The Most Annoying Office Habits in the World

There are millions of offices all around the world, with tens of millions of workers in them, but they all have one thing in common: the annoying colleague. 

You know the one. Or if you don’t, you might be the one who’s always:

1. Talking loudly on the phone or using speaker phone to the annoyance of everyone else.
2. Sharing TMI (too much information) about personal things.
3. Asking for help with the same tech problems again and again, instead of simply taking the time to learn to do it properly.
4. Walking into meetings late, so that things have to be repeated.
5. Leaving messes in the break room or other common areas and not cleaning them up.
6. Writing passive-aggressive signs or post-its and leaving them around the office, instead of just speaking to someone to address an issue.
7. Using the last of the coffee or tea and not fixing a new pot.
8. Hoarding office supplies.
9. Gossiping about everyone and everything around.
10. Listening to music loudly or — worse — singing and whistling along.
11. Peeking over the cubicle tops to start a conversation.
12. Sending “funny” emails constantly to everyone in the office.
13. Acting as the self-appointed office police (when they are not the manager or boss).
14. Bringing, preparing, and eating incredibly stinky food to the office.
15. Changing the heat or air conditioning with no regard to anyone else’s comfort.
16. Taking care of personal business at work.
17. Leaving your phone notifications dinging and pinging all day long.
18. Stealing food from the community fridge.
19. Coming to work when you’re obviously, contagiously ill.
20. Taking care of personal hygiene at your desk.
21. Or not taking care of personal hygiene at all….
22. Wearing too much cologne or perfume, or spraying it at work.
23. Organising pointless meetings.
24. Not taking responsibility for mistakes — or worse, blaming others.
25. Asking for donations for gifts, charities, or selling your kids’ school fundraiser stuff. (Girl scout cookies usually excepted.)
26. Asking inappropriately personal questions as your version of small talk.
27. Telling inappropriately personal stories about what you did last night/last weekend/in Las Vegas.
28. Bringing treats into the office, even when you know your coworkers are on a diet.
29. Eating the last of the treats.
30. Agreeing with the boss, no matter what, to look better.

Honestly, most of these boil down to simply being inconsiderate of others in the workplace. In truth, you probably spend more time with your coworkers than almost anyone else in your life, so it pays to be thoughtful and kind. 

What are your biggest workplace pet peeves? (Come on, we all have them.) Let us know in the comments below.

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Bernard Marr is a bestselling business author and is globally recognized as an expert in strategy, performance management, analytics, KPIs and big data. His new book is 'Big Data - Using Smart Big Data, Analytics and Metrics To Make Better Decisions and Improve Performance'. You can read a free sample chapter here.

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