15 Of The Best Tips For Managing A Friendship At Work In 2022
Any job can be more satisfying and productive when you form friendships at work. According to many career professionals, friendships at work are more important than most job benefits. Relationships formed on the job can also last a lifetime. Study results from Lifeboat, a non-profit organization that conducts academic research about friendships, showed that 36 percent of surveyed adults met a close friend at work.
There are also potential problems and the benefits of growing too close to work friends. Among these are close-knit relationships that are perceived as gossipy and exclusionary and outside disagreements that creep into the workplace. Our aim in this article is to share with you the essential tips to help you navigate a friendship at work and share the most important rules to follow.
The Importance Of Rules When It Comes To Friendship At Work
Most of your waking hours are likely spent with your co-workers if you have a full-time job. As well as developing friendships with them, you are also likely to make new friends. You should consider some rules for workplace friendships, both for your enjoyment of work and your mental health.
The positive effects of workplace friendships can be felt both professionally and personally. As a result, work friendships should be managed carefully for the following reasons:
Maintaining A Positive Work Environment
There can be challenges to friendships from time to time. It is important to keep a professional attitude in the office when you maintain cordial relationships at work.
Taking Others Into Consideration
As a team member, you will naturally want to team up more often with your friends. Maintaining good relationships with your friends and co-workers can be easier when you have rules in place.
Setting Boundaries That Are Appropriate
When you’re with friends, you’re likelier to say things you wouldn’t say to another co-worker. In order to maintain appropriate discretion concerning confidential information and to speak positively about others, you need rules for managing your conversations with friends.
15 Tips For Managing A Friendship At Work
1. Ensure That Your Communication Is Thoughtful
Having office friendships that allow you to talk about your personal and professional lives is important. It is important, however, to avoid disclosing information to your work friends that might lead to conflict for them. You can, for instance, speak with your colleagues about your family, hobbies, and other interests in an appropriate manner.
2. Keep In Mind Your Own Accomplishments
Having office friends allows you to celebrate your colleagues’ achievements and care about their success. While helping your friends, it is important not to neglect your own career. Being a team player and a friend, while also standing out on your own, is possible.
3. Keep The Rules In Mind At All Times
Possibly you are more lenient with your work friends than the rules normally allow because you trust them. You can avoid the perception of unfair treatment among your co-workers by always following the rules. You and your friends will also maintain a good reputation with your managers if you follow the rules.
4. Issues Should Be Discussed
There will always be conflicts at work, even with your friends. When this happens, you should discuss the issues and try to resolve them. Despite how conflict can damage friendships and lead to workplace tension, it can also foster understanding and improve processes and ideas. A better work environment and stronger friendships can be created by managing conflict with your work friends rather than ignoring it.
5. Separate Personal And Business Activities
You should generally leave work at the office and speak with work friends off-hours about other topics. Spending time with your friends becomes more relaxing and enjoyable when you avoid gossip. You can make an exception to this rule if your work friend is having a difficult time at work and needs your advice or counsel. You may want to arrange a time to talk after work rather than during the workday.
6. Make Yourself Available
There may be things you have to take into account that has been at your workplace for more than a few months and have not formed friendships. Perhaps you could take a break with a co-worker if you spend most of your day at your desk with earbuds in. Don’t be shy about attending work-related events or accepting lunch invitations. In addition, make sure your attitude towards your co-workers is open and friendly, so they understand you are willing to establish friendships.
7. Take Your Time
There are times when work friendships form quickly. You meet a new co-worker and discover that you have similar interests, senses of humor, or friends in common. Forming friendships and getting to know people often takes time. Having a consistent work ethic over some time will allow your colleagues to see your more relaxed side. When you take more time to build strong friendships at work, your colleagues will get a better understanding of who you are.
8. Keep In Touch With Your Friends
While at work, maintain a professional relationship with your colleagues. By planning non-work-related activities, you can continue with your friends after work. Remember that you must work together at the end of the day. If you are in a relaxed environment, be careful that what you say or do will support your working relationships or the atmosphere in the office the next day.
9. Authenticity Is Key
You may feel the need to change your behavior and speech at work in order to fit in with the company culture if you are still trying to form friendships. It’s better to be yourself and let people see you for who you are at the end of the day. By doing this, you are able to build more honest relationships in which you behave the same way both at work and outside of it. In addition, you will establish trust between you and your friends, which is crucial for both your professional and personal lives.
10. Ensure That Each Member Of Your Team Is Treated Equally
Pay attention to everyone on the team, not just your friends, regardless of whether you are the manager or a team member. Don’t be afraid to ask others what they think. As you would your friends, listen to each one of them carefully.
11. Positive Conversation Is Key
Talk positively about your co-workers and avoid negative comments, especially at work. Among your work friends, where conversations may be more relaxed, and you might be less guarded about what you say, this is even more important. Discuss problems with co-workers in person, and encourage your friends to do the same.
12. Inclusion Is Key
There may be some co-workers with whom you develop closer friendships than there may be others. You may hardly know some of your co-workers. There’s nothing wrong with that, but make sure your friendships don’t influence your work decisions. Engage in conversations with co-workers you don’t know well and work with people you don’t know as well. You will have diverse ideas and opinions and make them feel part of the team.
Organize lunches and social events for people outside your friend group. By doing this, you will build relationships with others on your team and avoid the perception that you only do things with your friends.
13. Think Carefully
Consider the tastes and preferences of your colleagues when cultivating work friendships. You should choose a lunch venue that considers their tastes and dietary restrictions. After-work activities should take family or other responsibilities into consideration. You should make sure to accommodate your friends’ diverse interests to maintain a healthy friendship group
14. Keep An Eye On The Time
Spending a few minutes or a lunch break talking about other topics with co-workers is one of the most enjoyable aspects of having friends at work. The problem is that many people allow these conversations to take up too much of their time and interfere with their work. Keep an eye on the clock and respect the fact that you and your friends have jobs to do. Spending more time with one or two employees should not appear to be showing favoritism if you’re a manager.
15. When Your Friend Is Also Your Manager, Show Respect
Making your workplace, a pleasant place can be achieved by having a good relationship with your manager. Be respectful of the employee-employer distinction, however. Keep your conversation to things your manager wouldn’t have to report. During office hours, be respectful of your manager.
