‘Pingers’ are the irritating colleagues killing the vibes at work

You don’t want to be the office pinger (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

You’re sat at your desk fielding multiple messages on Slack, requesting the latest report here and tweaks to the presentation there.

Then you get a message from Mark who wants to ask you a quick question. The only thing is, Mark is sat right opposite you.

He could simply take a few steps over to your desk and ask you, face-to-face, it would be much quicker. But, no.

Mark is the office ‘pinger’. It’s a term Metro has coined to describe the employees who are in the office with you, but choose not to talk to you in person, and communicate everything via message instead.

But this isn’t an isolated incident. Despite the push for a return to working in the office, with 41% of people now not working from home at all, water cooler chitchat has yet to make a proper comeback.

In fact, a fifth of those employed say they go an entire workday without speaking face-to-face with a colleague.

The study of 2,000 UK workers, commissioned by workplace training platform Kahoot, determined half of workers use emails or messaging services to communicate with colleagues who are in the same room as them.

Some employees are going entire days without talking to a single colleague in person (Picture: Getty Images)

It’s left 40% of those with office jobs feeling disconnected at work, despite sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with their fellow workers. After all, what’s the point of being in an office if you can’t have a fun little gossip?

‘For too many workplaces, employees are constantly in touch, but never actually connecting,’ leadership and workplace coach, Emma Georgiou, tells Metro. ‘Workers are communicating across too many channels, using email, Teams and WhatsApp – and clients and colleagues can access them in any way at any time.’

Jim Moore, employee relations expert at HR consultants Hamilton Nash, has seen a big culture shift over the years in the way workers communicate in the office, with pingers on the rise.

‘Younger generations who grew up in the world of the internet and instant messaging are making up an increasingly large part of the workplace,’ he tells Metro. ‘Boomers and Generation X, on the other hand, are more used to phone calls and in-person communication.

‘It’s also a matter of perceived convenience, as sending messages lets people respond at their own pace, while a ringing phone basically screams “Stop what you’re doing and pay attention to me”. Similarly, in my experience, Gen Z don’t welcome being interrupted by someone walking up with a question.’

He believes that the shift to remote working during Covid, which resulted in the hybrid work model many of us have today ,contributed to this communication problem.

‘It becomes easier to work in isolation and send an instant message if you need anything,’ he adds.

The productivity price

If you thought that not leaving your desk to wander over to a colleague meant you could get more done, you’re likely mistaken.

Emma agrees that people seem to think messaging makes things quicker, but that it’s a misconception. ‘It’s actually slowing things down overall,’ she explains.

‘A five-minute conversation becomes a long email chain of back-and-forth, all the while other chains of messages compete for your attention.

A quick conversation is much more productive than a long message chain (Picture: Getty Images/Maskot)

‘This reduces productivity and causes stress for employees. Constant notifications leave employee’s attention fragmented, and I think organisations can start to mistake responsiveness for effectiveness.’

Jim agrees that a quick face-to-face chat is far quicker overall, even if you’re a little shy.

It’s on the bosses

While it may be easy to dismiss pingers as anti-social or lazy colleagues, Emma explains this behaviour has as much to do with office culture as it does the employees.

‘Simply telling employees to socialise more is not going to work,’ she says. ‘Companies need to be clearer on when it’s best to message, and when a conversation is more effective.

‘Leaders have a key role to play, as the way they communicate sets the tone. If they make a small shift towards having more in-person conversations, it will quickly ripple through their teams.’

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