In the current climate, with Brits now working from home, will any of us be yearning for office life again as much as we thought? In this new era of home offices and quirky individual set-ups, it can be hard to remember those office pet peeves, although some might have actually followed you home…
Online print provider, instantprint, surveyed 1000 UK employees to dig deeper into our co-workers’ bad habits and what really irks us most about those we spend most of our working week with.
Don’t think you have any pet peeves? If you’re named John, Sue, Dave or Sarah, I’m afraid you could be wrong! According to their findings, you’re among the most annoying people to work alongside – sorry.
What are people’s top things to hate?
Perhaps you feel as though you’re tolerant of the behaviour of your colleagues, or that you let things slide with ease. When instantprint asked what causes office workers’ blood to boil the most, eating smelly food and abusing the smoking break privileges came top of the list.
At least with Brits making the move to home working, you’ll now be able to enjoy whatever you’d like for your lunches! Whether you’re in the mood for salmon or for a homemade spicy curry, indulging in those little things will definitely help.
Another dislike of many workers is the daily game of workplace wording bingo! Think about your office for a second. How many times do you hear people using the terms “it’s on my radar” and “hit the ground running”? As we see these phrases transpire to email, perhaps you could pull together a little spreadsheet with your friends to see who can tick off the most commonly used office wording!
Who are the guiltiest parties?
You may be surprised to learn that those in the Senior Management team were found to be guilty of causing the most frustration is our working environments! Have you got any pet peeves of those who work in the Senior Management team of your business? Maybe they come and check up on you all too often, or stand over your desk to see what you’re doing?
Next on the list of most annoying co-workers are those who work in the Customer Service departments (17%), followed by those in IT (13%) and the HR team (12%) close behind. You never know, when we all return to office life those little annoyances we have may have disappeared.
“It seems we’re a nation of easily irritable workers, with even the simplest of things tipping us over the edge”, commented James Kinsella, Co-Founder and CEO of instantprint.
“Everyone has their faults both in terms of actions and reactions, and for the most part, you’re unlikely to be able to pick your co-workers, and so it’s inevitable that there will be workplace tension at some point. As long as it’s kept to a minimum and doesn’t result in bigger levels of drama then there’s usually no cause for concern.”
Do you think the working environment will change much when we all return to the office? Time will only tell if these pet peeves become a thing of the past in exchange for face to face interaction again.