As humans, we all crave social connections. It is an innate need. We spend more than 50% of our waking time at work. It is quite natural to satisfy our craving to connect, with the people who are around us aka our coworkers. Is that the right thing to do? Should you be friends with your coworkers? After all, friendships always conveniently move into sharing personal matters. What about the line of thought that tells us to keep our personal and professional lives separate?
Are these the thoughts swirling around in your head when you consider friendships at work? Should you maintain boundaries at work?
Do friendships at work matter? Surprisingly yes! Research says, having a friend at work significantly decreases the chances of you leaving the workplace. Additionally, doing great work with great people is what produces results for the firm while bonding people together.
Let us explore some pros and cons of having friends at work:
Pros:
- may give you the mental lift to go to work on those dreary days. looking forward to meeting your friends at work
- adds to your happiness meter at work – by addressing the human need for social connection, you automatically feel happy
- antidote to a bad work environment – when ‘stuff’ happens at work, you need someone to talk to about it, who understands it the way it is..talking to your spouse or a friend outside of work may not give you the same level of understanding that you seek
- Psychologist Donald Clifton has found that work place friendships increase productivity and engagement
Cons:
- Work friends who are privy to your personal information may use it to their advantage.
- Too much chit chatting at work may be a potential distraction source and attract unwanted attention for other colleagues and bosses.
- If one of you get promoted over the other, it may stir jealousy and cause friendship issues and lead to awkwardness at work.
- Your personal stuff may become a source of gossip through your work friends.
- Being friends with your boss does not necessarily work for everyone. The person who evaluates your work performance may get clouded with how you conduct your personal affairs. After all, we are quick to form opinions and fail to rectify an opinion after it is formed.
So what should you do? Have clear cut boundaries at work or not? It depends! There is no universal answer to this question. It depends on you as a person, the work place you are at and the culture of the workplace and the country you live in! Yes, country plays an important role..For example: in India, it is common to be friends at work to the extent that all or most of your work friends are invited to your wedding and other personal events. In US, a very small percentage of work friends would attend your child’s birthday party let alone your wedding!
Additionally, if you do not have a social circle outside of work for various reasons and the only social outlet for you is your work and your workplace, maybe having friends at work may not be a bad idea. You can go about it strategically to ensure you avoid the pitfalls mentioned above.
Friends or no friends at work – Remember you are there to produce great work and feel happy. Do what you need to do to attain that happiness!
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