The Micromanager and the Credit Stealer: The Most Annoying Colleagues Revealed

AI-based career tool Kickresume has conducted a survey to find out what the most irritating behaviors people believe their colleagues have. Speaking to 2,894 respondents, the research also aimed to uncover how people, do, wish they did, or should, manage these challenging behaviors professionally and productively.

The research found that 85% of employees have had an annoying colleague. 58% also said that facing these behaviors in the workplace deeply impacts their productivity.

The research found that the most grating types of coworker are:

Peter Duris, CEO at Kickresume, comments:

“People often avoid direct confrontation, which shows that many workplaces might lack good communication training and conflict resolution resources. Fixing these issues could make employees happier and create a more supportive work environment.

“Our findings are quite concerning, so we want to highlight the importance of creating a harmonious workplace where these behaviors are addressed. This could involve diplomatically making staff aware of how their actions affect the team. Doing this will help build a more united, friendly, and efficient workplace.”

The environment in which these behaviors were experienced was found to also play a role in how people feel about annoying colleagues. 62% have faced irritating behavior in the workplace directly, for example.

For hybrid or remote working, 44% of employees found their colleagues annoying in the likes of emails and Slack. 29% also felt the same with video calls and 37%, with phone calls.

53% of employees who do hybrid – remote and in-person – work, believe that this has minimized experiencing annoying colleagues.

33% of Gen Z employees, presumably more tech literate who may have begun professional work in lockdown, believe that digital working has increased unpleasant behaviors.

Regarding those who wish they could deal with an annoying colleague, 41% wish they could tell their coworker what they really think of them, whereas 32% would hope they’d distance themselves from their colleague. 9% admitted they would likely be passive-aggressive. For bolder measures, 11% of those surveyed wished their coworker was fired as a result of their behavior. 5% of people even wished violence on their irritating colleague.

Meanwhile, those who do deal with an annoying colleague, do so by directly asking their coworker to stop their behavior, whilst 12% opted to vent to other colleagues about their frustrations, and 12% reported it to management or HR.

To champion this dynamic, the findings suggest better communication practices and conflict resolution techniques be implemented for staff, for both in-person and online working. Further, as could regular check-ins and adequate training for streamlining remote and hybrid working dynamics.