Are You the Obnoxious Co-Worker?

Every office has one. The obnoxious co-worker that absolutely no one can stand, not even your boss. While we all might rag on this person, have you ever sat down and thought to yourself, “Do I ever do the horrifying things this disliked co-worker does?” Well TriLeaf friends, I am here to point out a few of the obvious signs that YOU are indeed the annoying worker.

Sign #1: You’re a suck up to the boss. This is an old sign and we see it throughout our entire lives. A teacher’s pet or the sibling that sides with the parents on everything are just a few of the examples. As you can imagine, a co-worker who tattles on the rest of the employees is definitely going to create some ill-will around the work place. It causes tension because instead of addressing the problem directly, the annoying co-worker has told the higher power the mistakes and could be leading his/her co-worker’s career down the wrong path. The same frustration goes for the co-worker who takes too much credit or not enough blame for projects.

Sign #2: The Debbie Downer. Everyone usually ends up having that one bonding moment of complaining about their job/boss with their co-workers. And every now and then that can be considered ok. However, when you come in crying every day because you just can’t bear to leave your cat LuLu at home alone, or your aunt said you looked like you put on a few pounds, or your significant other isn’t surprising you with flowers or a beer; well, it just gets annoying. The negativity you are bring to the office can become toxic, making everyone else that has to be near you have a hard time getting through their day.

Sign #3: The Pig Pen. This should pretty much be self-explanatory. CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF!

Signs #4 & #5 go hand-in-hand: Lacking Manners and Standing Out. While I entirely support bringing your own unique style to your place of employment, I highly recommend not standing out in the bad way. This means talking like you’re a sailor on the high seas or microwaving hard-boiled eggs in a confined area. Be sure that while you might be bringing a unique something to the office, you are also doing it with class and an attitude that would still find you to be respectable. Follow a conduct code for emailing as well. If you Bcc everything to try to get someone in trouble, you’re going to have a very angry mob of co-workers on your hand.

Those are the top 5 tips for knowing if you are the Office Jerk. If you have had any experience with any of these topics, or know of some tips we can add to the list, let us know!

By: Taylor Kincaid