In the world of NBC’s classic comedy The Office, there is never a dull day. Disastrous fire drills, entertainingly deranged staff meetings, spontaneous hijinks, Jello-ified office supplies. It’s a wonder anything got done at Dunder Mifflin, under the leadership of Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and his merry band of employees.
There was never a shortage of characters to keep every workday interesting. From the efficient sales staff to the prickly accounting corner to the warehouse guys, every kind of office personality was represented. But in the real world, who among Dunder Mifflin’s org chart would you actually like to work alongside?
In celebration of the show’s 20th anniversary — The Office premiered on March 24, 2005 — we are stepping back into Dunder Mifflin to rank the characters based on who would actually be a good coworker, and the results may surprise you.
17. Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak)
Setting aside all the ways he mistreated Kelly (Mindy Kaling) and Dunder Mifflin’s customers over the years, Ryan (B.J. Novak) was just a really negative energy in the office. Initially a temp who instantly thought he was better than everyone else, he is the antithesis of a team player. He’s not the person you want around because if he gets the chance, he will use you to climb the rungs of corporate advancement. There’s a way to do that with empathy and consideration for your coworkers, two traits Ryan never learned.
16. Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton)
You know that meme where people post sweet photos of their dogs followed by a more sinister photo of that same dog with the caption, “Your chances of being killed by your dog are low, but never zero?” Well that feels eerily similar to what working a few desks away from the unpredictable Creed (Creed Bratton) would be like. He’s quiet, but when he finally says something, there’s a non-zero chance it will send shivers up your spine and implicate him in any number of atrocities.
15. Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein)
Poor human resources representative Toby (Paul Lieberstein) could not catch a break from nearly everyone of his coworkers. Michael, specifically, was vocal about his displeasure with Toby’s mere presence, believing HR was a buzzkill on many of the antics that he cooked up in the moment for his staff. And in some ways, Michael was right. HR is a vital and important check on power in the office, but Toby as a person was rightfully chided for being a bit of a dud. With the personality of wallpaper, he would not be the most pleasant office addition –– HR or not.
14. Meredith Palmer (Kate Flannery)
Every office has the hot mess. The person whose life seems to unravel right in front of their coworkers on a daily basis. A slow-motion car crash you can’t look away from. That’s supplier relations rep Meredith (Kate Flannery). She might rank even higher on this list for just how entertaining she can be, but Meredith has a tendency to take it over the line into concerning territory. Whether she’s stripping off her clothes or clearly on a bender, this kind of hot mess stops being fun to work with the second you have to wonder if you need to have 911 at the ready.
13. Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey)
Angela’s (Angela Kinsey) brand of uptight is funny as a viewer, but it would be a nightmare as a real member of Dunder Mifflin. She has her moments. Remember when she was hiding her cats in her desk and threw them through the ceiling to save them from a bogus fire emergency? But similar to Ryan, she has an energy that would taint the office quickly. Her romance with Dwight (Rainn Wilson) gave her a place to channel some of those off-putting vibes, but purely as a coworker, she wouldn’t be our first choice with whom to share a desk pod.
12. Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker)
In every professional environment, there is the person who has been there so long they have seen it all and they are over every bit of it. That’s sales rep Stanley (Leslie David Baker), who is known for falling asleep at his desk and being stuck in his ways so much so that his day is instinctively timed to the second. He is the least tolerant of Michael shenanigans (rightfully so), and he’s counting down the days to retirement. But every office needs a Stanley because they keep the wheels turning even if the model of the car operating said wheels changes around them.
11. Andy Bernard (Ed Helms)
One of the later additions to Dunder Mifflin saw his rise at the company correspond with the rise of Ed Helms’ star in Hollywood after projects like The Hangover. But no matter how high he rose, including to regional manager, Andy was always a try-hard who wanted to find his place in the ecosystem of any room he was in. That kind of personality can be fun to watch, but tough to work alongside in a real office. Only with time did viewers learn who Andy really was after stripping away the theatrics and the constant hand-wringing about going to Cornell. Spoiler alert: He did it all because he wanted to fit in.
10. Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson)
Perhaps the biggest breakout character of the show’s entire run, Dwight’s vise grip on the rules and his quirkier home life on the beet farm proved to be just outlandish enough for people to love him. But would this actually be someone the average person wants to work with? That is hotly up for debate. Sure, his antics as Michael’s guard dog were funny and admirable. But on the other hand, Dwight often disrupted an average day with increasingly dangerous situations at the expense of his coworkers’ trust and sanity. Be honest: Would you ever forgive him for the fire drill debacle? Absolutely not.
9. Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner)
As the bumbling member of the accounting team, Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) often finds himself the butt of jokes and dismissed by some of his coworkers. He goes through relationship troubles, and even more issues with his The Police tribute band Scrantonicity. But at the end of the day, he is a sweet, simple soul, who just wants to be a likeable part of his office. And frankly, there are few more interesting traits in a coworker than someone who can make a mean pot of chili, which is what Kevin says he does best. Had it not ended up on the floor, he might rank even higher.
8. Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez)
The perfect blend of his two accounting cohorts –– Angela and Kevin –– Oscar (Oscar Nunez) was both level-headed and able to throw shade with the best of ’em. With a perfectly calibrated side eye for any given ridiculous situation, Oscar provided some of the best retorts in the office while occasionally letting loose himself. As The Office’s only major queer character, he often endured quite a bit. His kiss with Michael remains one of the show’s most noteworthy moments for a variety of reasons. But it’s just proof of how resilient he truly was. That’s a quality you want in a coworker, even if he can cut you down to size with a brutal comeback. Need more proof he’s a good addition to any office? He is the only original cast member (so far) to land a role in Peacock’s follow-up series set at a Midwest newspaper.
7. Phyllis Lapin-Vance (Phyllis Smith)
There’s just something charming about Phyllis’ (Phyllis Smith) presence in the office. She is by no means a perfect coworker, often stirring the pot of gossip and rumors just to feel some sense of superiority about herself. But think back to the episode when the staff tried to get her to say all the cliches she spouts off when it rains. That kind of cozy consistency is so nice in an office setting. You know what you get with Phyllis, even when she is trying to be devious. She can’t hide her motives, she can’t be anyone other than herself and that’s a much better quality than someone who succeeds in concealing parts of themselves to the detriment of their coworkers. Just don’t threaten her place on the party planning committee.
6. Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling)
Few characters were as unpredictable as customer service rep Kelly (Mindy Kaling), whose desperate pursuit of stardom and notoriety was a particularly prescient premonition of the current generation of fame-hungry influencers. It is not the most endearing quality in a coworker, but unlike her other morally challenged coworkers, Kelly was always entertaining and never hid her craven need for salacious intel. She had tons of relationship troubles and plenty of embarrassing moments, but also had zero filter. She played a very important role that the average coworker needs to get through the tough days: the reminder it could always be worse.
5. Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper)
There is a fine line between authentically kind and overly chipper, especially in the confined, day-in-day-out nature of an office. Erin (Ellie Kemper) manages to remain on the former side of that line, bringing a positivity and genuineness as the receptionist of Dunder Mifflin starting in Season 5. Sure, she is naive and still grasping the finer points of common sense, but she is always willing to learn and try. But where someone like Andy is trying too hard to keep up with things, Erin does it for the sake of being better at her job and a better asset to her coworkers — not simply for herself. Plus, a friendly face at the front door is always welcome.
4. Michael Scott (Steve Carell)
The man, the myth, the legend. Michael Scott is one of the most brilliant characters of the 21st century simply because he is a man of multitudes. A boss who (aggressively) wants to be liked by his employees, a man still trying to find his perfect match in the world (with a few disastrous detours named Jan) and a person with a lot of love to give. Does he show these things in ill-advised, sometimes egregiously offensive ways? Of course. Is he the kind of boss who strikes fear in his staff simply because they never know what the day holds? Definitely. But at the end of the day, offices across the world would be better off with a kind-hearted chaos agent like Michael Scott than the tyrants too often given the reins of power.
3. Jim Halpert (John Krasinski)
In many ways, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) gave a generation of millennials unhealthy expectations of what they would find when they entered the workforce. It is rare to find someone as effortlessly charming, naturally paternal, and romantically capable as Jim. But setting aside his all-time, will-they-won’t-they relationship with Pam (Jenna Fischer), it’s that second trait that ranks Jim so high on this list. When Michael was cooking up his latest hare-brained schemes with Dwight at his side, it was often up to Jim to talk some sense into his boss and keep the peace with his coworkers. He was the voice of reason, with a dash of deviousness that he used for good — aka, grounding Dwight’s holy-than-thou attitude. He was a good guy and that goes a long way in an office.
2. Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson)
As Dunder Mifflin’s warehouse foreman, Darryl (Craig Robinson) keeps the ship running by helping fulfill everything the office staff sells and promises in a day. He’s very serious about his job, but also has the ability to be casually cool about how he manages his team. He is, in a way, everything Michael wants to be. He doesn’t have to work hard for respect and a friendly atmosphere, and he still strikes the right tone when it comes to getting the job done safely and on time. Darryl may be the best employee Dunder Mifflin has, and his ability to be nice and thorough is not something you always find in office leaders. But when you do, it speaks volumes.
1. Pam Beasley (Jenna Fischer)
Anyone would be lucky to work alongside a Pam Beasley. Initially the receptionist and later a salesperson, she is the ideal case of corporate advancement done right. She has ambition but she isn’t alienating about it. She has creativity (her art show moment with Michael remains one of the shop’s greatest achievements), and she uses it to fulfill herself. But more importantly, she cares how the day ends for the entire office, maybe more than she should. She cares that Michael is happy, she puts out metaphorical (and one or two literal) fires, and she sets everyone around her up for success. If Dunder Mifflin was a real place — and offices just like it exist across the country — Pam is the anchor who makes sure that no matter what the day holds, the ship is still there to sail another day.
