The Office – An Annoying Workplace
The Office – An Annoying Workplace
Grumpy or moody colleagues annoy UK office workers the most
- Two in three office workers stressed out by office annoyances
- Thinking outside the box? tops list of ridiculous office jargon
Grumpy colleagues, slow computers, gossip and office jargon are all commonplace in most UK offices, but these are the daily occurrences that annoy and stress out office workers the most according to a survey out today from Opinium Research.*
The top 10 UK office annoyances are:
- Grumpy or moody colleagues (37%)
- Slow computers (36%)
- Small talk/ gossip in the office (19%)
- The use of office jargon or management speak (18%)
- People speaking loudly on the phone (18%)
- Too much health and safety in the work place (16%)
- Poor toilet etiquette (16%)
- People not turning up for meetings on time or at all (16%)
- People not tidying up after themselves in the Kitchen (15%)
- Too cold/ cold air conditioning (15%)
These office aggravations are so severe for some that they increase stress levels for two in three (62 per cent) people, and one in 10 (11 per cent) office workers have left a job because of overwhelming irritations. A further two-fifths (19 per cent) say they would consider moving jobs due to workplace annoyances.
Riding high in the table of irritations is office jargon. This blue sky thinking frustrates men more than women (24 per cent vs. 13 per cent), but the annoying phrases people have most on their radar are thinking outside the box (21 per cent) and let’s touch base (20 per cent).
Top ten most ridiculous office jargon phrases**:
- Thinking outside the box (21%) (come up with new ideas)
- Let?s touch base (20%) (meet up with someone)
- Blue sky thinking (19%) (any ideas are okay)
- Blamestorming (16%) (sitting down and working out whose fault something is)
- Drill down to a more granular level (15%) (Look into something in more detail)
- Let’s not throw pies in the dark (15%) (we need a plan rather than a haphazard approach)
- I’ve got that on my radar (13%) (I?m aware of that)
- Push the envelope (12%) (Get the most out of something)
- Bring you’re A-game (11%) (Be ready to do something to best of ability)
- Get all your ducks in a row (11%) (Get everything prepared)
James Endersby, Managing Director of Opinium Research, comments, ?These annoyances, particularly the office jargon, will ring a bell with most people who have experienced office life. It?s amazing to see how much of an effect they can have, with a significant amount of people saying that these irritations make them more stressed or even cause them to leave their jobs.?
* Research conducted online amongst a national sample of 1,836 UK adults by Opinium Research LLP, between 15th ? 18th January 2010
** The figure in brackets after each phrase is the proportion of office workers who describe that as one of their most ridiculous office jargon phrases.
