Some people just get it. You work with them & stuff gets done, which means nobody wants to pull their hair out. But not everyone’s so pleasant to be around. They have habits that make things harder for everyone. Here are eleven of these annoying habits. Do you know anyone who does these?
Replying to every group email with “Thanks!”
Seeing “Thanks!” in an email should be nice. But when one person sends it & then five more chime in, it fills your inbox with useless emails. There’s no hate here. It’s just that we all saw the email, and we all understood it, which means that silence is fine. Not everything needs a response.
Pretending to take notes but never following up
Some coworkers nod a lot & scribble things, perhaps even color-code them. But a week later? Nobody’s heard back, and the task is yet to be completed. There’s no point in pretending you’re going to do the thing. Unless you are, don’t act like you’re doing something productive. It’s as simple as that.
Copying your boss into every email thread
Of course, CC’ing the boss once or twice in an email is fine. Yet there’s no need to tag them in every little thing. Whether it’s coffee orders or password reset attempts, tagging the boss each time is pointless. People stop joking & all emails become far more tense. In fact, it forces everyone to triple-check their commas so they don’t get a “talking-to” on Monday.
Talking over people during meetings
It’s never a good idea to constantly jump in while someone else is mid-sentence. Why? Because it makes people start keeping their thoughts to themselves. Not necessarily because they agree, but rather because they’re tired. They don’t want to constantly deal with being cut off or stepped on. It doesn’t matter if you mean to or not. Really, it messes with the flow.
Sharing files with random names or missing context
You share a file in the group chat without a message or label. Instead, it’s a file called “FINAL-rev4-briansEdits-USETHISone-Monday.pptx.” What is it? Who’s it for? The people you’ve sent it to won’t know if they’re supposed to review it or present it, unless you give them context. This slows everyone down & nobody wants to guess what you meant.
Making everything “urgent” even when it’s not
This week alone, one colleague has marked five things urgent. But it’s only Wednesday. It makes the entire team go numb to these red flags because that word, “urgent,” only works when it actually means something. You can’t just use it to bump stuff up your own list. When you do, people will stop taking you seriously, and when it is serious, it’s too late.
Creating group chats for every small task
They could’ve dropped a quick message in the main channel. But no. Instead, you have to deal with another pop-up group chat, and it’s just you & two others, along with a file update. They could’ve handled it anywhere else. Now there are side conversations, and things get missed. Nobody knows which thread is the latest. It gets messy fast.
Leaving comments on shared docs without reading the full thing
Never be the person who leaves five comments asking stuff that’s already answered. When it happens once, that’s okay, but when it keeps happening, people get irritated. Why? Because it slows down reviews & makes extra work for whoever has to deal with the confusion. You should really take the time to check out what people are telling you. It takes five minutes.
Giving last-minute feedback right before deadlines
You’ve seen the drafts & were in the loop. However, now it’s an hour before handoff, and you suddenly have some thoughts. A lot of them. It’s stuff that you should’ve brought up days ago, which forces the receiver to scramble. Their priorities change. Now? You somehow avoided the stress while everyone else had to stay late fixing things. That ain’t fair.
Acting confused in every meeting to avoid work
Somehow, the task’s always unclear, but only when it’s assigned to that specific colleague. This same task made sense to four other people. Of course, they’ll claim they’re just trying to clarify what’s going on. Yet nothing ever gets done after that. Beyond just needing help, it feels like stalling, and when that happens enough, people stop counting on them.
Dropping personal life updates constantly
It’s okay to give a quick update about your dog or your neighbor’s drama every now & then. It should not be every call, though. Or every thread. Or every reply. When that happens, people start getting worn out because it derails the conversation. It makes other people not want to loop you in. Do they really want to hear your life story again?
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