Dear Reader

Welcome to this week’s labour bulletin. 2009 is very quickly coming to an end and with it the dreaded end-of-year slump. Everyone is just waiting for a quieter December and a bit of a break. It’s been a long, tough year for many companies, and needless to say nerves are frayed. Even the most good-natured employees seem to be more snappy than usual…and the modern trend towards open-plan offices doesn’t help!

11 habits that annoy workers in an open-plan office

To curb my own snappiness I was browsing www.health24.com and came across this very interesting article; the eleven habits that most annoy others in open-plan offices.

So, what are they…

1. Talking loudly on the phone
2. Asking a colleague how to spell a word – and thereby disrupting their concentration
3. Talking or singing to yourself
4. Interrupting others' work telephone conversations to make suggestions about the conversation they're having;
5. Butting in to a discussion that has nothing to do with you
6. When you’re stressed, assuming everyone else is. And when you’re not, assuming nobody else is either
7. Breaking wind. Fumes travel. If your nether regions are noxious, pop some charcoal tablets
8. Selfish use of office equipment. if you print out a 60-page document, make sure the printer tray is still at least half-full
9. Commenting on private calls or conversations. If you have a colleague who’s fighting with his girlfriend over the phone, commiserating with him after the call means you were listening in. Even if you overheard it unintentionally, pretend to be elsewhere. Similarly, if you’re in someone’s workspace and they have a phone call, at least offer to leave. It affords them the option of telling the caller “I’m in a meeting, can I call you back?”
10. Cleanliness. If your office has a communal kitchen, leave it cleaner than you found it. The same applies to meeting rooms or boardroom tables, which may be strewn with cups and sugar packets after meetings
11. Respect privacy. Some people wear headphones to mask off the noise around them. Some of the headphones are even switched off a lot of the time, but the fact that the wearer has them on may at least stop people from asking them how to spell “pharmacopoeia” every four minutes
12. When colleagues have very loud conversations with the person next to them! (I know this makes 12, but I added this one)

I know a few on the list drive me bonkers, and I’ve become a lot more conscious about not doing any of them myself!

Until next time…

Kind Regards

Sarah-Jane Bosch
Managing Editor: Labour Law for Managers Practical Handbook