Slide
Blacklane Chauffeur Service
Slide
Blacklane Chauffeur Service

These are top 10 most annoying behaviours while WFH

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 โ€˜water coolerโ€™ conversations while communicating virtually.ย ย 

Rankย  Remote workingย behavioursย  %ย ofย people who find it endearingย 
1ย  Messaging to ask how you areโ€ฏย  64ย 
2ย  Replying quicklyโ€ฏโ€ฏย  62ย 
3ย  Giving full attention during a video callโ€ฏย  61ย 
4ย  Having a daily catch-up call for moraleโ€ฏย  55ย 
5ย  Sharingโ€ฏweekend plansโ€ฏย  54ย 
6ย  Introducing/showing petsโ€ฏโ€ฏย  53ย 
7ย  Praising publicly via email/slack etc.โ€ฏโ€ฏย  51ย 
8ย  Sharing funny memes/videosโ€ฏโ€ฏย  49ย 
9ย  Planning socialsโ€ฏย  48ย 
10ย  Scheduling video tea/coffee catch upsโ€ฏย  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 theyโ€™re 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, itโ€™s 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 cameraโ€ฏย  70ย 
2ย  Not putting on a camera on a video callโ€ฏย  67ย 
3ย  Working on something else whilst on a video callโ€ฏย  67ย 
4ย  Not looking directly into camera on a video callโ€ฏย  65ย 
5ย  Slow responses to emails/direct messages when theyโ€™re onlineโ€ฏย  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