We would love to work in a peaceful and conducive environment and SLATER & GORDON organization wants to ensure that, but by no means will our workplace be perfect. Nonetheless, that does not mean that it cannot be better. And while we often interact with diverse people and perform our duties well, some behaviors from our colleagues can get under our skin and those are what are referred as work pet peeves.

Some of these pet peeves can lead to unfair treatment and harassment adversely affecting you and your work. In such a case, it is advisable to seek legal redress if the management isn’t helping enough. If you need any legal representation on issues arising from discrimination, harassment, contract issues, redundancy, and unfair treatment, Slater & Gordon is there for you.

Often, we tolerate pet peeves not that we look forward to them, but to encourage a harmonious working environment. Pet peeves irritate us as they go against what we consider to be morally unaccepted or unwelcomed. That’s why in most cases, if you respond to anyone who has committed a pet peeve, you will probably say “what you did was wrong.”

What are the common work pet peeves?

According to a research that was done in British by Slater & Gordon organization involving 900 members of the public, these were considered as the great work pet peeves;

  • General untidiness.
  • Lots of noise.
  • Room temperatures.
  • People coming to work when ill.
  • Smelly foods.

In addition, American Management Association stated that when an organization has a meeting, these are the top pet peeves that might plague it;

  • Lack of an agenda or not sticking to one.
  • Lack of facilitation.
  • Getting late to a meeting.
  • Using unnecessary accessories such as PowerPoint presentation or speakers.
  • Listening to ineffective speakers or unprepared one.

These are also other workplace pet peeves such as gossip, poor time management, not respecting people’s privacy and personal space, pranks, untidiness in working place, careless parking, and over-sharing of personal information among others.

Despite workplaces having multiple pet peeves, that does not mean you cannot maintain a professional and conducive environment.

How to manage Pet Peeves and create a conducive Working Environment

For easy understanding, lets categorize these pet peeves into 2 subsections; working environment and behavioral pet peeves.

Working Environment Pet Peeves

There are pet peeves that result out of the physical and emotional atmosphere created by the working environment.

For instance, the company might create unconducive attitudes or goals, insufficient social amenities such as AVC cooling fans, meeting rooms, parking area, and canteens among others.

To minimize the pet peeves created by the working environment, the organization can make sure that it creates an environment that fosters a harmonious working environment by creating sufficient social amenities, achievable goals, and a supportive attitude.

Behavioral Pet Peeves

These are pet peeves that result of unwarranted behavior that might be morally unacceptable or personally unwelcomed. When you notice that a colleague’s behavior irritates you, it is important to communicate and express how it affects your work. And that should always be communicated in a polite way as to enhance understanding among yourselves and not strife.

Moreover, in some cases bringing the attention to a higher authority might be the right call. For instance, issues about keeping the office clean, harassment, regulating noise levels, facilitating meetings, improper personal attitudes and dress code, and any unwelcomed behavior can be addressed by management by detailing standards, rules and regulations that must be adhered to. Likewise, the management should stress on the punishments and repercussions of going against its code of conduct.

Conclusion

As much as workplace pet peeves are unavoidable, as employees, you have a responsibility in minimizing them just as the management. For issues that can be solved among yourselves, it will be wise to communicate to each other politely and address them.

However, those that are beyond your control can be solved by management. In case you are experiencing unfair treatment in your job consider conducting Slater & Gordon.