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.
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9. The rattle of the tea lady's trolley
Not every office had them, but in many workplaces they were a perk of the job, delivering tea and coffee to your desk. Today, most offices have either a kettle or, if you're lucky, a coffee machine, and tea ladies are generally viewed as an unjustifiable expense. | Getty Images Photo: M. Fresco/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive
10. Calculators on every desk
In the days before everyone had a calculator on their phone and laptop, most office workers kept a calculator to hand for any tricky sums. A bottle of Tipp-Ex, or other correction fluid, could also be found on most desks. And ring binders were much more popular back then, meaning hole punches and packs of those little ring reinforcing stickers were among the other 80s and 90s office essentials. | Getty Images Photo: Steve Eason/Hulton Archive
11. Plants and family photos on your desk
Before hot-desking became a thing, your office desk was your home away from home, and most workers liked to add a personal touch, with a plant or some family photos. Nowadays, your office desk is often in your home, or, if not, you take your computer and your work home with you at the end of each working day. | United Archives via Getty Images Photo: Stingl