1. Men’s number one workplace annoyance is messy desks. This may be because many men consider spatial awareness of their surroundings to be an indication of their organisation skills. A third of women also dislike messy desks but as most women tend to be better at organising themselves mentally, the need for a clear desk may not be a necessity.

    A significant number of men identified colleagues spraying perfume or after shave as a workplace irritation. The details on this are not specific but this is probably due to the fact that they find it distracting.

    Both men and women cite lateness as an unacceptable workplace trait. There are a number of probable reasons for this. First, being late can result in a ‘snowball’ effect of delays to someone’s schedule further down the line. A second reason is that lateness can be seen as a lack of respect and is therefore often perceived as unprofessional.

    Almost 50% of men dislike people talking loudly on the phone which might suggest that men prefer a quite environment in which to work whereas women seem to be more concerned with their colleagues’ personal hygiene and the smell of food in the office. This possibly implies that women are more ‘odor conscious’ than men although the figures on perfume and after shave appear to refute this suggestion.

    A key area that everyone seems to agree on is frustration with people who apparently avoid work. Both men and women are dissatisfied with colleagues taking long lunches and frequent cigarette breaks and talking too much. This is quite likely because it means ‘they’ have to work harder to make up for their colleagues’ inaction.

    Finally, a third of women like their workmates to be organised while only 11% of men feel the same way. This would appear to contradict the earlier finding that the vast majority of men prefer tidy desks. However, it might add weight to the argument that men generally prefer to be seen doing a good job than actually doing one.

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