Your mood was fine until you got to work. There's Mr Brent sniffing away as if he's a vacuum cleaner and Ms Malloy turning up the sound on what must be the worst radio station south of the Sahara. Suddenly, for just a second, you understand how murder is possible.

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The workplace is riddled with potential stressors. From irritating fellow employees, to noise pollution, to irritating habits, impossible workloads and a boss that would make Attilla the Hun look like someone's maiden aunt. So what are the worst of these?

Unilateral decisions. The time for top-down management is over. If you have a boss who foists decisions on employees without ever consulting them, it may be time to jack up your CV and put out the word about your availability. No person always knows everything about everything, even if they think they do. The time for autocratic management is over. Also for autocratic managers.

The radio. There are few more irritating things than having to listen to some radio station all day. Especially if they play the kind of music over and over again that you would never have chosen to listen to. The endless jingles, the endless ads – you simply cannot believe that anyone chooses this torture. And the main culprits, of course, always refuse to wear earphones.

Endless meetings. In any workplace there is the chance of meetings. But they don't have to be endless. It is a good idea to limit the duration of the meeting beforehand. One effective tactic employed by a good manager is to make everyone stand for the meeting. It cuts out endless monologues and circular arguments by the workplace bore.

Workplace affairs. You've come across Mrs Bennett and Mr Jackson kissing each other in the storeroom. As far as you know, they're both married. And if this blows up, it's going to change the atmosphere in the office to that of a dentist's waiting room. Or worse. Office affairs place enormous stress on all colleagues. Should they tell the spouses, or not? Does this make them accomplices? Do they lie to cover up where these two really are? And then, of course, it inevitably all comes to an end. Or even worse, it doesn't.

Irritating habits. Whether it's obsessive throat clearing, loud personal telephone conversations, gossiping, chewing gum or sniffing – people have irritating habits that could really grate, especially in an open office. Maybe you also have some of those. Spending eight hours per day with someone who drives you round the bend, is enough to make your stress levels go through the roof. Be tactful, but you can say something. After all, it is affecting you and your work.

Unhealthy canteen food. Canteen food is about feeding the masses – quickly and cheaply. Generally, health doesn't really come into it. In fact, if one were to copy Morgan Spurlock, maker of the movie Super Size Me, and eat nothing except canteen food for 30 days, the results could be disastrous. In the movie he ate nothing but McDonald's food for a month, by the end of which he had liver problems, had picked up several kilos and was instructed by his doctor to cease the experiment. If you take a look at the grease content of the average canteen portion of food, most dishes should be renamed heart-attack-on-plate. And heartburn in the afternoon will certainly add to your stress levels.

Backstabbing. The workplace can be a pretty competitive place. Especially when there are things like retrenchments or promotions in the air. But, if you can help it at all, stay out of office politics. There's little to be gained by getting embroiled in this vicious game that seldom has any winners. If you go down this slippery slope of office politics, you might as well have a target painted on your back. Be upfront, firm and polite and don't let peope ride roughshod over you. When someone takes credit for your work, say something such as "Oh, I can see you've been working on the idea we discussed yesterday". Chances are, they'll think twice about doing it next time.

Faulty equipment. In order to get a job done, the right equipment is essential. Not necessarily top-of-the-range, but halfway there would be nice. And when it breaks down, it is very demoralising when the company expects its employees to limp on with a printer that prints every third page blank or a photocopier that swallows documents. Meeting deadlines cannot be done without having access to equipment that works.

All work and no pay. Stress levels tend to escalate when your company expects you to walk the extra mile or five, but when it comes to negotiating your salary package, it stays put and won't budge. Employees who feel underpaid or undervalued quickly become disgruntled and demotivated, and they certainly don't contribute to the general atmosphere in an office or workshop. Most companies (fortunately not all) will pay their employees not what they're worth, but what they can get away with. So learn to ask for what you think you're worth.

Big talk, no do. In any workplace there will be someone who has grandiose ideas that never come to fruition. Or that have to be made a reality by the other employees. This places stress on other employees, because it often becomes their responsibility to make these impossible things happen at short notice. And guess who takes the credit for it in the end? No wonder you're in need of a holiday. And while we're on the topic, there are few things more aggravating than having someone, who cannot do the job themselves, determine deadlines for those who have to do the tasks.

(Susan Erasmus, Health24)
 

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