A survey of over 2,000 British managers has revealed which habits irritate them most while at work. One of the most annoying things for today's managers is the current crop of jargon, or "management speak". Others high on the list include people who sit opposite you sending you emails, when they could simply tell you their message; people arriving late for work and for meetings; and people who take regular cigarette breaks. Report author Charles Elvin explained why it is important for us to know what annoys people. He said: "When office-based teams work in close proximity for long periods of time, we see that seemingly trivial issues can grow disproportionately. If left unchecked, they can begin to cause upset and resentment."

Management jargon proved to be an emotive issue for those participating in the research. Many managers described it as a "pointless irritation" which few people understand. They wondered why people used it when there are "normal" ways to express the same thing. Cited examples included 'thinking outside the box', 'going forward' and 'let's touch base'. The "real-world equivalents" of these are 'looking at things differently', 'in the future' and 'contact me'. The Plain English Campaign stated overused jargon damages the economy. The group said: "Management speak…gets in the way of business….It isolates newcomers who feel they have to learn the lingo….It acts as a barrier to procuring new business."