Are you annoying your colleagues? These are the things not to do in the office or at work.

5 min readSep 8, 2021

Despite whether you entered the field of work for one year or fifteen years, you certainly had at least one colleague who drove you crazy.

Are you wondering if you make mistakes at work that make your colleagues roll their eyes every time they run into you?

To avoid unpleasant situations, we would like to share with you what are the most common behaviours and conditions that can turn you into the most annoying colleague at work.

You invade the private space of colleagues

One of the most annoying things you can do at work is to invade your colleagues’ space. After spending 8 hours with each other, you don’t need to blow them in the back of the head.

Please don’t leave things on their desks, don’t keep an eye on their monitors and respect their own space.

You complain all the time.

If you spend a lot of time in the office complaining about what you have to do, there are great chances to exasperate your colleagues.

Everyone has work to do, and the number of those who want more tasks is practically non-existent.

Thus, if you are among those who want to tell everyone how hard they work and how hard it is what they do, it is pretty challenging to be pleasant among colleagues.

You talk a lot

One of the most common mistakes at work is talking too much and pointlessly.

If you don’t want to see your colleagues shaking their heads every time you open your mouth, then you should try not to talk more than necessary.

Of course, this does not mean that you do not have to be communicative and participate in discussions with people around you.

You have to be aware that when you open your mouth at some point, you have to close it. Smile, preferably sooner rather than later.

Blame others for your mistakes

One of the most important things not to do in the office is to blame others for your mistakes. If a superior asks you for explanations about what you did, admit your mistake if you stumbled.

The biggest nonsense you can do is try to blame someone else. Such behaviour will not only make your colleagues hate you, but it could also cost you your job if you are caught lying to your boss.

Entering the discussions of others without asking

In the list of valuable tips on how to behave at the office, we must mention one of the most annoying things in history is entering the discussions of others straight away, without even asking.

If two colleagues are discussing a job topic, keep your advice and opinions to yourself.

The only exception is when it comes to a group project that you are part of.

If you find yourself advising colleagues in other departments, even though no one has asked you to, we have bad news for you: you are probably the most unbearable employee.

You’re not careful when someone is talking to you

We know it’s almost impossible to always pay attention to what’s going on around you, especially when you have 1 million tasks to do, your friends write to you on Facebook, there are discounts at your favourite store, and your grandmother calls you to buy food for the cat.

Well, you have to forget about these things when a colleague, whether he is superior to you or not, talks to you about work issues.

It is very unpleasant to try to explain something or clarify a situation, and the interlocutor pays zero attention to you.

Of course, if you are busy, you can ask your colleague to come back in a few minutes.

You leave dirt behind

Whether it’s the mess on the desk, in the kitchen or other common areas, you have to be careful not to leave a mess behind you.

Nobody likes to be in an environment with fishy smells or a lot of unwashed plates and cups. Try to keep it clean and make sure you pack everything you left behind before leaving the office.

You tell others how to do their job

Do you like it when others tell you how to do your job?

In 99.9% of cases, the answer is “no”.

Therefore, you must be careful how you talk to your colleagues and, as much as possible, avoid telling them how to do their job.

If you are in a higher position, it is customary to give directions but be careful what tone you use and how you utilize it.

Otherwise, don’t fall into the sin of telling others how to work.

Not the other way around, but you might find that people are running away from you.

You talk a lot on the phone when this is not the case

One of the most annoying things at work is hearing other people’s conversations on the phone, especially if they are not work-related.

Keep your private business behind the scenes. Not everybody cares or wants to listen to details about the marketing girl’s sister’s wedding.

If your phone rings and it’s a personal conversation, leave the office if you need to talk.

If it’s a business call, try to speak in a way that doesn’t bother those around you.

You ask questions that you could find the answer easy

Are there wrong questions?

Definitely. The questions can get wrong when you ask them a thousand times.

Among the most important things not to do at the office is this aspect. Try not to drive your colleagues crazy by asking for the same directions over and over again.