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“Only Monsters Do It”: 24 People List Workplace Behaviors They Can’t Tolerate
Article created by: Indrė Lukošiūtė
If you’re a fan of The Office, Superstore, Parks and Recreation, or any of the other countless sitcoms set in a work environment, you probably know that you’re not alone in having some colleagues that you can’t stand. We can laugh at these fictional employees' pain when they're infuriated by a coworker because we know the feeling all too well. In fact, according to a Comparably survey, it is so common to work with someone that drives you crazy that one in three workers admitted to considering leaving their jobs altogether due to their disdain for a colleague.So what are the worst workplace habits, and how can we be sure to avoid picking them up ourselves? Well, lucky for us, Reddit users have recently been spilling all of the workplace behaviors they refuse to tolerate in a thread on r/AskWomen. Below, we’ve gathered many of their passionate responses, so be sure to upvote all of the answers calling out behavior that would send you immediately running to HR as well.
Keep reading to also find an interview with Wilson Calil, founder of Totempool, to hear his thoughts on the topic. Then, if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article discussing some of the most toxic behaviors taking place in work environments, you can find that right here. (And if you need to passive aggressively send this article to your colleagues after reading it, don’t worry. We won’t judge you!)
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#1
The idea that everyone is on call all the time for all things. Yes, emergencies do happen and certain people are responsible for that - Head of Security and there was a security breach? Yes call them at 2am on their vacation. Head of Legal and the CEO just got served, yes call them when they're home sick. However, Manager can't find a file they wanted to peruse to "get ahead of things"? Yeah, don't call your secretary at her daughter's graduation.
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#2
Slack messages that say just “Hi” and wait for me to respond before telling me what they need.
It’s asynchronous communication, people. Just say what you need to say.
#3
Idk if this counts but I hate the social pressure to go to office parties/happy hours/whatever. I came to work not spend money and socialize.
#4
I'm in healthcare, and I cannot tolerate people who treat patients like an inconvenience. I know some of them (and their families) can be a PITA, but if you can't handle some of that every now and again, it's time to change careers.
#5
Managers not communicating clearly and then getting angry that you didn't do exactly what they wanted when they didn't tell you what they wanted in the first place.
#6
I would love to get away from the idea that the only justifiable reasons to set a boundary are either that 1) you’re deathly ill or 2) you already owe your time to somebody else (a kid, a parent, etc).
It’s okay if I don’t want to work every weekend because I value my social life and my rest. The commitments I make to myself still count.
#8
Martyrdom. "I worked until 8pm last night unpaid". (Teacher here). What staff like this are doing is the reason teachers are underpaid and overstretched
#9
Saying mean/gossipy things about coworkers when they’re not around, then being nice to them when they are.
#10
My manager often has a poor attitude in the mornings and it's super demoralizing for me.
Also, I wish more managers would push gratitude and say "thanks for your work today" or express more positive feedback than just criticism.
#11
Taking credit for other's work, or blaming their poor work on others. Like we can see the tags on the file and know it was you who did it or not.
#14
The people where if you make a mistake, they won’t tell you to your face but via email so that they can CC a higher up or the rest of the team.
#16
I feel like private information should, if at all, be volunteered and it’s inappropriate to ask. I had my first child younger than is typical for my culture and random coworkers I met that day (that knew I had a kid based of a Mother’s Day present on my desk) asked me if he was planned. Get a grip, we’re not hanging out, we‘re working together.
#17
Acting like this is high school, reporting me because I don't want to talk about your personal life with you (yes this happened and my boss laughed it off obviously).
#21
Acting as though your grumpy "I haven't had my coffee yet" tantrums are a personality trait
#22
Constant, pointless (almost nattering like) small talk from specific people.
I don't want to hear about your favorite pie and debate if it's the best flavor or not.
Data1001 3 months ago
I've been dealing with sitting near a coworker who *always* seems to be on the phone. She tries to keep her voice down, but we're close enough that I would even be able to hear if she's whispering to the other person. And I can tell it's not an emergency, and it's not work-related. I just don't get the mindset of people who think they can do the job they were hired for while carrying on a meaningless conversation with a friend at the same time.
#24
Inability to follow directions or accept constructive criticism. It's vital to the work that I do. I let new employees go the second I see it.
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