Workplace Characters

Fans of the TV show "The Office" are familiar with the personality types found in many offices. I have my own list recognized over my working life.

• Engineerguy - As the name implies, Engineerguy is usually an engineer. His expectation of every project he touches is that every detail is in order and every question answered before he will lift a finger. His expectation of everyone he works with is they are as squared away as he is. Engineerguy will bring projects to a halt with his demands for the perfect information he needs before he producing his magic.


• Whinerguy - Whinerguy will complain about anything and everything. When asked to provide a status update, he will immediately launch into why someone else is making his project difficult or delaying him. One thing to remember about Whinerguy is that whining makes him happy. When he stops whining he is usually looking for a new job.


• Teflonguy - When assignments are given, Teflonguy is uncanny in his ability to convince the boss that an assignment is best suited for someone else's talents or responsibilities. Teflonguy is also very good at describing how any task should be done, but even better at describing why someone else is responsible for doing it. Teflonguy rarely leaves a meeting with an action item. He knows the organization's functional org chart better than even the lead executive. Teflonguys usually rise into leadership roles where they can add a new tool to the repertoire - delegation.


• Littleworldguy - Littleworldguy is a lower level worker bee who claims total ownership of a small slice of an workgroup's operation. The slice is usually a very repeatable process, such as working a ticket or checking a box and passing it to the next spoke in the cog. If Littleworldguy ever ran out of tickets to work or boxes to check, he would not know what else to do. If anyone else tries to work his tickets or check his boxes, a turf war ensues. It is good to have an army of Littleworldguys since they will sit in their little world, work overtime, and pound out the work until it is complete. Companies are built on Littleworldguys.


• Perfectionguy - You can usually spot these people by their desk. Every pencil, pen, stapler, tape dispenser, mouse and keyboard are arranged in organized symmetry. If you suspect a coworker is Perfectionguy, wait until they leave their desk for a moment and move one item slightly. When they return they immediately recognize the unorganization and move the item back to its former position. Another way to tell if someone is Perfectionguy is to watch them take notes. They always use a pen, and write very neatly in a uniform format. The top of the page will be dated and titled. Perfectionguy is usually one of the most unproductive people on a team.


• Bigpictureguy - Bigpictureguy is great at describing how things should work in a company. He usually understands what is most important and can quickly determine whether a particular project is important to the big picture. Bigpictureguy will never do menial tasks because his efforts are limited to big picture tasks only. Bigpictureguy is also unproductive because all his efforts are spent chasing a utopia that can never be attained.