The Complainer - the most annoying colleague!
A survey by office suppliers, Viking, has revealed that ‘The Complainer’ - the colleague who can’t keep their thoughts to themselves, complains and gossips and can be a bad influence – has come out on top as the most annoying office personality type. This was followed by The Slacker, The Chatterbox and The Workaholic.
The Viking survey also asked Irish workers to identify the most annoying trait in a colleague, which highlighted the following:
1. Poor personal hygiene
2. Speaking too loudly on the phone
3. Foul language
4. People who don’t listen
5. Gossipers
6. Lateness
7. Noisy eaters
For those working in an open plan office foul language came out on top, while those who worked in a private office space selected colleagues who don’t listen as their biggest grievance.
When asked how they would deal with an annoying colleague the majority of those surveyed choose to take the higher ground and get on with their work. Whereas 17% of workers (mainly female) sort to find some common ground to get to know the colleague better with the hope that the annoying habit would fade away, compared to 15% of male workers who decided to ignore the problem completely.
Michael Walby, Director of Viking in Ireland said: “It’s important to have a balance of personality types in the work place to create a good working environment but when colleague’s personalities and traits become irritating it can have a negative effect and particularly on productivity levels. When employees clash it’s important that any grievances are identified and dealt with efficiently. Team building activities can help greatly in building a positive rapport amongst colleagues.”