Office Pet Peeves: What Drives us Nuts.

You’ve got a great flexible workspace – plenty of natural light, buzzing collaboration zones, free tea and coffee on tap… But even in perfect environments there are always recurring annoyances that drive people crazy. So, we asked our members what their biggest office pet peeves are, backed by data from recent industry and workplace studies.

Office Pet Peeves
  1. Fridge theft and smelly foods

An absolute top office grievance. Your coworkers stealing your lunch – or reheating something smelly in the communal microwave. It’s a common office stereotype that someone always eats smelly fish in the office but actually, it really does happen!
A recent US survey found that 97% of workers called smelly or reheated pungent foods (like tuna or boiled egg) annoying, according to WeWork and Forbes.

In flexible workspaces like Link Spaces, where members share fridges with each other labelling your food with your name, company name, or office number can go a long way to stop food thefts. Though, for the smelly foods we can only ask you to be considerate to the people around you and leave that fish curry at home!

At Link, we also have four fridges in our Prep Kitchen so there is plenty of space to store and potentially hide our snacks.

Though, this does bring us onto our next peeve…

  1. Mouldy or Out of Date foods

We’ve all been there, you see that pot of yogurt week in, week out, so much so you consider it a new coworker or even stop noticing it at all. What if we were to tell you that yogurt has been here longer than you.

We have been known to pull out food from the fridges that looks like it has grown its own little eco-system and if we’re being honest, it’s not the favourite surprise to receive from our members… we prefer chocolates.

But once a fortnight we go through our fridges and anything not labelled that is out of date or growing something new, we throw it away – creating extra room in our fridges and keeping them clean and free.

  1. Open sugar sachets and milk bottles

Continuing on in the kitchen, many of our members found something that even we can’t avoid annoying (yes, even we’re not perfect – though we’re pretty close). Someone opens a sugar sachet for their coffee, uses it, and then puts the empty sachet back in the jar. It’s a wild world we live in.

And don’t get us started too on the open milk bottles. When three are open at once in the same kitchen, in the same fridge, we question our own sanity. But we get it. We think.

  1. Temperature Wars

Now comes the age-old debate. “I’m too hot” “But I’m too cold”. It’s real. In one hybrid-work survey by Business Wire, 32% of respondents complained about uncomfortable office temperatures.

We at Link Spaces have tried to combat full blown wars by installing controls in each of the offices and seating throughout our coworking area either being under a vent or not so there are ample options to choose from.

We also have blinds against all windows exterior facing to help regulate the office temperatures. Though we know there will always be someone dressed to explore the arctic while another is ready for a holiday in the Caribbean.

  1. Low quality tech and slow Wi-Fi

This one will be obvious and maybe less of a pet peeve than a valid frustration. But slow Wi-Fi, broken printers, or sluggish computers are massive irritators distracting the workforce.

Since flexible workspaces often attract mobile workers, reliable connectivity and responsive tech is a must. While we can’t do anything about your sluggish computers, our Wi-Fi is designed to support you whatever it is you are doing. Our printer is also ready for your 64-page colour presentation, just drop our reception team and email and they can get you set up on the printer and then off you go!

  1. Booked out Meeting Rooms

You have an important Monday morning meeting, but you’ve only just found out about it. It’s Sunday night. No one is in the office to book this meeting for you. What do you do? Panic?

Or think of this, you’re trying to arrange a meeting but every date and time that works best for you and your colleague, the meeting room is booked. You’re looking at having this meeting at 4pm, on Friday, two years from now.

Well, at Link Spaces, we have to measure to make these situations rare occurrences. Yes, there may always be occasion where you’re too late to book a room but with three meeting rooms of various sizes and small break out booths there is plenty of choice and options to go about.

Not only this, but you can book a meeting room yourself via our app or website, so our members never have to wait for our reception team to be onsite to make your bookings for you. We know, we’re geniuses.

  1. Rude & Moody Coworkers and Office Gossip

Its not just actions, but attitude. And upon research for this article, its not just our members who think of this as a peeve. An older survey from Career Plug put grumpiness as the top peeve for 37% of their respondents.

While we know a lot of offices and people thrive on gossip and not everyday can be filled with positive vibes it is understandable that this can sometimes be a pet peeve. We have tried (and succeeded – even if we do say so ourselves) to build a buzzing community that supports each other.

Yes, a little gossip can keep the workplace cogs moving but when you work from a space that wants to support and respect you and your team you’ll find that there are no bad vibes… just momentary eyerolls.

  1. Cups and Dishwashers

The enemy of all flexible workspace teams.

We think you all know where we’re going with this. And this was a pet peeve even out team got involved in… Why can’t people put their cups in the dishwasher? It’s one of life’s great mysteries.

 

The same top annoyances still plague flexible workspaces, no matter how premium or quality.

We as a flexible workspace provider, proactively try to address these pet peeves by improving the layout, tech, facilities, and community culture, to build a happier and more productive space that our members love.

At the end of the day, it’s not just the physical space that matters, it’s also how people interact within it. Thank you to all our members who took part in our little survey.