Office annoyances are, in fact, global

Workers can be divided into 10 common types.
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
"Can't we all just get along?"
Apparently not.
And if you need proof, get yourself a job in a big office.
We would love to see ourselves as an American working icon -- a cowboy on the range, gazing over the herd from the saddle of a great steed. But in reality we are just a part of the herd, fenced-in cogs gazing at the clock from ergonomically designed chairs.
Hi-yo, lumbar adjustment, away!
The 1999 film "Office Space" pointed out the inherent insanity of the modern corporate workplace and how much time and energy we spend there. On the small screen, the BBC show "The Office" has mined the same ground.
So who are these people who populate our work worlds for 40 or more hours a week?
Everyone in place
Jack Dougherty, a corporate communications specialist in the San Francisco area, said these people are the same everywhere. "Once you get 10 people together, they find a default position; they fall into a pattern of behavior," said Dougherty, founder of Dougherty Dialetics and co-author of "Most Likely To be A Success."
Dougherty, a St. Louis native, said he has worked with politicians in Washington and Stanford-educated engineers in the Silicon Valley.
"Even though you couldn't find people from more different backgrounds and professions, they tend to exhibit the exact same types of office behavior," he said.
So how should office workers deal with this never-changing environment?
On a practical level, Dougherty suggests using e-mail or leaving phone messages for those colleagues who aggravate us the most. And if meetings are unavoidable, he offered very simple advice:
"Say less," Dougherty said. "Workplace resentments, rivalries and conflict are often the result of folks' innate inability to stop talking."