[gist]

It's not the employee's desk. It is Microsoft's desk (and Bill is defacto Microsoft) He wasn't in the employee's house. He is using the desk that Microsoft provided for him. He is not 'another guy doing tech support asking to sit in and do a job'.

[kempbellt]

Unless it is a part of the company culture you signed on for, relationships between employees and employers are never black and white, "We bought this desk and phone, so we reserve the right to come over and just snag it out of your hands whenever we want"

Basic human decency always enters the equation

[MaulingMonkey]

I'm going to be annoyed if a coworker swipes company gear I need to do my job effectively, or gets a headset I'm using all sweaty. And my desk certainly has personal effects which do not belong to the company - which could be anything from family pictures to keyboards to extra monitors.

Maybe there's no reason for the employee to object or get offended, but that also means there's no harm in asking permission since the answer will be yes. And there's harm in not asking permission, even though the answer will be yes. You have a couple of choices:

You can treat your employees like peers to get along with and respect. Even if it's more optical illusion than reality, this can make for happier - and thus more productive - employees.

You can treat your employees like minions to boss around. Not exactly the most motivating of environments for your employees. They could try and make their unappreciative boss a little happier... or they could browse facebook a bit more. And maybe steal a few pens to stick it to the man. Maybe not a big deal for a once-off interaction, but even that sets an example for your managers and their not so once-off interactions with their "minions"...