Does Your Co-worker Annoy you?
Strong coworker relationships have been tied to job satisfaction, but there’s probably at least one person coworker you do not have total synergy with. This could be due to a simple personality mismatch, but it could also be because of their annoying habits.
A new survey from Blind, the anonymous professional network, reveals some pet peeves we have about our coworkers:
A Capital One user asked “What are some reasons that you find a coworker annoying?”
Key learnings:
- 7% Coworker asks me too many questions throughout the day
- 7% Coworker constantly talks about themselves
- 7% Coworker has poor hygiene
- 17% Coworker is negative / offensive / condescending
- This is the most annoying reason for professionals at Amazon
- 6% Coworker is never around
- 15% Coworker submits poor quality work
- 9% Coworker takes forever to finish their work
- 10% Coworker takes my ideas
- 13% Coworker talks over me in meetings
- 15% of Facebook professionals are annoyed at their coworkers who talk over them in meetings
- 3% I am immune to annoying coworkers and none of these items bother me
An engineer at google responded “Coworkers that won’t shut up in a meeting”
A user at Byton responded “Coworker makes loud chomping/slurping noises while eating/drinking”
A user at American Express said “Coworkers who are fake to your face while trying to throw you under the bus behind your back.”
An engineer at Amazon shared “I was assigned a desk next to someone who brought scissors with him, and frequently cut his ear hair ? in the open office.”
An engineer at Wayfair asked “Anyone else have coworkers who just ramble on and on during meetings, not saying anything important and just wasting everyone’s time?”
It’s so very human to feel frustrated or annoyed by a coworker’s behavior,” says Sarah Greenberg, a licensed psychotherapist with BetterUp, a global coaching community. “Our feelings are valid. However, when we let those feelings fester they can eat away at our own productivity and well-being. I like to think of strong feelings as helpful signals or calls to action.”
At Blind, we provide professionals the space to recognize that their feelings are valid.
An annoying coworker might be distracting, but it’s important to focus on your own work. “Put your individual tasks and projects first, and try not to get distracted, frustrated, or stressed out by any negative noise on the sidelines,” says Rhiannon Staples, chief marketing officer of Hibob, people management software provider. “It’s all about finding your zen using stress management tactics, and what helps you focus amidst a sea of coworkers.”
