Coping with your colleagues’ frustrating work habits

It can be hard to keep your cool in the office, after all, you’re there most of the time, and you can’t choose your work colleagues. Some of them are bound to have annoying habits that can be hard to put up with day after day.
But blowing up over something minor, even if it’s been building up for weeks, isn’t going to do your professional reputation any favours at all. So finding ways to contain your stress levels towards your fellow members of staff, and learning to manage their annoying behaviours without getting their backs up may well make your working environment a much more pleasant place to be.
Whether your desk mate is a slob, a serial shirker or just way too chatty in the morning, coping with their annoying habits begins at looking at your own less than attractive ways. Do you slurp your coffee, cross the invisible desk dividing line with your stuff, or simply snort when you laugh? Before you pick fault with other people, make sure your habits are exemplary or you’re likely to become the target for your colleagues’ ire.
After all, we all have our own quirks. However, being able to gently steer people into more courteous behaviour is a skill that will serve you well throughout your professional career. Dealing with people directly rather than funnelling problems upwards can avoid making a drama out of an ad break, so politely asking them to tone down their offending behaviour will alert them to the fact that it is annoying you without bringing in the big guns.
For example, if someone is persistently late, instead of accusing them, ask them whether they have been having trouble getting in, to try and understand why they might be struggling to get in on time. If someone eats fast food at their desk, suggest you go out for lunch in the open air. If the smell of grease is bothering you.
If someone wants to draw you into gossip, but you’d rather not get involved, offer to make them a cuppa, then try to change the subject.
Making people come round to your way of doing things without making people feel bad will go a long way to helping you gain popularity and respect, so assert yourself gently with a smile on your face and you’ll find that your comments are taken on board more easily than if you had lost your cool.