Professional Friendships
The importance of workplace friendships and how they help you.
Mar 17, 2007
Can you really be friends with everyone you work with? You may have nothing in common with any of your co-workers, but a professional friendship can benefit everyone in the organization by creating a supportive environment conducive to productivity.
Everyone in an organization must serve a purpose. According to psychological studies(1), workplace ostracism is the “exclusion, rejection, or ignoring of an individual that hinders one's ability to establish or maintain positive interpersonal relationships.”
Workplace ostracism throws a wrench into the gears of progress. Teams require positive interpersonal relationships to avoid incidents of backstabbing and sabotage, which undermine the common goals of the organization. Knowing how to be a professional friend is just as important as understanding how a person can benefit from workplace friendships.
- Recognize your common goals. Common goals in the workplace are simple and often over-shadowed by personal interests. When you consider the value of putting aside petty judgments and distractions so the team can accomplish the project faster and smarter, the organization wins and you win.
- Observe the guidelines of a professional relationship. Understand that casual friendships and office friendships are not the same. Friendships can be simple. Don't complicate the work environment with emotions or deep affection. If the friendship is already strong, it is your responsibility to make sure interactions during work time are professional and focused.
- Avoid showing favoritism in the workplace. It is not acceptable to limit your interactions to co-workers you have strong friendships with when executing a project. It's important to support the strengths and weaknesses of your entire team in relation to how to best complete a task.
- Be responsible. Tardiness, missed deadlines, and irresponsible mistakes can cost an organization time and money. If you want to have a good relationship with your co-workers, don't be a source of stress. People will lose trust in your ability to be a productive member of the team, and will resent you.
- Treat others the way you want to be treated. This doesn't mean you have to allow others to take advantage of your good nature, but it does mean you should use your manners. Avoid curt and evasive responses to co-workers seeking answers to work related questions. Being genuinely helpful will show co-workers you are team player, which is far more important than anything you can say.
Remember, it is work. It is not your life. You and your team members are assembled to reach the organization's goals in the most effective way possible. You can be on good terms with every team member by having a positive attitude and staying focused on the objective. Workplace friendships can make your job easier!
(1) 'Perceived exclusion in the workplace: the moderating effects of gender on work-related attitudes and psychological health',Robert T. Hitlan, Rebecca J. Cliffton and M. Catherine DeSoto, North American Journal of Psychology, 8.2(June-July 2006):p217.
