Getting a handle on conflict and annoyance in the workplace

In a perfect world, coworkers would work in harmony and creativity and productivity would soar. No one would have to deal with outright hostility or even petty annoyances. But as every HR professional knows, it’s not a perfect world. Dealing with annoyance calls for first identifying what employees find irritating, and a recent survey provides some insights on that front. Dealing with those issues that go beyond annoyance can be tricky, but workplace experts have tips to share.

Annoying habits and behaviors

A survey released in March sheds light on the habits and behaviors coworkers find annoying. Topping the list are interrupting, taking credit for someone else’s work, oversharing, failing to do work, and arrogance. Those results are in a survey from Quality Logo Products, a company that sells logoed merchandise to companies to use as promotional items.

The survey also found that 57% of respondents have quit or considered quitting a job because of an annoying coworker.

The poll also asked about annoying workplace conversations. The most troublesome topics were politics, COVID-19, money, religion, and relationships.

In addition to identifying annoying habits and topics, the researchers looked at the differences between remote and on-site workers. When employees were asked if they find their coworkers more or less annoying in a remote setting, 48% said less annoying, 39% said more annoying, and 13% saw no difference.