In the past, I've been working with a manager who shared, more or less, your style. The work environment was less formal, with no cubicles but desks which appea

In the past, I've been working with a manager who shared, more or less, your style. The work environment was less formal, with no cubicles but desks which appeared crammed, but were similarly placed to allow the manager to snoop around with zero effort. Comfortable, but privacy was a no-no. I felt violated, for lack of a better word, in that environment. The reason was twofold. First, nobody can judge how productively I spend my time on my desk by what I was doing the moment they glanced at my screen. Making such claims is hypocritical, and taking work decisions about me on such claims is unfair. Secondly, not being allowed at least a little bit of privacy from any and all prying eyes communicates lack of trust from my manager's side. I'm not sure whether I'd call it "bad management" because it might be working for you and your teammates, but it's not working for me.