There’s always one joker, who likes the sound of their own voice and thinks they’re much funnier than they really are.
There’s typically resentment bubbling away among the long-serving staff members who’ve once again been overlooked for promotion.
And there’s usually some romantic intrigue, which occasionally rears its head when everyone has a little too much to drink at the Christmas party.
But there are many ways in which working in an office today is a world apart from how it was in the 80s and 90s.
The biggest change of course is the technology, but there are other ways in which office work has altered over the decades, most recently with the rise in working from home and hot-desking.
How many of these features of office life in the 80s and 90s, including the unmistakable smells and sounds, do you remember?
If you enjoyed this trip down memory lane, you might like this retro photo gallery with some of the best photos from the 80s.
5. The clickety-clack of typewriters
Typewriters were still found in most offices in the early 80s, meaning they were often noisy places to work. They were replaced by word processors and computers. | Getty Images Photo: Evening Standard
6. Dictation
These days, AI will transcribe your thoughts, emails and letters for you, usually fairly effectively, meaning you needn't lift a finger. But back in the 80s and 90s, many office workers would dictate letters and other documents for a secretary to write down in shorthand and transcribe. | Getty Images Photo: George Pickow/Three Lions
7. Smoking at your desk
There was no need for a cigarette break in many offices back in the 80s and 90s, with workers often lighting up at their desks. What you gained in efficiency, you paid for in the choking atmosphere and tobacco-stained walls. | Getty Images Photo: Bryn Colton
8. Floppy discs
Before CDs, USB drives and cloud storage, the floppy disc was king. They weren't the most robust of items, but they did the job. | Getty Images Photo: Joe McNally