The research by office experts LondonOffices.com quizzed 730 office workers about how often they rowed with their colleagues.
According to the data, the average office worker got into 1.8 confrontations per week with fellow office workers.
This equates to 86.4 rows per year, which over the course of a working life works out at 4060.8 colleague arguments.
More than three quarters, 78 per cent said personality clashes were the main reason for fallings out in the office, however this was closely followed by differences in professional opinion on 75 per cent.
Disagreements over job role parameters scored highly, with 69 per cent believing that workers treading on colleagues professional toes was a main source of conflict.
However, almost half, 46 per cent, identified the tea/washing up rota as one of the main sources of conflict.
Similarly untidy workstations were seen as a cause of conflict for 41 per cent of office workers, followed by holiday bookings on 24 per cent.
One worker who took part in the study said: “There are some days when everyone in the office gets on like a house on fire, but then there are others where the office is like a powder keg.
“I’ve seen full blown arguments spark off over the smallest of things, the most ridiculous being over borrowing a pen without asking.”
Another said: “The rows in our office come in peaks and troughs. We all supress our anger for ages then it bursts, spewing vitriol everywhere.
“Our office manager is the worst for causing conflict. She’s a post-it note bandit and leaves nagging reminders everywhere either telling us to wash up a spoon that was left in the sink or that our desk is dusty.”
One male worker added: “There’s one woman in our office who is a real loose cannon when it comes to conflict.
“She is one of those people who on some days you just have to stay out of her way.”
A spokesperson from LondonOffices.com commented: “When you’ve got a room full of successful and ambitious people of course there is going to be conflict along the way.
“The important thing is knowing how to resolve conflicts quickly. In fact you could argue that having it out with someone is much healthier than suppressing your feelings.
“All that does is get you even angrier so when things eventually bubble over you end up saying things you later regret.”
