Personal Friends at Work – Are they Real or Fake?

Do you have personal friends at work? Not everyone at your workplace is your friend. Do your job, get paid, go home. I believe we have heard this statement severally. While I don’t entirely agree with it, I can relate to it.

I have been thrown under the bus by workmates I considered friends and this changed my perspective about making friends at work. However, i met some of the people I call friends from a work place. It was sheer luck! Truth is workplaces are busy spaces, professional and competitive so it’s best you create professional boundaries if u want to be productive.

I am an advocate of a harmonious and productive work environment. I have worked for over 10 years and here are my key learnings and actions that have helped me live in harmony with people at work:

1. Maintain professional boundaries, while friendly interactions are key, focus should be on collaboration. You don’t need deep personal friendships to collaborate and achieve shared work goals. Respect personal and professional boundaries

2. Take time to trust people, do not get excited by the mere coffee & lunch breaks you take with colleagues and confuse that for friendship.

3. Keep away from gossip groups, when your tongue slips, you can not recover your words.

4. Address conflicts calmly and timely, better to focus on solutions than blame.

5. Embrace inclusion, let everyone feel welcome, avoid cliques and exclusive behavior.

6. Respect and Empathy, treat each other with respect regardless of their rank and be empathetic.

7. Be impeccable in your communication, be clear, open, honest and transparent to prevent misunderstandings. But most importantly ask for feedback.

8. Respect each other’s work and expertise, there is a reason you were all hired, we all add value to the organisation in one way or another. Just don’t take anyone for granted.

9. Always be guided by your organization’s policies and procedures on how employees are supposed to relate each other. Once these guidelines are followed, the relationship between employees remains clear for each and everyone in the organisation.

Good people, co-workers may not be your friends but you can still have strong professional relationships that make work more comfortable, safe and enjoyable and healthy boundaries are a big part of making that distinction.

For me, It is about balance, while I appreciate that you can have meaningful friendships with workmates, it is key to be mindful of maintaining professionalism and setting boundaries that allow for both personal and professional dynamics to thrive.

PS: Not everyone at your workplace is your friend. Even those you call friends can throw you under the bus if push comes to shove. This I share from experience.

So, you might as well do your job, get paid, go home!
Do you agree? Share your views on the same.