Is it just me, or is our new colleague really annoying?
First impressions last forever? Luckily, this is not completely true. We've all been guilty of prematurely assessing a new coworker as crap. Giving a new guy the benefit of your doubt proved a worthy choice on many occasions.
But after my fair number of years at a digital agency, there is one prime takeaway on the subject of annoying colleagues: pouring hopeful understanding into certain unworthy people is a sunk cost fallacy.
While changing rooms or roommates is sometimes not an option, there is one efficient remedy at your disposal: boundaries. It might be a hard pill to swallow but can work wonders. More on that at the bottom of the post.
Here are a few not-so-great-coworker types I was unfortunate enough to have come across, ranked from easily spottable to those that might take months to detect. Telltales that indicate you’ve just stumbled upon a shitty coworker come in various forms, and none are good for you. This is a blog post I wish someone sent me ten years ago.