We’ve often been told that our coworkers are not our friends and we should avoid mixing business with pleasure. While this is good advice, we can’t deny the fact that we are social beings who often desire and pursue friendships and impactful relationships, even at the workplace, where we spend significant hours of our lives (at least before the era of the lockdown).
Besides, the office would be boring if you had to spend the whole day staring at your screen without sharing some laughs and forming bonds with your colleagues, wouldn’t it?
However, it’s essential to learn how to approach and navigate workplace friendships, so that we can benefit from them and to ensure they do not deter our success and leave a bad taste in our mouths.
Here are some rules to follow:
Set Boundaries
Boundaries are critical when managing workplace friendships because they enable you to ensure things do not go out of line. It’s imperative to establish boundaries, especially when dealing with a junior colleague or a colleague of the opposite sex to ensure that you do not get caught up in a web of favouritism, unfair advantages and romantic relationships.
Another vital part of setting boundaries is ensuring that your friendship does not affect your performance and quality of work. Avoid spending unproductive hours that could lead you to become ineffective at work.
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Avoid Office Gossip
It’s pretty easy for office gossip to thrive when there are cliques and friendships involved. To avoid becoming a part of a rumour mill or major scandal, try to avoid any form of office gossip. Also, do not spread rumours about your coworkers to your friends.
Do Not Share Personal Information
This goes two ways: Firstly, avoid sharing too much information about yourself to friends, especially when you are still getting to know them. You should note that workplace friendships are different from friendships outside work. In a work environment, everyone looks out for themselves and makes their success their priority. You can’t guarantee that your secrets are safe and won’t be used against you to get ahead in the game of office politics.
Secondly, do not betray the trust of your coworkers or friends by sharing sensitive and personal information about them with your other friend(s). If you’re fond of sharing private information, it could put you in a bad light and portray you as an untrustworthy individual.
Avoid Partiality
You should treat everyone fairly and equally in the office, even if you do not have a close relationship with them. Don’t be tempted to play the game of politics to give your friends preferential treatment over others. Be professional.
Ensure Your Friendships Are Beneficial
If you’re thinking about having friends with ‘benefits’, you might want to consider what the benefits are. It’s essential to have friends who impact you positively and inspire you to aim and reach higher. Good workplace friends not only provide great companionship, but they also push you to succeed by giving you advice and connecting you with great opportunities. If your work friends only offer you with gossip and gist, you’ll have to figure out how to let go of them tactfully.
Don’t Become A Pawn
Workplace friendships are generally harder to navigate than friendships that exist outside of work. Certain colleagues might warm up to you and form friendships with you, to fulfil personal objectives. Some of them might take advantage of you by making you do most of their tasks, use you as an ally against another coworker, or help them out with favours they would not be willing to reciprocate.
This is why it is super important to tread carefully when forming friendships at work. Also, it’s crucial to ensure that you do not use other people as pawns, also.
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