What’s your printer personality?

They say you can discover a lot about someone’s personality from their handwriting, but what about their printing style? 

 

As one of the UK’s leading Managed Print Services providers, we’ve spent a lot of time in offices and workplaces across the land. We’ve seen the many different ways that workers use their printers, scanners and photocopiers as part of their day-to-day roles, and a few common characteristics have started to emerge. 

 

In offices up and down the country, most teams we’ve seen are made up of a distinct blend of different personalities, each with their own quirks, strengths and weaknesses. It’s what makes every workplace special and unique. 

And while their handwriting styles say a lot about who they are, so, too, do their printing habits. 

Here, we take a humorous look at some of the characters that may be lurking in your office… 

Everyone loves the people-pleaser. They’ll do anything for anyone and go out of their way to help their workmates, especially when the bosses are around. 

They’ll often be the (self-appointed) printer gatekeeper for the office, and everything will pass through them. Some might have brown noses. Others might be genuinely kind-hearted and just want to be helpful. Either way, their altruistic spirit – authentic or otherwise – often gets taken advantage of. 

 

The perfectionist is the details person. To them, everything must be just right. They’re the ones who spend hours running off numerous copies of multi-page reports and checking every single page for imperfections. If the print margins are slightly out, or there’s an ink spot or a crease, they’ll start the whole production run again to ensure everything is spot on. 

While such diligence and efficiency is admirable, it can be slightly annoying. 

 

The delegator, AKA the boss, doesn’t do their own printing. They have people to do it for them. No more needs to be said here. You know the type. 

 

The polar opposite of the people-pleaser, the shirker will usually be found counting paperclips, moving papers from one side of their desk to the other, or looking for funny cat pictures on the internet (when the delegator isn’t around, of course). They’re the last person to volunteer for the office tea round (even when it’s their turn) but the first to stick their hand up when someone says, ‘does anyone need any printing doing?’. Every office has a shirker. Who’s yours? 

 

The gossip is a strange character. They’ll lurk silently behind their computer monitor for most of the day, emerging at certain times, when certain people approach the printer. Then, you’ll never shift them. They often don’t need to print anything at all but will find any excuse to run off that old, deleted email from three weeks ago if they notice their friend or fellow gossip at the printer. After all, catching up on Love Island is the most important part of the working day, right? 

When this happens, if your own document is unlucky enough to be caught in the print queue, don’t expect to see it for at least 30 minutes. 

 

Deep down, the flamboyant one is a sensitive soul. They often mask their insecurity with a big personality. They have creative tendencies and are all about style over substance. They’re the ones who’ll run off fifty copies of a large report or presentation in full colour, on glossy paper, just because it looks better than plain, old, boring black and white. 

While this is great for impressing clients (or directors), it’s not so good for your budgets or the environment. 

 

Every business is different and has unique printing needs. We can help you meet them. 

Although the different ‘printer personalities’ we’ve listed above are a bit of fun, there is a serious point here. 

People use printers, scanners and photocopiers in different ways, and it can quickly add up to a hefty bill if you’re not in control. 

That’s where we come in. We offer a range of dynamic, innovative and forward-thinking managed print solutions backed by high levels of service and support. 

 

From individual desktop devices and low-volume printers to fleets of devices and software deployed across multiple sites and locations, we can help. 

 

Whether you’re looking for fully managed print services or printer/photocopier leasing or rental, our expert team can provide a solution that helps you meet your objectives, to help you optimise your budgets and minimise your environmental footprint. 

To find out how we can help, give us a call today: