‘The Complainer’ has been revealed as the most annoying office personality type while poor personal hygiene tops the irritating colleague traits list.
Office supplier Viking conducted the survey which revealed ‘The Complainer’ - the colleague who can’t keep their thoughts to themselves, complains and gossips and can be a bad influence – has come out on top as the most annoying office personality type.
This was followed by The Slacker, The Chatterbox and The Workaholic.
The Viking survey also asked Irish workers to identify the most annoying trait in a colleague, which highlighted the following:
- Poor personal hygiene
- Speaking too loudly on the phone
- Foul language
- People who don’t listen
- Gossipers
- Lateness
- Noisy eaters
Foul language was most annoying for people working in an open plan officewhile those who worked in a private office space selected colleagues who don’t listen as their biggest grievance.
The majority of people surveyed said they'd take the higher ground and get on with their work when faced with an annoying colleague. But 17% (mainly female) said they'd try to get to know the colleague better with the hope that the annoying habit would fade away, compared to 15% of male workers who decided to ignore the problem completely.
Commenting on the survey, Michael Walby, Director of Viking in Ireland said: “It’s important to have a balance of personality types in the work place to create a good working environment but when colleague’s personalities and traits become irritating it can have a negative effect and particularly on productivity levels.
When employees clash it’s important that any grievances are identified and dealt with efficiently. Team building activities can help greatly in building a positive rapport amongst colleagues.”
