15 Highly Annoying Coworker Behaviors
What do your coworkers do that just drives you insane? Here’s my list of fifteen annoying coworker habits that I’ve compiled from personal experience, reading and conversations with others. Compare this to your own list and let me know what you think.
15. Using speaker phone in a cubicle or office with the door open - First I hear the insanely loud dial tone for a few seconds while you get ready to dial the phone number. Then I get to hear both sides of a conversation that we have no interest in.
14. Unproductive team members - Ah, the joy of team work. Why does there always seem to be one team member who feels content to let everyone else do the work, but is always there to take the credit.
13. Sucking up to the boss - And speaking of credit, the office brown-noser can’t wait to find a new way to be recognized by the boss, even at the expense of others. This person is always there to remind the supervisor just how wonderful they are.
12. Emailing “reply to all” when not everyone needs the message - My email box is full enough with junk I don’t need (see #6). Please don’t send me a reply just because I was on the original distribution list.
11. Offensively strong odors - Whether from cologne, perfume or the tuna sandwich you had for lunch, I shouldn’t have to turn my head to avoid your strong odor. This is the reason more and more offices are becoming scent-free workplaces.
10. Coming to work sick - You’re not doing anyone a favor by coming to work sick. Your productivity suffers, you take longer to get over the illness, and you contaminate the office. Please stay at home and don’t pass on your illness.
9. Chatty interruptions - My desk is not the local town square and my shelf is not a resting place for your coffee cup. Please don’t drop by to chat while I’m trying to work. Find me when I’m on break; then we can discuss the merits of American Idol.
8. The chronically late - Why should the six of us have to wait for you when we all knew the meeting was 8:00 a.m.? Six people waiting ten minutes in one hour of lost work. Being on time is not just a courtesy, it’s an expectation.
7. Ringing cell phones in the office - One of the greatest technological discoveries of the 20th Century was the vibrating cell phone. Learn to put the phone on vibrate or turn it off. Besides, business calls can use the office phone and personal calls can wait.
6. Forwarding junk emails - No I don’t want to read another inspiring email with a pictures of kittens, see a donkey with Hillary’s photoshopped head, or read another joke about a redneck, a priest and a car salesman. Oh, and by the way, I didn’t forward any of those emails and live is still grand!
5. Goofing off at working - Why is it that some people wait until work to do personal grooming (particularly related to fingernails) or surf the Internet? Some of us have work to do and your laziness is a distraction, or worse, a detriment to the company.
4. Helpless coworkers - Sure I can help you unjamming the copier and prepare that package for mailing. But I have a question first. Why is it that after working here for three years, you still don’t have the basic office skills of a two-week temp?
3. Not cleaning up break room messes - First, I could smell that garlic shrimp you had for lunch, and now I’m looking at it in the refrigerator…three weeks later. If cleanliness is next to Godliness; our break room must be hell.
2. Loud music or singing - I didn’t like that song when the Carpenters sung it, didn’t care for it when Sanjaya butchered it, and your rendition isn’t working for me either. Please buy some headphones for the radio, and stop whistling, singing, humming or whatever it is you are doing.
1. Office gossip - And the winner is…the rumor spreading, tale telling, scandal promoting office gossip. Accuracy and relevance are not part of his journalistic criteria. Expect him to pass on even the most trivial of rumors if it have any viral potential.
Okay, now it’s your turn. What office behaviors do you find irritating? And stay tuned for my follow up post on how to deal with these annoying coworkers.
[PhotoCredit:Toronto_Rex]
17 Responses to “15 Highly Annoying Coworker Behaviors”
By CatherineL on Feb 14, 2008 | Reply
Hi Coryan - I’ve worked with all those people over the years and they can be so annoying.
I worked with one girl who had the same name as me and she was always doing mean things like being rude to customers on the phone, then denying it when they complained. So, because I was newer I got the blame for the bad things she did.
By Coryan on Feb 14, 2008 | Reply
Catherine - Geez, sounds like you’ve got a lot of experience dealing with these types of coworkers. I’m real lucky right now to work in a great office environment, but some of these folks have been office mates of mine in the past.
By CatherineL on Feb 14, 2008 | Reply
Hi again Coryan - I’m guessing it was about 20 years ago when that happened.
But, I’ve worked in places where the types you’ve mentioned have worked and I’ve also had some of the offending types work for me.
