The Office Pariah
You’re bound to bump heads in the office. Everyone’s personality is different, and with so many in one space five days a week, it’s easy to see how quickly we butt heads. But some behavior is so irritating it drives everyone away—and we’re here to break down some of the worst habits!
1. Micromanagement
No one likes a micromanager breathing down their necks. That behavior ruins morale and is one of the fastest ways to push coworkers away. It’s even worse if you’re not technically in charge, but act like it.
2. Never Cleaning Up After Yourself
An office is only as clean as its employees. When people leave a mess in the microwave or stuff the garbage without taking it out, it ruins the mood pretty quickly. The culprits are always obvious to staff, too!
3. Passing Off Work
There’s nothing wrong with delegating, but don’t expect to make friends if you always pass the buck. People can sniff out a lazy employee pretty quickly, and team-building goes out the window when your colleagues only expect paperwork as soon as they see you.
4. Taking Credit for Others’ Work
This isn’t high school—don’t take credit for other people’s work! Stealing credit not only sets a nasty precedent, but it also leaves colleagues to have awkward conversations with management. To make matters worse, if they don’t rat on you, they’ll just grow to resent you.
5. Making Your Own Schedule
Hey, we’d all love to waltz in whenever we wanted. But employment doesn’t work that way, and showing up late to meetings or spending two hours for lunch impacts your coworkers. They might be left to pick up the slack while you’re out, and even if they don’t, you bet they resent rule-breaking.
6. Constant Negativity
Who wouldn’t love four-day work weeks? What employee wouldn't appreciate a raise? No workplace is without problems, but Debbie Downers further dampen the mood. While coworkers like a good venting session, they won’t want to spend all day in the gutter.
7. Toxic Positivity
On the flip side, toxic positivity is just as annoying—and your coworkers can spot it a mile away. It’s also a great way to make people feel worse about themselves or ashamed about their struggles, especially ones that they’re dealing with behind the scenes. You want to support people, you don’t want to belittle them.
8. You’re Nosey
We all know that nosey little groundhog who stalks the office for fresh gossip. Coworkers don’t appreciate noses in their business, and inserting yourself into personal struggles is a good way to alienate yourself.
9. Passive-Aggressive Patty
You leave sticky notes everywhere. You forward private emails to people. You offer back-handed compliments. These examples are just the tip of the passive-aggressive iceberg. Coworkers notice that behavior and won’t take kindly to it.
10. You’re Way Too Loud
From clacking your keyboard to shouting on the telephone, loud employees disrupt the entire office! It’s one thing if you don’t know you’re doing it, but it’s another if you openly cause a scene without considering your coworkers.
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11. You Only Communicate Via Email
Work days can get pretty busy, and sometimes you only have time to shoot a quick email. No problem! But if you aren’t particularly slammed and deliberately ignore your teammates, it just comes off as unapproachable.
12. Office Gossip
Did you hear that Susy’s cat had an affair? Did you know the boss and his wife sleep in different rooms? It doesn’t matter! It’s no one else’s business; when coworkers pin you as the office gossip, they won’t want to talk to you either. Who knows what secrets you might spill about them?
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13. You Don’t Wait Your Turn
We learn not to interrupt in elementary school. But somewhere along the way, people forgot basic etiquette. Say it with us: don’t interrupt people. Make notes if you don’t want to forget something. Raise your hand if you really need to contribute. Just don’t cut in when someone’s talking!
14. Body Odor
Summer offices can get a little toasty, but it’s important to pack the essentials to work. Whether it’s deodorant in your purse or even a change of clothes, coworkers and clients alike appreciate the effort. Not to mention, this isn’t something that’s brought up easily, so taking care of it yourself ensures you aren’t the butt of jokes at the water cooler.
15. Constant Chatter
Everyone loves a good yap session now and again—but no one likes daily lectures. Try not to pull people away from their work; not everyone has the time to chat for thirty minutes, and not everyone wants to spend their lunch in conversation.
16. Unprofessional Behavior
Unprofessional behavior looks different on everyone. Maybe it’s openly flirting with your coworkers. It could be inappropriate work attire. Whatever it is, you know it when you see it, and it drives coworkers up the wall.
17. Going In When You’re Sick
No heroes in the office, please! It doesn’t matter if you’re in a secluded office all day. It doesn’t matter if you wear a mask, either. Going into work sick only exposes everyone to your germs, and you can bet coworkers will hate getting sick.
18. Messy Desks
It’s easy to assume a messy desk doesn’t affect people. After all, it’s your space! To a degree, that’s true, but messy people also tend to encroach on their coworkers’ space. In fact, most surveys show that messy coworkers are one of the biggest office pet peeves.
19. You’re a Lone Wolf
Sure, that Christmas party seems a bit lame, but it’s important to build camaraderie with your colleagues. It’s always a little weird when you ditch every gathering or make no effort to speak with people in your cubicle cluster. All that does is guarantee that other people won’t approach you—and that includes opportunities to move up.
20. Too Many Meetings
Ah, the classic sign of middle management: incessant meetings to justify that paycheck. Employees have already complained about how annoying meetings are at work, and the sentiment hasn’t changed. Don’t call a meeting unless it’s absolutely necessary—everyone else is busy working!
