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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
When Jean-Paul Sartre concluded that “hell is other people,” he may have unwittingly prognosticated modern-day workplace stressors.
Continuous exposure to grumpy or moody colleagues, loquacious small talk, overused management jargon and loud phone conversations are enough to drive two out of three U.K. office workers batty, according to a recent study by Opinium Research L.L.P.
These office aggravations exacerbate stress levels for two in three people, while one in 10 say they actually have quit a job because of the overwhelming angst their office mates caused them. An additional two-fifths say they would consider changing jobs to escape such workplace nuisances.
The survey, conducted Jan. 15-18 among a national sample of 1,836 U.K. adults, also identified the top 10 most ridiculous office jargon phrases, the most annoying of which was “thinking outside the box,” cited by 21% of respondents.
Other leading pet peeves included “let's touch base,” cited by 20%; “blue sky thinking,” 19%; and “blamestorming,” cited by 16%.
Unlike “brainstorming,” which means to discuss ideas spontaneously and openly, “blamestorming” means to “sit down and work out whose fault something is,” Opinium said.