Irish employees despise colleague's laziness, moodiness and volume, but admit to some of these failings themselves, a survey by Amarach commissioned by Microsoft found today.

It found that 63pc hate lazy colleagues: Laziness is the worst trait in colleagues, ranked the most annoying office habit while 56pc hate moody colleagues - Colleague moodiness is sure to annoy others, with it being ranked as the second most annoying habit.

It also found that 45pc can't abide fog horn talking colleagues while 37pc hate gossiping co-workers.

Microsoft wanted to see what good and bad working habits existed in the Irish workplace as part of its Work Wherever Wednesday initiative today to promote the benefits both personally and professionally of flexible working.

"While encouraging Irish business to be more flexible, we wanted to see what good and bad habits already exist," said Martin Cullen, SMSP Director, Microsoft. "We were encouraged that there are a lot of areas that employers and their employees agree on. The most crucial is flexibility and recognising that employees work lives are not just about work. The more you facilitate this more holistic approach the more you benefit both as an organisation and as an employee. It is not about control, but about productivity."

The survey also found that 19pc hate when colleagues mobile phones are not set to silent; 18pc hate colleagues who nose pick; 16pc hate colleagues who enter without knocking and 13pc hate it when colleagues hum at work

"The Microsoft research casts an interesting light on Irish employee/employer relations after four years of economic downturn" said Gerard O'Neill, Chairman of Amarach Research. "Having endured many challenges together, it is clear that there is a healthy, realistic spirit of collaboration in most businesses which bodes well for Ireland's recovery."

"As someone who juggles a number of business interests, I'm rarely in the office. 90pc of my business is conducted on the road or in Insomnia," said Bobby Kerr, Chairman Insomnia Coffee Company. "You can't always grow your business at your desk, and nothing substitutes getting out and meeting customers or business partners. We have seen cafes become the second base for meetings on the road, students to collaborate on projects and a place for people to concentrate and get work done. The benefits to working flexibly are no longer something that is a 'nice to have' but more of a 'need' in order for Irish businesses in a competitive local and global market to compete and succeed."