Office Bêtes Noires

Slow IT systems top office bugbears in a recent poll of 1,500 office workers commissioned by Samsung Electronics. When asked what irks people the most about office life, over two-thirds (68%) of respondents cited slow IT systems. Print delays caused by jams and unnecessary email traffic came second and third with 42 and 39 percent respectively.

Irritations with more human agency also featured, with noisy phone calls (34%), colleagues leaving the printer tray empty (27%) and eating smelly food in the office (19%) eliciting workplace ire.

The top ten list in full:

1. Slow IT systems (68%)
2. Print delays caused by jams (42%)
3. Unnecessary email traffic (39%)
4. Colleagues talking too loudly on their phones (34%)
5. Colleague leaving the printer tray empty (27%)
6. Annoying mobile ring tones (23%)
7. Being told to re-boot by IT support (20%)
8. Eating smelly food in the office (19%)
9. IT not working in meetings (19%)
10. Colleagues that never offer to make tea / coffee (12%)