A clash of office personalities

It?s a sobering fact that, on average, we spend more time every week with those we work with than with our families. And even more so that (unfortunately, for some of us) we cannot choose who falls into either category.

In an office, where there are people from a variety of walks of life, there are bound to be ?personality clashes?. The Daily Telegraph recently compiled a tongue-in-cheek guide to office personalities common in UK workplaces. How many have you encountered?

The Talker – This is the person who doesn?t realise that the only acceptable replies to ?How?s it going?? are one or two words long. What makes them such a bad colleague is the sheer volume of your time they will waste with their banal, self-centred anecdotes and monologues

The Micromanager – One of the worst bosses going. Their control-freakery means they?ll endlessly interfere with every task they set you and drive you nuts.

The Over-Committed Colleague – Although, in theory, there?s nothing wrong with people who consistently give 110pc, they?re a pain to work with as their ?always going the extra mile? will only draw attention to the fact that you don?t

The One on the Way Out – Here, we?re assuming that the soon to be ?exited? individual is not a star who?s been head-hunted, but an also-ran who?s being nudged towards the door. This is can be very uncomfortable if they think they still have a chance ? and you know they don?t.

The Cool One – They?re the fun person who breaks all the rules and is a really bad influence on you. They drink four pints at lunch, talk back to senior managers and show up late. And yet, for all this, their career doesn?t seem to suffer.

Nepotism Beneficiary – Yes, we all know that, were it not for his daddy, Jamie would be asking you, ?Would you like fries with that?? rather than, ?Could you get that report to me tomorrow??

The Gossip – Like the Cool One, the Office Gossip is a lot of fun to be around. However, they are also likely to have a big mouth and, if they?re badmouthing Bob to you, they?ll probably be badmouthing you to Bob

The Fast-Tracker – This is the colleague who, through a combination of skill, luck and ambition, is rising through the ranks far faster than you

The Suck-Up – There are few things more cringeworthy than watching a colleague suck up to those above, especially when the boss responds positively

The One who Does Work-Like Activities – Dave goes to every single meeting. He lunches all the time, has thousands of LinkedIn contacts, sits on a dozen committees and is hyperactive on social media. He knows everyone. And yet, he never seems to do anything that?s written in his job description

Read the Telegraph?s guide to different office personalities and how to cope with them in full at bit.ly/1CDNK9C