I guess it’s not really bad luck - I’ve just worked for a lot of years. Definitely the office gossip one is the worst. I have found that men do this less.
By LJW on Feb 29, 2008 | Reply
I can top anyone of those!
We are in a small executive office space, 2 assistants, myself (marketing director that they had no office space for) outside of the 5 owners offices.
The one assistant is uneducated, not an ounce of class who is overly personal w/ customers and speaks excessively loud. She tells anyone who would listen her entire life story (which is pathetic). She has 5 children who can’t even grocery shop w/o consulting her. The personal phone calls have even lasted up to an hour and my desk is maybe 5′ away and ther is no way for me to focus.
When she talk on the phone, she continuously pounds her fist on the desk. When she walks, she stomps. She talks to herself incessantly and says “Rats” when she does something wrong about a 1,000 times a day. She has absolutely nothing to do when I have a things to do list a mile long and no way to concentrate. Our owners say ther is nothing they can do - it is her ethnic background and just her personality.
HELP!
By Coryan on Feb 29, 2008 | Reply
LJW - That is pretty bad! Sounds like the business owners are hiding behind her ethnicity instead of dealing with the problem.
By MIAM on Mar 6, 2008 | Reply
How can I deal!? I sit beside someone who is constanting coughing (one of those nasty juicy smokers coughs), talks to herself all day, is a loud talker, and laughs out loud to herself at least 4 times a day. Oh, and she smokes so she’s always bringing back nasty stale smelling smoke with her. She’s generally a nice person but has these incessently annoying habits…I dread coming to work everyday! I don’t know what to do!! I can’t get relocated because I sit right outside my bosses door. She refuses to be moved because of ‘lighting’ issues…any ideas are welcome…I’m desperate!
By Coryan on Mar 6, 2008 | Reply
Hi Miam. Your situation sounds unbearable.
Have you read my post titled “How to deal with annoying coworker behaviors”? It was written right after this post on February 17th. In that article I make several recommendations, some of which you may have already tried. But the bottom line is that this is a management issue. If your employer values your work, they will not want allow a situation where you are not able to work effectively and may even consider leaving.
Speak with your employer about the situation and be as objective and nonjudgmental as possible. But be clear about the facts…your coworker is creating an intolerable work environment where your attention and productivity is being negatively affected. This should grab the attention of your employer. Then, propose some reasonable solution for your employer to consider.
Good luck with the situation. I wish you the best.
By Katherine on May 2, 2008 | Reply
I work about five feet from a woman that talks to herself incessantly. If she can’t find something, she announces it, only to be followed by “oh, here it is.” Her voice is loud and high pitched, she pounds her fist on the desk with every sentence she says on the phone. Finally, she constantly makes mistakes and then states “who did this?” She is the single most annoying person I have ever known.
By Coryan on May 5, 2008 | Reply
OMG, Katherine…now that is an annoying coworker. It is amazing how insensitive some people can be in the workplace. They assume behavior that would be acceptable in a noisy bar would also be welcomed at work.
By Trixie on May 7, 2008 | Reply
I have a coworker that sits on the other side of the cubicle wall. She talks on the phone all day long either cell or landline, she doesn’t care which one. But here is what is bothering me and another coworker: she consistently expects someone to go to lunch and bring her back something. Now, I have asked that favor a time or two in my life, but this gal has done it for 2 weeks straight. I usually only take a half hour lunch and sometimes I go tanning or take care of personal errands. Sitting in McDonald’s drive thru for someone else’s Big Mac because they are too lazy/cheap to go drive the 10 minutes is starting to get on my nerves. I’m at the point where I bring my own lunch so I don’t have to leave the office and provide her lunch. What do you all suggest?
By Coryan on May 8, 2008 | Reply
Well Trixie, you definitely have a coworker who is taking advantage of the situation. But she may think this behavior is perfectly acceptable. Here’s what I would do.
The next time she asks, I would say something like, “Sorry, can’t do it today.” Short and simple. She may catch on, or she may ask why not. If she asked, I would be very clear that I don’t mind doing someone a favor when they really need it, but this has become more than a favor…it is a habit. Relationships and favors should never be one-sided.
So, I’d start by saying no…and then, as in most situation, honesty is the best policy.
