Pretty often socializing turns into friendship, but it can be tricky though. Besides pleasant communication and mutual assistance, friendship at work can lead to unfavorable circumstances.
Workship is better than friendship
While building social ties at work, you would better stay up with workship. Workship is a type of relationship, which is a little bigger but still less than friendship. This type of socializing can be safer for your career. This allows to keep the distance that makes it easier to quit the relationship if needed, but it still leads to productive and nice working environment.
Friendship motivates workers
Lunch with colleagues or a shot of whisky after work shouldn’t be undervalued. A survey held by the Gallup Organization found that having friends among co-workers is more motivating than high salary or other benefits. During the study is was figured out that 51 percent of respondents have friends at work, while 10 percent consider their colleagues good friends. Moreover, it is even rewarding for the company as 75 percent of workers with colleagues-friends planned to stay within the company for at least a year.
Don’t cover office rules violating
It appeared than nearly 31 percent of US workers became the witnesses of their co-workers violating office rules, but only half of them reported about that according to the Hudson’s staffing firm national poll of US workers. Don’t do that, if you notice someone in unethical conduct, don’t let your friendship overcome the common sense and report to the supervisor.
Don’t act in concert with your friends
Typically friendship is good in the good working place, and not as good in bad one. In case when the management inside the office is dictatorial and employees tend to feel unrecognized, they tend to act in concert with their office friends against their boss. Instead of doing so, try to fix the situation between the two sides.
Don’t rush in finding friends
NYU psychiatry professor Irene S. Levine, Ph.D. said:
It’s important not to get too friendly too soon, or to reveal very intimate information before you know the other person.”
You should keep in mind that this person can at least make your presence in the office uncomfortable if your friendship ends. However, finding someone you can rely on and trust to is always risky but can bring the great benefit in the future.
Make friends among those of the same level
Don’t try to make friends with your boss as it can be less safer than friendship with those who are on the same level with you. Difference in status, earnings and powers often become an issue.
Friendship with your boss
In case you make friendship with your boss, be prepared for jealously from the side of other colleagues. You friendship also may turn sour as soon as your relationship ruins. In order not to irritate the rest of the staff, make the boundaries and remain professional while in the office, don’t try to take advantages of your friendship and of course keep it confidential about your boss’s personal or other issues.
Skip following topics to discuss
Money, religion and politics are among those topics that are undesirable to discuss with your colleagues regardless the kind of relationship you have. But there are exceptional cases when you have true friends among your colleagues, there shouldn’t be limits in discussing any topics.
Avoid gossiping
Spreading and discussing gossips is always a risky business. It is both negative and personally damaging. In case your colleague start gossiping, turn the conversation to another topic or just simply don’t support it. If he keeps doing it, show your displeasure and unwillingness to continue the conversation. Some kinds of gossips can be useful though, such as undercover politics of the organization and the informal rules of office etiquette.
Don’t become friends with the outsider
If you hook up with the black sheep who has a bad reputation, wait for your own reputation to tarnish too. Before getting into friendship with someone, get to know everybody as much as possible.
Not everybody is looking for colleagues-friends
Keep in mind that there is a category of people that don’t want to mix business and personal life and are less likely to become friends with their co-workers. Don’t take the rejection personally. Usually these people don’t want to worry about criticizing that may hurt their friendship or favoritism of one colleague over others, which affects relationship with them.
Balance your friends at work and outside it
Despite the fact that you spend with office colleagues the majority of your time, don’t forget about your friends outside your work. Your outside-the-work friendship will be never affected by the office politics, promotions or any other changes inside the company.
- office friends
- work colleagues socialising
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