I’ve been working since 2002, and although I can’t say I’ve seen it all, I can surely say I’ve seen and met people at the office who’ll drive you up the wall.  They will make you pull your hair, spend hours thinking and figuring them out and they will also forever leave a mark on you life – some of them good marks, most of them scars. Read on and see if you can relate.

The KNOW it ALL – I read a quote once, “the dumbest people I know are the ones who know it all”.

Obviously, these individuals started their know-it-all behavior in school. I think we’ve all met them once in our lives – whether in school, work or at a seminar where you just have to resist the temptation to hit people in the head for knowing everything (if you knew everything, why the hell aren’t you the president of the US of A? Just asking).

The KNOW-IT-ALL will have something to share about everything – and although that’s not as bad as we think it is, sometimes it can get annoying. Most of the time when you give them a task, they’ll either complain about the task being hard and difficult (but incredibly POSSIBLE), or do the task without asking anything and end up with a messed up result. It’s okay to ask and be clueless about something. Oh yeah, this holds for people who ACTUALLY know it all. Rear in the ego fellas.

The Willfully Ignorant – these people will test how far they can pretend to be incompetent, just so they can get away with it and probably, have less work than others. What they don’t know is that come the 6th month, they’ll be evaluated on their performance which means if they’re not contributing as much to the company, out the door they go!  Some of these willfully ignorant individuals will spend more time surfing the net about things unrelated to work than improve themselves. “Recession proof yourself by giving a yard for every inch asked.”

The Straight Arrow – they give their kids dictionaries for Christmas, they don’t smoke, they don’t drink…they don’t socialize! They barely have friends, and would rather drink wheat grass than water because it’s good for their health(hehe). Although there is nothing wrong with being unique in your choices in life, sometimes, socializing with people and actually getting to know your cubicle neighbor will do you good in the long run. Who knows, in your uber efficient life, when you’ll run out of staplewire and have to ask the guy next cubicle-door? Additionally, portraying a perfect persona will only make your officemates want to know the dirt about you more.

The Power Tripping Boss - their idea of leadership or management is getting everyone to call them “Boss”. That’s all. As for the other things they should be doing, they’ve delegated the tasks to their subordinates.

Listen up bucko, leadership doesn’t mean you get to be called leader for a day then you go your merry way ordering people around. You have to deserve that position, and if that means doing the most menial task in the world to show your troops what & how to do things, then by all means, hit the ground running. You don’t delegate tasks you can’t do on your own. 

The Complainer – such a whiner. I have to admit I’ve been a whiner several times in my work life, and it brought me nothing. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of complaining every now and then but on a regular basis? There’s a saying, “If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen”. If you have such a horrible job, quit it. A disenfranchised employee is a disease waiting to spread.

I’ve always tried to take advantage of situations – good or bad. I’ve met these people for a reason – to teach me lesson, to make me grateful for the blessings God has given me, to make me realize that I’m lucky I’m not like them (Now I’m listing myself as the arrogant biatch hahah). Make the most of any office situation – for every problem lies an opportunity to grow. And grow up we will.

Who are the people in your office? Let me know if there’s a “type” I haven’t included. Have a good day at the office!