Member Article

Meet the Moaners and Smackers

We’re a little behind with this one, but a new list of workers’ personalities was drawn up last month, with types ranging from the “borrower” and “gossip monger” to “moaning minnie” and “smacker”. A report by online commercial office space firm officebroker.com says every office has a staff member whose habits annoy his or her colleagues.

It lists what it calls some of the most common workplace personalities, such as:

• The Hipster - he wears the shiniest suit, the loudest tie and the silliest socks and is a grand master of the fake golf swing, finger pistols, thumbs up or spin bowl action
• The Borrower - someone who is always borrowing items from their colleagues
• The Smacker - a worker who slurps their way through lunch, talks with their mouth full and “shares” far more of their food than they should
• Pussy Galore - sweet yet neurotic colleague whose desk is covered in pictures of cats and who loves to share stories of her animal’s “cute” and “amazing” antics
• Moaning Minnie - as the name suggests, someone who complains all day long
• The Gossip Monger - loves a good drama and is always first to pass on any scandal
• The Message Mangler - takes a message but always forgets to find out where the caller is from or take a contact number

Managing Director Jim Venables said: “Anyone who has ever worked in an office will have encountered these characters. We reckon humour, charm or beating them at their own game, are some of the best ways to deal with irritating colleagues and their habits. However, if things are genuinely getting out of hand, it is always advisable to speak with your personnel department whose role it is to nip any genuine problems in the bud.”

Surprisingly, Mr Venables did not offer suggestions on how officebroker.com could help in such situations.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .