The Office Life

Unlike most offices, we help each other in a collaborative way performing many tasks.

Common Tasks

We don’t have a specific person for small cleaning tasks, so here is a list of thing which need to be done when necessary:

  • You are welcome to fill, start and empty the dishwasher. Thanks to everyone who does!

  • Please help emptying the trash bins. There are containers next to the main entrance (door on the left side next to the entrance).

  • Clean the tables after lunch.

  • We recycle cardboard in the printer room on the first floor; please fold it to make it smaller!

  • Use the vacuum cleaner whenever needed.

Cleaning

Every Friday evening our Zurich office is professionally cleaned. The cleaning team doesn’t move anything and only cleans free areas.

To make it easier please clean up your (own) space:

  • Your desk.

  • Floor around your work station (no shoes, no bags, no skateboard, no skis, not "whatever-comes to-you-mind").

  • Windowsill.

  • Tables in the common room.

  • Coffee machine & surroundings.

  • Table in the meeting room.

  • Your trash bin must be accessible.

Store your stuff in your box, your corpus, or better: if not needed any more, the trash bin will be happy to help!

Snack Engineering

We do regularly orders at LeShop.ch for drinks and snacks. If you would like something special we’re glad to order it for you if possible.

Unfortunately the fridge doesn’t fill up by itself, so please be aware that if you take the last drink out of it and fill it up. Snacks and drinks are stored in the printer room.

Microwave

Feel free to use the microwave oven, but don’t forget to clean after you do.

Hot beverages

Same thing for the coffee machine and the water heater: feel free to use it, but don’t forget to clean after you do.

Coffee machine - the real one

We’ve an exceptionally great barista coffee machine in the entrance room. To keep the experience great, please follow these simple rules:

  • Always check water and refill if needed (it’s not connected to a tube)

  • Clean everything everytime you’ve used the coffemachine with the washcloth (make it wet when it’s dry)

  • When using the machine to create milk froth, thoroughly clean the steam tube after finishing

  • Scour the milk-pot everytime after using with water, don’t let it lay around with milk rests and don’t put it in the dishwasher

  • Don’t fiddle around with the grinder if you don’t know what you’re doing!

Expenses

The expense regulations should have been handed over to you with the employment contract. If not, they’re also available in the wiki. Expenses will be paid out against presentation of the receipt with the next monthly wage (for example, your expenses last month will be paid, together with your salary, this month).

How to record them is explained, as usual, in the wiki.

Technical Orders

If you need to order devices or materials at Alltron, Digitec, or other providers, use the "Purchase" form (VSHN Cloud / VSHN / 09 Templates / Purchase) and send it to the Antares team. Private goodies can be purchased at Alltron at cost.

Medical supplies

There is a first-aid kit in the printer room, bundled with the necessary implements against pain, allergies, and other ailments.

Printer Room

This is an important room, as it houses our printers, the shredder, the pharmacy, the drinks and snack store, the office supplies, tools, cleaning materials, etc…​

To make a long story short: we store everything there.

WiFi / Network

There are two WiFi available in the Zürich Office:

  • VSHN Office

  • VSHN Guest

According to the Acceptable Use Policy — 5.5. Internet Usage you should use VSHN Office for your working device and VSHN Guest for your private devices. All desks do have a physical LAN connection to our VSHN Office VLAN.

Printing is only possible with VSHN Office WiFi or physical LAN.

Lunch

Our office is very well located for choosing different kinds of lunch. You will find Chinese, Indian, Thai, Döner, Italian…​ food just around the corner. During summertime we often have barbecue on the rooftop! Feel free to join. If you want to bring your own food from home, cutlery is available in the kitchen and in the common room.

Bring any empty bottles to the printer room.

The Light

In the gangway at Neugasse 10.

Current situation

The light is off by default. There are a few lights which are on all the time, this is due security reason. If you use the light button in the gangway it gives you 2 minutes of light.

Change light situation

If the interval of the light needs to be changes you can adjust this in the "electro room", located right outside Neugasse 10 (next to the elevator). The key in the key locker. There is a timer and the related manual can be found in the document storage next to it.

Replacement of broken lights

This is normally done by the cleaning company. If this isn’t the case, inform Antares, so that they can contact the landlord. Check if they can do a replacement with LED instead of Halogen lights to save energy.

The Plants

There are a few plants in our office.

Here you can find a small how to fulfill the "watering the plants" when it becomes your duty.

Watering

Plants obviously need water, which means we have to water our plants, regularly.

But no worries, most plants die because of over-watering, so better watering once less instead once too often.

Standalone plants in VSHNtower

Watering can is located in the wall cabinet on the left side.

  • once a week

  • use tap water

  • use approx 2 cans of water for the plants standing around (in total, not for every plant)

Wall plants in VSHNtower

  • Watering once a week

  • Normal tap water

  • It’s a hydro system, means there is a watering display in every pot

  • Fill in water on the side (there is an extra watering hole on the top edge of every pot) until the red water display is up to max

Standalone plants in Neugasse 10

  • there are a few plants

  • those are not the biggest light lovers, so don’t move them into direct sunlight (when they look bad, it’s the water, not the sun).

  • watering once a week

  • use tap water

  • you can ignore the big tree as this one is obviously dead

Sunlight

Water is one thing, but more than this plant need sunlight.

Therefore:

  • Don’t close the shutters to very dark, make sure that some light is coming through

  • If possible leave don’t close the door next to the elevator (on the right side)

  • don’t move the plants around randomly

  • most of the plants (except the dead tree) are placed at their location by purpose

Cuttings

If everything works well, plants will grow, so we are able to make baby plants out of the office plants. If you’re interested in having one, let me know, I’m happy to help.

SOS plants

Yes you can bring your nearly dying plant to the office and let me check if I can help. But if you do so, place it in the former common room in Neugasse 10. This to avoid the spread of potential pests to the resident plants.

Plants are no food

It might be obvious but just to say. Do not eat the plants and also avoid your kids/pets to do so. Most of the plants are toxic for small pets and toddlers. In some cases even the pouring water can have a bad impact.