The 6 different types of people you’ll spot in the workplace
A place of work brings all different walks of life together, sticks them in a confined space and then crosses its fingers that they’ll all get on with each other. Working in a diverse environment can build our personalities, usually for the better, but in some cases office life can highlight certain traits…
Here are 6 breeds of people you can usually identify when working in an office. If you’re left with one character you don’t recognise – then that one might just be you…
1. The one who lives at the office. There always seems to be that one person who’s the first one in the office and the last one to leave, even on a Friday. They’re not really down for a good natter unless you ask them about one of their unusual hobbies or how their pregnant cat is getting on – because you saw that great news on Facebook and it’s probably a safe conversation. Although sometimes you do question whether they actually go home at night, because their desk looks like a mini kitchen/dressing table/store cupboard.
2. The “office phrase” over killer. Now we are all partial to a little business lingo here and there, maybe to sign off a quick email – ‘Just fire it over to me’ – but there’s always one person who goes the whole hog and uses a dictionary full of office cliches every time they open their mouth. It’s now near impossible to exchange one verbal conversation or email with them without an office phrase or ten getting stuffed in there. E.g.:
“Hi all,
Going forward I think it would be best practice to do an individual idea shower before our next meeting just so we have a little game plan to work on, if you have an idea pick up and run with it as we can always go back to the drawing board if need be! Thinking outside the box can be a win-win situation for us, so keep me in the loop and ping me over an email when you’ve had a brainstorm. As I’ve said before, there is no ‘I’ in team, so if we’re all singing off the same hymn sheet then please circle back your ideas to me by close of play tomorrow. Top work team, super thanks.“
(A little extreme I know, but do you catch my drift?)
3. The quiet one who turns into the party animal. There’s that one guy or girl who doesn’t seem to speak a word from Monday to Friday. But after a Jaeger bomb and three shots of Tequila at the office party, they’re telling you about that time they got lost in Mexico during their “peyote travels” – and then end up dancing with the head of HR to Cha-Cha Slide.
4. The healthy eater/serial dieter… who never lets anyone forget that they’re healthy eating. There’s always that one person who’s on a new diet every week, they claim it has “worked wonders” for them and they would never go back to their old self. However, you’re pretty sure you saw them on Monday with a 20 chicken nugget share box, with no sharing going on and definitely no sense of irony. They’ve tried all the latest range of diet shakes, pills, and powders, and now they’re on the chicken and banana diet that “you have just got to try!!!” You’re there for moral support, but have no intentions what so ever to swap your mid-morning Dairy Milk for a kale & banana smoothie. Thanks, but no thanks.
5. The one who’s always on Holiday. You’re not sure if they’ve got a bit of a special relationship with the boss and are blagging themselves a few extra days off work, or if they just utilise their holiday dates better than a footballer’s wife during the off-season, but it always seems like they’re off to a different country every other week. Whilst you can just about manage to book a few days off to go to Spain with the lads and reluctantly earmark your last available precious day for your cousin’s wedding.
6. The one funny person in the office that doesn’t push the boundaries of HR, with banter everyone can enjoy. Thank the lord for this individual, because sometimes they’re the only person that can make you crack a smile all day (apart from the lady at the sandwich van). They’re loved by the majority, except from that one person who is just too serious and important to laugh at work, and that other colleague who never gets the joke in time… and then the moment passes. But really, this person doesn’t try to be funny or impress people with humour, they just do, and we thank you for that.
Have you just read this and successfully identified each of these personalities in your office?
Yes? Congratulations, you have a diverse and well-balanced office environment – and you’ve clearly skipped being on this list yourself!
No? You best email your mate across the room and ask them which one describes you best, and hope that they will get back to you by close of play.
