Every office has its share of bad eggs, and that’s a fact that you have to live with as long as you want to keep on working. Whether it be the resident chismosa or the epal two cubicles down, there will always be someone who’ll push your buttons, and you’ll have to know better than do mental table flips every other day.
To help you out, here’s a rogues gallery of office colleagues who know exactly how to make you tick, as well as how to deal with them.
1. The Chismosa
Looking for gossip from anything about your favorite artistas to the new guy in Accounting? Trust that the Chismosa has the latest scoop. She spends a lot of her time guessing blind items and digging into the lives of other people that she sometimes fails to do her work. Moreover, since she talks a lot about other people, you’ll never really know when she’s talking to other people about you.
The best way to handle a Chismosa is to politely listen to her without adding anything to the conversation. Once she notices people losing interest in her stories, she’ll eventually stop telling them.
2. The Epal
The Epal has the bad habit of squeezing herself in conversations that don’t concern her. She’ll pull out one of her earphones to strain to listen to what you’re quietly discussing with your colleague, and wherever there’s a crowd, she’s always there asking her perpetual question, “Anong meron?”
Oftentimes, the Epal doesn’t know that she’s encroaching on other people’s personal space. If you speak with her privately and kindly about her actions, she’ll probably be more conscious about them.
[crp]3. The Sipsip
This is the person who just loves sucking up to the bosses. She doesn’t care about who she steps on just so she can rub elbows with the powers that be. The tragedy is that there are those who fall for this kind person, and they allow her to skirt around company policy
If the Sipsip only tries to stick with higher-ups and doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere, leave her be. If your bosses are incorruptible, your good work will speak for itself. However, if the Sipsip seems to be enjoying privileges that none of your colleagues seem to have, then it could be time to get your manager or even HR into the picture.
4. The Social Media Addict
You’ll never see the Social Media Addict without her phone. Whether she’s in a meeting or on a bathroom break, she always has something to post online that you wonder if she does anything else during office hours.
What the Social Media Addict needs is a friendly reminder that she also has responsibilities to fulfill, and that she’s needed by her team more than her Instagram followers. Chances are, she doesn’t even know that her hobby has been affecting others, and she’ll be more than glad to go back to her work.
5. The Ref Klepto
Have you experienced putting something in the office refrigerator and coming back for it later in the day only to discover that it’s gone? The culprit is most probably the Ref Klepto. She snatches everything from yogurt drinks to sandwiches to full-on lunches, and somehow, no one ever finds out who exactly she is.
Unless the Ref Klepto is a friend who simply wants to annoy you, then it might be best to report what happened to your boss or to HR, especially if it has already happened numerous times. Management can decide how to properly deal with the situation.