With more of us working remotely than ever before,ย Premier Innย has surveyedย overย 1,000 working professionals to reveal the most endearing (andย frustrating)ย behaviours displayed by colleagues while workingย from home.ย ย
The survey revealed that many workers haveย actuallyย found theirย colleagues moreย endearing since the move away from the office, withย threeย quartersย (75%) of workers reporting that their colleagues showed endearing behaviours at least once a week.ย
Top 10 most endearing remote working behavioursย
When it comes to the most endearing behaviours shown while remote working, messaging to ask how you are topped the list, with 64% of workers agreeing that this behaviour would cause them to warm to colleagues.ย ย
Replyingย to messagesย quickly (62%), giving full attention during aย videoย call (61%),ย havingย daily catch ups (55%) and sharing weekend plans (54%) were all also included in the top five most endearing behaviours, with colleagues clearly being appreciated for trying to emulate โwater coolerโ conversations while communicating virtually.ย ย
Rankย | Remote workingย behavioursย | %ย ofย people who find it endearingย |
1ย | Messaging to ask how you areโฏย | 64ย |
2ย | Replying quicklyโฏโฏย | 62ย |
3ย | Giving full attention during a video callโฏย | 61ย |
4ย | Having a daily catch-up call for moraleโฏย | 55ย |
5ย | Sharingโฏweekend plansโฏย | 54ย |
6ย | Introducing/showing petsโฏโฏย | 53ย |
7ย | Praising publicly via email/slack etc.โฏโฏย | 51ย |
8ย | Sharing funny memes/videosโฏโฏย | 49ย |
9ย | Planning socialsโฏย | 48ย |
10ย | Scheduling video tea/coffee catch upsโฏย | 47ย |
The survey revealed that only 9% of workers find colleagues more annoying while working remotely, with over half (53%) finding colleagues less irritating away from the office.ย Over a third of workers (38%)ย reported that their colleagues were just as annoying working remotely as they were when working in an office.ย
Top 10 most annoying behaviours colleagues do while working remotelyย
Overall, over half (51%) of workers surveyed revealed that their colleagues displayed annoying behaviours at least two to three times a week. ย
When working remotely, the most annoying remote working behaviour was reported to be slow responses to email (when the colleague is online and working), with 61% of workers finding this particular behaviourย tiresome. Following thisย were behaviours including:ย background noise on video calls (60%), eating on camera (59%), too many video calls (56%),ย and muting and un-muting in the wrong places (53%).ย
As the lines between work and homeย haveย blurred since working remotely, 52% of workers reported finding direct messaging out ofย workย hours particularly annoying, and 51% reported answering the phone or working on something else whilst on a video call specificallyย irritating.ย ย
Rankย | Remote workingย behavioursย | %ย ofย people who find it annoyingย ย |
1ย | Slow responses to emails/direct messages when theyโre onlineย | 61ย |
2ย | Background noise on video callsย | 60ย |
3ย | Eating on cameraย | 59ย |
4ย | Booking in too manyย videoย callsย | 56ย |
5ย | Muting and un-muting in the wrong placesย | 53ย |
6ย | Booking in video calls when phone calls will sufficeย | 53ย |
7ย | Whats-Apping/direct messaging out of hoursย | 52ย |
8ย | Answering the phone whilst on a video callย | 51ย |
9ย | Working on something else whilst on a video callย | 51ย |
10ย | Asking you to put your camera on for a video callย | 50ย |
Topย 5ย most annoying behaviours workers admit toย doingย
As well as the behaviours which workers found annoying when done by their colleagues, the study also aimed to discover which behaviours workers were most guiltyย ofย when theyย work remotelyย themselves.ย ย
It seems that with the reduction of in-person meetings, itโs attention during a video call that workers struggle with, with 70% of workers admitting to drinkingย tea, coffee or other soft drink of choiceย on camera during a call. 67% admitted to both not putting on a cameraย and working on something else during a call, with 65% of workers revealing that they often do not look directly into the camera during virtual meetings.ย ย
Despite slow responses to emails being the number one most annoying remote working behaviour according to colleagues, 63% of workers themselves admitted to doing this while being online and working.ย ย
When it came to theย remote workingย behaviours workers tried to avoid doing the mostย themselves, eating on camera (25%), making background noise on video calls (23%) and not looking presentable on videoย calls (22%) ranked as the top three.ย ย
Rankย | Remote workingย behavioursย | %ย ofย people whoย admit to doing itย |
1ย | Drinking on cameraโฏย | 70ย |
2ย | Not putting on a camera on a video callโฏย | 67ย |
3ย | Working on something else whilst on a video callโฏย | 67ย |
4ย | Not looking directly into camera on a video callโฏย | 65ย |
5ย | Slow responses to emails/direct messages when theyโre onlineโฏย | 63ย |
Topย 10ย most annoying behaviours colleagues do while working in the officeย
Whileย some organisations looking to continue remote working into 2022, manyย areย returning back to working in the office โ and with this, comes manyย familiarย quirks and annoyances.ย ย
Eating loudly in the office was revealed as the most annoying office working behaviour, with 69% of respondents finding this irritating. Sucking up to a boss in front of colleagues was the secondย most annoyingย behaviour (68%), and using loud speakers on a phone callย ranked in as third most irritating (66%).ย ย
Rankย | Office working behavioursย | ย %ย ofย people who find it annoyingย |
1ย | Eating loudlyย ย | 69ย |
2ย | Sucking up to boss in front of everyoneย | 68ย |
3ย | Using loud speaker on a phone call in officeย | 66ย |
4ย | Reading over your shoulder at your deskย | 66ย |
5ย | Listening into your calls in the officeย | 64ย |
6ย | Microwaving/eating smelly foodย ย | 61ย |
7ย | Gossiping in the officeย | 60ย |
8ย | Taking too manyย cigaretteย breaksย | 60ย |
9ย | Instigating too much office chit chatย | 59ย |
10ย | Loud and/or frequent sneezing/hiccuppingย | 57ย |
A full breakdown of the most commonly held remote working pet peeves can be found at https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/business-blog/pet-peeves-for-remote-colleagues.htmlย