The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Workplace Friendships
Workplace friendships may seem like
an ideal arrangement at
first blush. But once the honeymoon phase ends, a whole
different picture may emerge. Whether the image appears rosy or
bleak depends entirely upon those involved in the friendship.
Unfortunately, situations can sour long before individuals
realize they should not have befriended a colleague. When
workplace friends turn enemies, a company loses far more than
camaraderie. A broken friendship can reduce productivity, cause
infighting, and spread discontentment. This is not to say that
you should never befriend anyone in the workplace. After all,
you spend eight hours a day, five days a week with the same
people. The key is to know where to draw the line.
Workplace friendships among co-workers can have a positive
impact on morale and productivity. Friends help each other
navigate the ups and downs of the job, offering the support
necessary to motivate an employee to progress through the
drudgery. Friends help each other sort through personal
problems, which can prevent personal issues from interfering
with production. Friends even promote a positive work experience
by ensuring that laughter and companionship occasionally invade
the workplace. These upsides to workplace friendships make for
happier and more productive employees, who in turn, want to work
hard, put their best foot forward, and generate excellent
output. Positive interpersonal relationships produce cohesive
teams conducive to productivity.
The same factors that unite employees also can tear them apart.
Problems emerge when friendships go awry, and the consequences
can be severe for both the friendship and the company. Broken
friendships often lead to infighting, bickering, and tattling,
which divert attention away from the job and towards resolving
employee disputes. Distracted and disgruntled employees produce
poor quality work and generate less output. Unfortunately, bad
attitudes are contagious and tend to have a negative domino
effect on employee morale. While these setbacks may not prove
catastrophic to the company, they nonetheless take time and
energy away from the daily operational and business functions.
On a small scale, broken friendships can destroy teams that need
the stability of solid interpersonal relationships to function
effectively. When tension continues to build, it is only a
matter of time before the water boils over. At boiling point,
your increasingly frustrated and unfocused employees may miss
crucial deadlines, overlook important tasks, or even alienate
clients. Instead accomplishing the tasks at hand, team leaders
will have to spend time addressing interpersonal issues.
On a large scale, the lack of trust among employees may impede
the long and short range goals of the organization. A company
faced with widespread distrust and resentment among employees
can either deal with the issue or retain all new staff. The
later option rarely, if ever, will be feasible. Consequently,
companies will be forced to put aside certain goals to address
problems in the workforce. This indeed is a catastrophic setback.
When individuals work closely together, some level of friendship
and intimacy inevitably will emerge. Trouble lies not in the
formation of relationships but in the failure to set clear
boundaries around relationships. Obvious prohibited
relationships include any sort of romantic involvement between
co-workers or between managers and employees. Destroyed
friendships pose a challenge but destroyed romances create
roadblocks nearly impossible to overcome. Similarly, managers
should avoid friendships with their employees because this
situation tends to cause jealousy and resentment among the
non-friend employees. No amount of fact presentation or
persuasion will convince the non-friend employees that they were
appropriately passed over for a promotion.
Companies can set limits on workplace relationships by avoiding
situations that promote trouble. Managers who focus on building
strong teams through workplace activities hold the key to
success. These managers make teambuilding work-related so that
employees develop a closeness founded on the common desire to
promote the team's mission. Managers who foster teamwork through
happy hours and other such social events fail to promote the
business goals of the team. Instead these managers have opened
the door for relationships to develop outside of the workplace.
Employees need freedom to associate and build workplace
friendships. Companies must encourage team building by offering
activities and gatherings during work hours to prevent excessive
mingling during non-work hours. Offer employees plenty of
work-related chances to get to know one another. You will find
yourself with a happy and productive staff that unites over
their shared business tasks. Most importantly, by encouraging
employees to spend time together at work, you silently
discourage your staff from friendships that are not
work-related.
About the author:
Linda Finkle, CEO of Incedo Group, works closely with leaders
and management to create sustainable productivity and
organizational strength. She holds a Master Certified Coach
designation through the International Coaching Federation. For
more information and articles by Linda and Incedo Group, please
go to
http://www.incedogroup.com/mediaroom.htm
