At work, a place where you spend 71.4% (or more) of your time during the week, you are bound to form relationships that go beyond that of ‘colleagues’ or ‘peers’. You would have inter-function or cross-functional friendships. With that, it helps to know how to navigate these types of relationships.
The tips under this topic are:
1. Establish clear boundaries. Separate the work relationship from the personal one. Make it clear how you want to be treated in a professional setting and try not to blur the lines
2. Do not give preferential treatment to someone who’s your friend. It will become obvious to others
3. Don’t take criticism personally if it’s coming from your friend. This is a work setting. It’s not a personal attack, and most likely they are looking out for you so that you can perform beyond your best
4. Unpopular opinion: If you see a friend ‘misbehaving’ in the workplace, you can report them. This is a difficult one as most people would look past certain behaviours because of the existing relationship. Do the right thing
5. Be inclusive of others; don’t form your own clique
There will be times where lines are crossed. But you can still enjoy work with your friends/colleagues in the same space 🙂
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