What you suspected all along has been now been proven! 

The biggest reason why you cannot meet deadlines, feel irritable during work and cannot work to your full potential is (you guessed it!) – the person sitting next to you. A survey report that came out recently saw a majority of respondents blaming their colleagues and their disruptive habits and behavior as the biggest reason for a dip in their own performance.

A TimesJobs.com survey has shown that almost 60% of the employees are an unsuspecting victim of cultural mismatch, as co-workers who interfere with and disrupt their work pull down their efficiency, and productivity. 

The survey, which had nearly 1,400 working professionals as respondents, also went on to identify the ‘most annoying’ of these colleagues. About 40% of the respondents said that colleagues who mindlessly intrude into their private working space, to disturb them with meaningless banter or tasks that are not on high-priority, are the most annoying of the lot. Not to be left behind, the people who complain about everything in the office, and crib constantly, came second, with about 30% of the respondents choosing them as the most unsettling. Furthermore, 24% of the respondents blamed the social-media addicts, who constantly react, comment and ping co-workers on social media during working hours and create unimportant distractions. Another 22% pointed towards the loud-mouthed talker – who not only chats continuously, on a phone call or with others, but does so at the top of their lungs – as the most disruptive kind of colleagues. It is surprisingly bothersome, how we all have to face the same kinds and types of disruptive co-workers in our offices. And maybe, we ourselves take on these roles sometimes, without realizing it.

Approximately 60% of the respondents said that their co-workers behavior is the biggest factors as an obstacle to their personal productivity. In another interesting revelation, nearly 42% of the respondents also noted that middle-level employees tend to be the most annoying, as compared to senior and junior co-workers. Furthermore, most of the respondents stated that male colleagues are more annoying than their female counterparts. 

With companies walking the extra mile to foster an inclusive and encouraging organizational culture, these insights show that a lot of employees view the very people they work with as disruptors and hence, probably a fresh approach is needed to accommodate this variable, without being too controlling or micromanaging. The traditional understanding of what comprises the company culture, and how can it grow, is put to test with findings like these, and it becomes imperative to invest thought and time to deeply understand the challenge at hand. Candidates today evaluate the company culture as an important factor before joining an employer.  "For candidates, fitting into the work culture of an organization is critical for success," Times Business Solutions, Head of Strategy, Nilanjan Roy was quoted saying. 

 At the end of the day, people of an organization create, sustain and further the culture of that organization, and if employees view their own peers as ‘annoying’, and hold them responsible for a decrease in their efficiency, the culture isn’t clearly allowing everybody to be do their best and open self. What the industry probably needs is to integrate the volatility and instability of human nature and behavior, into how processes shape up and how people work, which by no means is an easy task, but will ensure a system that has room to counter the negative aspects that humans brings to the table without realizing – inefficiency, disruptions and procrastination. The organization culture must give space to everyone, and must ensure that employees work to their full potential – individually, and as a part of the whole. 

How have you dealt with annoying colleagues in your organization? Let us know!