Not everything is simple with friendships at work

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It is also important to remember that while some people value close communication with colleagues, others are indifferent to it, and others may be irritated by messages and activities unrelated to work. Thus, informal communication in any team requires great tact, empathy, and respect for personal boundaries from its members.

Developing informal work connections can be challenging in a team of different ages or among employees with different levels of education. In 2023, IT company Nectar surveyed 800 full-time employees to understand their attitudes toward friendships with colleagues. It turned out that the older the employee, the less eager they were to build friendships at work.

The same study showed that employees with higher education are more willing to turkey whatsapp list make friends at work. In addition, the higher the income of a specialist, the stronger his desire to find like-minded people at work. Although, it would seem, it should be the other way around.

In Russia, 4% of respondents do not strive to maintain good relationships with colleagues, as they consider it pointless. Another 2% of respondents noted that friendship with colleagues can cause attachment and even hinder career development. (Data from the study by Rabota.ru.)

Informal relationships can exist exclusively within the work context – at team lunches, in Megaplan chats, at work meetings. But business friendships often blossom outside the office. In the American Perspectives Survey, the workplace was named the main source of new acquaintances. Work was ahead of educational institutions, neighborhoods, public places and even social networks.

True, genuine, strong friendships at work can be problematic, especially when they arise between colleagues of unequal rank. If one or both employees are dishonest and interact with selfish motives, such friendships can be accompanied by abuse, shifting responsibility, and shirking of duties.

At work, it is very important to distinguish between friendship and friendliness. In the first case, these are close relationships without clear boundaries, in the second, openness with maintaining a distance that protects against gossip and envy. If friendship between employees who are in equal positions arises on the basis of personal selfish interests, they can begin to be friends against the management or employees with different views. Such a tandem can become uncontrollable, toxic and poison the life of the entire team.

Unfortunately, such friendships often lead to serious conflicts and forced dismissals. It is important for managers to monitor destructive relationships within the team and strictly suppress any manifestations of them. Fines may even be used. To prevent healthy relationships within the team, it is important not to hire someone who does not share the company's values, even if the candidate's professional knowledge is at its best.

Not everything is simple with friendships at work

Interestingly, the dependence of effectiveness on informal connections may differ depending on specialization. For example, the results of a study conducted in 2018 by scientists at competitions to protect information systems from cyberattacks showed that highly effective teams demonstrated fewer internal interactions. They functioned as social systems in which people understood each other’s roles, were focused on work, and achieving a common goal. However, scientists are not yet in a hurry to extend these findings to other professions.