For the second year in succession, Injury Lawyers4U and Iceland have topped the Marketing/TNS annual survey of the UK's most irritating adverts in the UK. Injury Lawyers4U's unique selling point is that they use "real" lawyers as opposed to the other kind, and the actor they use in the advert is none other than Billy Murray -- famed for his performances as a dodgy copper. Mmm. And then there's the Iceland Food adverts featuring the chat-mag's favourite -- and voted one of the most annoying people on TV -- Kerry Catona, who is famous for nothing more than being famous. But when these adverts come onto our TV screens we can simply change channels or better still, walk out of the room until the object of our annoyance is no longer in our faces. Not so in the office.
Unless you are your own boss chances are that you weren't lucky enough to choose your work colleagues. You yourself may think that you are the best colleague that anyone could hope for. After all, you are the life and soul of the office with your quick wit and hilarious jokes that makes every laugh, right? You're the model employee who comes into work regardless of how ill you are or how much you cough and splutter everywhere. And you always at hand to tell people where they are going wrong without them even asking you. You are the office martyr, the one who puts the 'T' in 'Teamwork' and everyone appreciates having you around, don't they? You sure about that?
Although you may believe that you have the best will and intention in the world, sometimes being the office clown can make you irritating to others, while your attempts to help others may make you seem condescending, interfering and even patronising. And constantly coming to work when you are sick will not win you many admirers, especially if your colleagues catch what you have as a result.
It is unlikely that you will get along with all of your colleagues but there are things that you can avoid doing which will ensure that you're not the one who is the source of constant irritation in the office. As Oscar Wilde said, "there is only one thing worse than being talked about, and that's not being talked about" -- just make sure you are being talked about for the right reasons.
Here are the 10 most annoying colleague habits:
- Loud talking: Why is it that some people have the inability to converse without the need to shout on the phone. And as hard as you try the fact remains that you cannot help but listen in. A survey conducted by Harris Interactive and Randstad in the US found that this was the average office workers' biggest pet peeve
- Annoying ringtones: Those people who bought (yes bought) the most irritating ringtone of all time, the Crazy Frog, are the same people who change their ringtone on a regular basis and you just know that the tune will be ringing in your head long after 5pm
- Speakerphones: As if talking loudly wasn't bad enough, your colleague puts the phone on loudspeaker and proceeds to dial the number, letting it ring and ring so that everyone else in the office can hear. Worse still, they conduct the entire conversation via speakerphone
- Pinching other peoples' stationery: They 'borrow' your stapler and accidentally-on-purpose 'forget' to put it back on your desk until they hear you rummaging around everywhere for it
- Eating potent-smelling food: Despite the fact that there is a perfectly good staff room or better still, cafeteria, they chose to eat their egg sandwich or tuna/salmon baguette at their desk. And just to add salt to the wound, they dump their rubbish in the bin under your desk, stinking the office for the entire afternoon
- Borrowing money: Even worse than suffering the pungent stench left in the office all day is the knowledge that it was your money that paid for this torture. Why is it that some people never seem to have any money yet they get paid the same amount as you do?
- Email jargon: Your colleague has now resorted to communicating using smiley-faced emoticons or acronyms such as :), OMG, TTFN, TTYL and LOL. Has texting and the internet really killed the Queen's English? I wundr wot HRM wud say.
- Habitual lateness: Every morning your colleague rushes through the office door, flustered because they 'hate' being late but, it wasn't their fault: the bus broke down, Gran is sick (for the umpteenth time this month), or they just so happen to live on the most accident-prone street in the UK
- Playing music too loudly: They may think that by listening to music on their iPod means that no one else can hear but, they are sorely wrong. You know exactly what they are listening too and worse still, the tinny sound emanating from the headphones combined with your colleagues pen-tapping in time with the drum beat makes you want to grab it and stamp on it
- Passing on their germs: Despite their desks looking like a small pharmacy, your colleagues' incessantly loud sneezing and coughing isn't showing signs of improving, and neither are your chances of escaping their infection.
