Which type of employees drive their co-workers to complain to you? Maybe you’ll recognize one of your employees on this list.
In their new book, Everyday Practices of Extraordinary Consultants, Christine Lambden and Casey Connor have compiled a list of “The 13 Most Annoying People to Work With.”
- Pontification Person – These people go on and on, telling you what they’re going to say, saying it and then telling you what they said.
- Um Person – To avoid losing control of the conversation, this co-worker fills every pause with “Um,” not realizing that she might be able to think better if she weren’t talking.
- Too Much Detail Person – ‘Nuff said.
- 50,000 Foot Only Person – He is eloquent when you talk about the big picture, but refuses to allow anyone to get into the details, which we all know is where the real work gets done. Unless someone is the CEO of a multi-national corporation, the employee has to be willing to work at any altitude.
- Hypnotized by E-mail Person – If you go to the trouble to think of a meeting topic, send out an invitation, invent an agenda and prepare slides, you naturally expect people who show up for your meeting to pay attention while you talk. Wireless technology has made it possible for people to multi-task very effectively, but there is nothing more defeating than presenting to the tops of the people’s heads because everyone at the conference table is hunched over his or her laptop.
- Buzzword Person – This employee is annoying in meetings, team rooms and in cubicles. In fact, this person is just plain annoying all the time.
- Foul Language Person – Much like Buzzword Person, this co-worker is obviously too lazy to think of the right words to express what he is thinking, if indeed he is thinking at all. But this person isn’t trying to impress you with his knowledge. He isn’t trying to impress you at all. He doesn’t care what you think of him.
- Reiteration Person – If the only contribution an employee has to make at work is to restate what has already been said, she doesn’t have any contribution to make.
- Too Busy To Be Prompt Person – If an employee is always late to work or every meeting, there is something wrong with the way he manages his schedule or time. He should fix this behavior. It’s rude.
- Can’t Control the Meeting Person and her arch-nemesis Wants To Take Over the Meeting Person.
- Secondary Conversation People – These folks are more annoying if their conversation is less interesting than the meeting.
- Disagrees With Everything Person – This co-worker honestly believes he is just being practical, or serving as the Voice Of Reason, or playing Devil’s Advocate. This may be true sometimes, and even helpful occasionally, but when it becomes a habit, everyone else just tunes him out.
- Obscure Metaphor Person – This employee is as annoying as the fool in a troupe of Morris dancers. (See? Wasn’t that annoying?)
For more about this book, click here.
Do you have a story about an employee who would fit a description on this list? Do you have a type of annoying person to add to the list? Let us know in the Comments Box below.
