Hi there! I am Adeline, a social media intern at SKM. I’m an extrovert, I thrive on meeting new people and building friendships. One thing I love about the office is having conversations with my colleagues.
Recently, over lunch, I shared that it has been such a long time since I last saw my friends. Everyone seems too busy these days, making it hard to find time to catch up with them.
This got me curious: did my colleagues have similar experiences? Hence, I invited some of my colleagues to sit down and talk about adult friendships on a podcast.
On the podcast, they talked about the struggle to balance friendships with other commitments and even tackled burning questions such as “Can we be friends with our colleagues?”
Can We Be Friends With Our Colleagues?
My answer is yes. We spend a significant portion of our lives at work, colleagues are people that we interact with and meet often.
Developing friendships with your colleagues can have plenty of benefits. It makes your work environment more enjoyable and positive. Feeling comfortable with your colleagues helps to boost morale and leads to smoother communication and cooperation.
On the other hand, there are concerns. Friendship with your colleagues may result in decreased productivity if you spend too much time chatting with them. In addition, it can be difficult to provide constructive feedback to your colleagues when you are friends with them. This is because you might sugarcoat feedback or refrain from being too honest in fear of offending or hurting their feelings.
Finding The Balance
Ultimately, there’s no right or wrong answer. As long as we set clear boundaries between personal and professional relationships, lasting friendships with our colleagues can blossom. However, it’s crucial that both parties are on the same page – some people prefer to keep work relationships strictly professional. After all, we are colleagues by chance, but friends by choice.