Are you irritating your colleagues? The biggest office bugbears

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A recent survey conducted by welfare charity, The Brooke has revealed that the number of British workers suffering from ‘desk rage’ is rapidly increasing and it’s thought to be caused by the irritating habits of our co-workers.

Whilst office niggles tend to start off innocently enough, over time small and innocent little grievances can build up and during stressful times can lead to full on ‘desk rage’. Worryingly, more than half of the 2,000 people questioned by The Brooke complained about their office life. From printers crashing and colleagues with bad breath to being called into meetings just as you’re about to start packing up to go home – it seems like nothing escapes the wrath of a disgruntled employee.

Below is a list of the top office bugbears and whilst most of them are pretty obvious, there are a few surprise ones in there that most of us are guilty of from time to time.

1)      Discussing your dreams – career aspirations are one thing but it appears as though your colleagues have no desire to know what you dream about when you go to bed at night. Describing the dream you had the night before in exact detail featured highly on the list of the most irritating things colleagues do so perhaps it’s safer to keep this one to yourself.

2)      The Brooke’s survey also revealed that using the phrase ‘blue sky thinking’ is one of the most annoying traits that colleagues possess. Never heard of it? Blue sky thinking means creating ideas that are not limited by current thinking or beliefs – just make sure you don’t refer to it in front of your colleagues.

3)      Watch out for your noise levels when you’re in the office as well – apparently frequent whistling and having a loud telephone voice is guaranteed to annoy your co-workers.

4)      Love receiving a little surprise when your birthday comes around? So do your colleagues. Those who don’t contribute to birthday collections get the thumbs down from their fellow workers.

5)      Tea is an important part of everyday life for us Brits and that’s evident in the survey results. Those who never offer to do a tea round are amongst the most frequently complained about colleagues. It seems as though we have high standards when it comes to our cuppas too – cheap tea bags are seriously frowned upon by British workers.

6)      Although most of these grievances appear to be trivial, (39% of workers admit to letting silly little things get to them), there are also some more serious issues that frustrate workers. Lack of a pay rise, no appreciation and heavy workloads have all been responsible for affecting an employee’s motivation and loyalty to the company they work for.

What are your biggest bugbears in the office? Feel free to share yours with us below.