Research shows that 10.39 minutes of productivity are lost per worker every single day, by Brits who are distracted by irritated by their colleagues choice of music in the workplace. Contributor Mark Clisby, CMO – Yell

With 253 working days in 2019, this works out as 44 hours per year, or 5.84 working days. Taking into consideration the 32.53 million people that are employed in the UK, over 190 million days of productivity are forfeited due to office acoustics.   

Noisy colleagues result in 17 minutes of lost time, and affect millennials more than any other age group – 25-34-year olds say loud co-workers result in them losing an average of 20 minutes of productivity per day.

The study of over 2,000 employed Brits by Yell also found that being cold at work is the nation’s biggest office pet peeve by 23% of British workers, and affects more women (28%) than men (18%). Also, frustrating 1 in 5 (20%) UK workers is poor internet connection, while an unclean workspace aggravates 18%.

Other grievances include heat (17%), colleagues talking too loudly (14%), a cluttered workspace (14%), colleagues eating smelly food (12%), faulty electronic equipment (11%) and untidy colleagues (10%).

When it comes to time lost due to workplace annoyances, poor internet connection costs workers an average of 20 minutes of productivity per day, while faulty electronic equipment leads to 19 minutes of lost time. A hot workplace also cost 19 minutes, while a cold workplace costs 16 minutes. Smelly food costs 7 minutes per worker per day, so a team of 10 people could lose 6 hours a week in productivity due to a colleague eating a smelly lunch. 

Mark Clisby, CMO of Yell said: “While it can be difficult to get the right balance at work, it’s important that harmony is achieved to ensure your team is productive. Remind colleagues to consider each other – for example, before putting on your favourite playlist or radio station, ask those in the same room if they are happy with your choice.  When reaching for the aircon, check how the temperature feels for the rest of the team, and perhaps remove a jumper instead of turning it down a few degrees.”.