Share This… Not Your Oats And More
While we may have our own individual gripes about the workplace, it becomes more and more clear as we progress in our careers that most work environments face similar problems and it can feel a little bit like Groundhog Day after a while.
Here are our top ten things that have probably happened in your office!
1) A tech meltdown… that nobody seems to know how to fix
If you’ve worked in an office, then chances are that you have reduced your life expectancy by a couple of years while stressing over a technical problem. Whether your computer won’t turn on, the Internet is gone down or your software has changed language to Iranian, the ‘IT department’ will usually repeat your problem back over the phone to you and use some technical terms to cover up the fact that they don’t have a clue what the problem is.
2) The fridge will have an extremely unpleasant smell
Communal fridges, while necessary for things such as milk, are one of the most disgusting things on earth. Most will have an indistinguishable smell that everybody complains about but nobody will ever make a genuine attempt to clean it out.
Also, it’s highly likely that your office has a lurker who sneakily robs other people’s lunches ‘by accident’.
3) Someone will arrive into the office absolutely mortified after the staff party
Staff parties are a great opportunity to get to know your colleagues and foster some team spirit over a few sociable drinks, right? Well, most of the time there’ll be at least one person (you know who you are!) who will take full advantage of the free bar, drunkenly tell everyone in the office that they love them and think that doing their best Beyoncé impression on a table at 2am is a great way to integrate themselves into the company.
This only works some of the time.
4) The feeder
You come in on a Monday with great intentions of sticking to a clean diet and maybe even fitting in a few gym sessions. You’re definitely not falling into the trap of snacking at your desk again, no sireee! Then, the girl across the desk brings in a packet of biscuits and before you know it, those WeightWatchers points are a distant memory… yet again.
5) Someone makes a habit of bringing in lunches that stink out the entire office
Ok, we’re going to say this very slowly. Fish chowder has no place in a shared office. EVER. Same goes for strong curries, dishes containing a lot of garlic or anything else with a lasting odour.
6) There will be a co-worker who doesn’t fully understand the concept of headphones
Headphones are a great thing. They allow you to listen to whatever you want, whenever you want, without bothering those around you. Well, that’s the theory anyway. In reality, there’s always one who turns the volume up to full while listening to Cher’s Greatest Hits. Nothing will ever quite match the rage that comes from hearing Believe through someone else’s headset while you’re trying to finish off a really important report.
7) An incredibly inappropriate office flirtation
The office environment is a strange thing. People who are shrinking violets in their personal lives become powerful leaders in the boardroom and people who are married sometimes forget their vows while they’re flirting with the new intern.
There’s also usually a pair of co-workers who get on so well that they should be dating but instead choose to spend their days having the banter and laughing at each others jokes before looking shocked and saying ‘oh no, we’re just friends’ when anyone states the obvious.
8) Photocopier divilment
We’re all professionals but sometimes the temptation is just too much.
9) That one person who NEVER offers to make tea
Tea is the unsung hero of the office.
From calming down someone who is having a stressful day to extending an olive branch to a colleague that you may have had words with, there’s a whole lot more to making a round of tea that simply fancying a cuppa. You can also tell a lot about someone by their observation of the unspoken rule of making tea and in most offices, there is one person who always accepts a cup but never offers to return the favour.
Trust these people at your peril.
10) Monster meetings… that achieve nothing
It’s probably the number one office bugbear.
You’ve been at your desk since 8am trying to catch up on the mountain of work that has to be done when your supervisor decides that it’s a good time for a team meeting. So, you sit there, making bored faces at your colleagues and listening to phrases like ‘going forward’ and ‘touch base’ for hours on end while watching your chances of getting out of the building by 5.30pm dimishing rapidly.
