct reports, they will probably interact with the people closest to them out of convenience. More interactions and visibility with someone's manager allows them to showcase their strengths more often and talk about what they are working on. It also will increase their chances that their boss will be more empathetic towards them. However, if you are lazy and/or a screw-up and you just want to coast by, obviously sit far away from the manager (and everyone else for that matter). If you are concerned with upward mobility, you don't want to be some silent, nameless face in a far corner in the office unless your output is 100% of your job performance and your manager is staying well aware of your work. However, networking/relationship building is usually the best way to be "successful" in an office.