By blondie1021 on May 20, 2008 | Reply
I have a co-worker the next cube over that is so annoying… We live in MN, when she gets on the phone she talks very loud and changes her voice to a southern / staggering voice that is really bad, she extends all the words in her sentence, I think she thinks it’s professional. She also laughs a lot, at the smallest things that are not even funny - even while on the phone with customers. And she has the loudest laugh I’ve ever herd. She’s constantly bragging to everyone even customers about her “Perfect Family” Going on and on about her husband and two young kids, and I’ve run into her and her kids at a restaurant once, they are so out of hand. And if someone is having a conversation on the other side of the office, she will get up to join the conversation and bud in. She also has the answers to everyone’s questions, or she thinks she does. I also don’t think her husband can figure anything out by himself; he is calling at least 10x a day about something, even the smallest things that any normal adult can figure out. Than there’s her vocabulary… “Snickers” “Nummy” etc…
By Coryan on May 22, 2008 | Reply
Blondie…thanks for dropping by. It seems from your comment and others on this post, that loud co-workers on the phone is a major nuisance at work. We have some loud talkers at my workplace, but they are usually respectful and go to an office where they can close the door when they are talking. Good luck dealing with the loud one with the perfect family!
By annoyed girl on May 22, 2008 | Reply
So.. i work in cubeville and i sit next to a 36 y/o single mother who has a thing for younger guys and is constantly on the prowl for the next flavor of the month….AT WORK.. she is a very nice person, but she is always putting her 2 cents into the conversations i have with people who visit me at my cube.Everytime my goodd friends (who sits an aisle over) leave for lunch she says “don’t be afraid to bring me something back” and when we return she says ” what did you eat for lunch”… i mean every now an then is fine, but she does this EVERY SINGLE DAY! She then finds it necessary to hold a cell phone conversation with her Ex everyday, which ultimates ends up with her expressing how irrespinsible he is and “that’s why we’re not together” comments.. argghh.. everyone whispers about her, but i’m the only one who comments to her about it every now and then (which offends her and she’ll stop speaking to me for all of 20 min?!?!?) Then the next day.. it starts all over. She a great worker bee, but her whining about how she can’t find a man and OH.. the wight watcher points thing (that’s a whole ‘nother topic..lol) it’s too much… and no ona e will say anything to her directly, but they all complain to me about her. .what advice can you give me on how to deal with her and what to say to the others who complain but don’t say anything. I’ma afraid i’ll go off on everyone soon and then i’ll be having lunch alone…and working on another floor..lol…
signed~
the one who speaks up.
By Lisa on May 23, 2008 | Reply
Hi Coryan,
I have a couple doozies in my office… I have the loud talker who insists on peeking out and joining every conversation in other cubes and chiming in with her insanely annoying laugh, AND the high-pitched annoying laugher (that’s right- TWO annoying laughers!) who finds EVERYTHING funny… I have a “touchy-feely” one who likes to touch your arm when she tells you things, or smack you on the arm when someone makes a joke. on top of that, she mis-pronounces alot of words, which drives me INSANE! like “wartch” (watch)… and she tells the same story OVER and OVER and OVER- if i hear about the chinese cafe her husband took her to for her birthday, or that damn shrimp eggroll one more time…The worst is the ghetto one (thankfully a temp) who is about to ruin casual friday by accompanying her jeans with a wife beater tank top covered by a cut-off (at the boob area) bright pink athletic shirt with a big, green “25″ on it. Uggghhh… what makes you think you can dress that way- especially in a corporate office, ESPECIALLY when you just got the job??? If it weren’t for my 3 friends here, i would despise my job because of the idiots i deal with! Sorry this was so long, but i thank you for the opportunity to vent!
By Coryan on May 27, 2008 | Reply
Annoyed Girl - Geez, even handling the situation well doesn’t always work. Nonetheless, you get my respect for being “the one who speaks up.” Hope it gets better.
Lisa - Sorry, but I could help but laugh at the description of the zoo you work in.
I especially found the idea of someone with TWO different annoying laughs to be more than anyone should have to deal with. Also, do they sell wife beater tank tops under that name? Never heard them call that before, but the image immediately came to mind. Oh, and my mother is one of those that says “wartch”…it can be annoying, but for her it’s a regional dialect thing.
By Lisa on May 29, 2008 | Reply
Coryan,
thanks for this post, i feel better and this was fun!
they call them wifebeaters around here- not sure about where you are, but they are just the ribbed tank top like undershirts men wear- they make them for women too. anyway, it is actually two different individuals who each have a terribly annoying laugh- not one person with two different laughs…so it’s a double whammy! LOL