Most of us spend more time with our work colleagues than we do with our families! So it doesn’t come as a massive surprise that we soon start to get irritated by their annoying habits. Most of the time, these habits are just a mild irritation, but over time they can build up making your working environment much less of a pleasant place to work. We’ve done a bit of research and put together a list of the top 15 irritating habits of people in the workplace, I bet you can think of a colleague, past or present for each one, you’re probably even guilty of one or two yourself!
Stinky food
Change heating/air-con without asking
Agreeing with the boss no matter what! (brown-nosing!)
Leaving phone notifications on all day
Always turning up late for work
Using up the last of the tea/coffee/milk
Constant pen clicking
Noisy eaters
Bad Hygiene
Coming into work when clearly ill and spreading germs!
Messy desks
Not making tea/coffee
Using personal mobile all day
Over-sharing personal information
Leaving complaining Post-It notes
Usually, these things are only fleetingly irritating, but if it gets beyond a joke a quick chat with a manager or the person responsible is the way to go. Not always an easy thing to do, but definitely preferable to putting up with the annoyance day in, day out!
To make one serious point, however, where annoyingly irritating starts to become bullying or harassment, it may be a good idea to seek help and advice from your HR department. A ‘bit of banter’ is all well and good, but if it is too focussed on one person, or goes on for too long, that person can become isolated and unhappy.
On that note, I’m off to tidy up my desk, make sure my phone is on silent and offer a round of tea and coffee! Making sure not to use the last of it, of course…