How co-workers can make each other nuts: A 9-step plan
May 5, 2010 by Tim GouldPosted in: Behavior, Communication, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
Don’t tell anybody: New research outlines exactly how your employees can drive each other crazy.
It’s all in a new Work Watch study from staffing firm Randstad and pollster Ipsos Public Affairs.
The can’t-miss irritant: The misuse of work time — for things like long lunches, smoke breaks or extended online surfing.
More than four in 10 (43%) employees surveyed cited these “poor time management” complaints as their biggest pet peeve. Other entries in the category:
- people who abuse sick days
- meetings without agendas or structure
- meetings that cut into personal time, including starting before or ending after traditional work hours
- meetings that start late or run over
- people who are distracted on their Blackberry or who text during a meeting, and
- people who consistently miss deadlines.
Changing times
Coming in second in the Peeve Derby: People who gossip, with 36% of ballots cast. When Randstad ran a similar survey back in 2007, gossip was employees’ biggest pet peeve and time management issues came in second. Apparently, 2010′s increased pace and pressure has made workers more sensitive about how their work hours are spent.
The other seven top ways to get under co-workers’ skin:
- messiness in communal spaces
- loud noises
- potent scents
- use of personal electronic devices during meetings
- political conversations
- misuse of e-mail, and
- use of social media sites during work hours.
Two more sure signs of the times: In the 2007 survey, “political conversations” and “use of social media sites” weren’t mentioned as workplace concerns.
Tags: gossip, Ipsos Public Affairs, pet peeves, political conversations, Randstad, social media, surveys, time managment, Work Watch
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May 10th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
The least liked person in the office exhibit’s almost everything above. She takes long lunches, is constantly on personal calls, and surfs the internet incessantly. She calls out sick much more often than anyone else, and often has to use unpaid leave, as she runs out of sick and vacation leave consistantly. She’s a HUGE gossip and is very loud, obnoxious and rude when dealing with co-workers. Her workspace clutter bleeds out into common areas, and is constantly on FaceBook. Of course, her boss is completely oblivious, or just doesn’t care, so the rest of us must suffer her. No wonder she’s so despised.
May 17th, 2010 at 9:25 am
My biggest beef are slobs. Especially those who are in cubicles. Their desks are a mess and it is an eye sore. Worst thing about it, is they just don’t care. They believe it’s their “personality” and others should just get over it.
May 19th, 2010 at 11:09 am
My biggest beef are people who think they are perfect and love to point out other’s mistakes but will never admit or apologize for their own mistakes. Somehow it is always someone else’s fault.
May 19th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
I agree with nomi. Our problem child loves to tattle on everyone else, even when they aren’t doing anything wrong. I have tried to explain to her that it isn’t her responsibility to monitor others and that she will be a happier person for letting it go. She has gotten better since I pointed this out. She is also one of our employees who points out that her manager couldn’t do her job. I point out that his job is much bigger and that he employs her to know her job. It is not his responsibility to know how to do every little duty of each employee.
May 19th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Good for you Maggie for coaching your problem child.
June 3rd, 2010 at 6:19 pm
I’m not sure what was pumped into the office air yesterday, but the staff in the office were on a roll. We had naysayers and finger pointers in every meeting – staff wanting forms explained, processes changed, and “why do we do this and how come we can’t do that”. I mean, they normally come in a-cacklin’ but this was over the top.
And I’m not sure if there is an unwritten rule that if you are drying your hands in the bathroom and someone comes in, are you supposed to leave so that the person can have the facilities to themselves? The “said” staff comes in and says, “I guess you’re just gonna stand there” and for a second I wasn’t sure she was talking to me (there’s a 2nd stall), so I asked if she was talking to me and she replied, “well yeah, but whatever,” and in she went into the stall – and that was at the end of the day. It was comments like that all day long. Its like, who are these people?
So what drives me crazy? Inconsistent, emotional staff who can’t communicate effectively by bringing up problems without solutions. Oh, and that bathroom thing….
June 4th, 2010 at 10:13 am
TerriG: I got a big laugh from your post. You should think about getting into comedy writing. Thank you I needed that this morning.
June 4th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
nomi: thank you. I was venting actually, and didn’t mean to go so overboard. I was in the process of editing my comments and hit the “tab” button and it submitted my comment. Apparently “tab” and “submit comment” are the same – so let that be a lesson to all you replyers!! I felt like the person who hit “reply all” on an email that only one sender was supposed to see – I kept trying to hit the back button and delete key and wasn’t having much success….anyway, I’m glad you enjoyed it.