Friendship at work: pros, cons and keys to finding balance in it

It is no novelty that people like to create bonds, share moments and have friendships. Affective bonds and friendships in various ways are engraved in any culture’s DNA and are transferred to the workplace. Moreover, creating bonds in the workplace is essential to creating a good organizational climate so that communication flows better and thus enhances motivation to work and try hard. This is why this article will present the advantages and disadvantages of making friends with co-workers and how to generate a balance so that these relationships are profitable.- Friendship at work

Interacting with the same group of people for many hours tends to generate affective bonds, whether of trust, respect, or even friendship. These bonds increase the emotional aspect since the group shares the objective and, in addition, reduce the number of conflicts by getting to know each other better. On the other hand, bonds also demand responsibility, even more so when work is involved.

Finding friends is sometimes tricky, but it always pays off with the pleasure they bring in our life. Just as finding a group of high-quality essay writers like these brings joy to students that struggle with work-study balance. But is friendship with colleagues as beneficial for our work productivity as it is for our wellbeing? Below you can find a series of advantages and disadvantages of friendships at work, not only for employees but also for employers.

Advantages of friendships at work

Friendships improve communication.

Having colleagues who are also friends helps to establish closer communication, as it allows to anticipate each person’s reaction to a given situation. It also allows for greater relaxation, helps to reduce work-related stress, and makes it easier to overcome difficult situations or frustrations at work. Working with trust in each other is essential for teamwork to be successful and is also necessary for the employee to feel at ease in their position.

They build better organizational climate. 

These bonds of friendship in the workplace translate into visible advantages for the company. They improve the work climate and increase productivity, favor a better identification with the company’s culture and reduce the adaptation time of new incorporations. In the end, an employee will most likely enjoy coming to work everyday if they have some friends there.

They provide sense of belonging.

By building loyalty among the organization’s professionals through a good working environment and fluid communication, friendship becomes a powerful tool for attracting and retaining talent. Finally, it fosters true teamwork while improving decision-making.

They increase happiness and satisfaction.

It has been proven that bonds make people happy and keep them active and healthy. This means that the better the team gets along, the happier the people in it will be. It will also impact the company’s results and increase creativity and companionship in difficult situations.

Main disadvantages of developing friendship at work.

It requires stricter relationship management.

As a counterpoint to the advantages of friendships, it is necessary to remember that it is not easy to manage any kind of personal relationship at work, including friendships. Dealing with differences or setting boundaries when necessary, can be challenging for some people.

Too much trust can harm subordination. 

Often, if there is too much trust, the line between professionalism and familiarity can become blurred, leading to a lack of formality or causing personal conflicts to spill over into the workplace.

Establishing hierarchies might become trickier.

It can be difficult when friendships are between people in different hierarchies or positions. It is a reality that relationships of superiority are inherent in the company, and in some cases, a person may not want to be intimate or share their personal life with their superior.

How do you find the right balance?

It can be useful to set clear parameters, boundaries, and ways of working with friends-colleagues, to try to be fair to both superiors and subordinates, to consider in whom to place trust, and, above all, not to neglect the creation and nurture of friendships outside the work environment. It is also important not to rely on any extreme of “total friendship” or “no friends here,” but to know how to deal with the day-to-day routine to get the best results at work and to share a good time with people. In any case, be sure to communicate with your colleagues to avoid any future inconvenience and set healthy boundaries from the very beginning. If you do this right, the success is all yours.