Do you consider your colleagues as your friends?
Do you feel comfortable to talk to your colleagues in a same way as you talk to your friends?
I think friendship at workplace is actually not possible and it is an illusion. At workplace you are actually competitors and should be competing in a healthy manner but yet cannot be friends. You cannot be friends with your colleagues in a same department and at the same level. All managers in a department are actually aiming to become department head or VP / Director of that department (as applicable). In a same manner, all department heads aims to lead the company or become CEO of the company. Do you think that you can be so close to your colleague to recommend his / her name to your boss for promotion or higher increments? Certainly you won't. Working in a team is different. The role of an individual in a company is defined in such a way he or she needs to depend upon the other individual…hence there is interdependency. Team work and professional relationships are different from casual friendship. All other types of relations are just an illusion.
Hence, I like to ask… (Here, we are not considering cross the gender relationships)
What is your relationship with your colleagues at workplace?
Do you consider your colleagues as your friends?
Do you feel comfortable to talk to your colleagues in a same way as you talk to your friends?
How comfortable are you to share your personal emotions with your colleagues at workplace?
Did you ever found yourself cheated by your colleague because you shared some information with him or her…considering him to be your friend?
Kindly share your views and experiences.
Thanks and Regards
Sanjeev
From India, Mumbai
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100Do you feel comfortable to talk to your colleagues in a same way as you talk to your friends?
I think friendship at workplace is actually not possible and it is an illusion. At workplace you are actually competitors and should be competing in a healthy manner but yet cannot be friends. You cannot be friends with your colleagues in a same department and at the same level. All managers in a department are actually aiming to become department head or VP / Director of that department (as applicable). In a same manner, all department heads aims to lead the company or become CEO of the company. Do you think that you can be so close to your colleague to recommend his / her name to your boss for promotion or higher increments? Certainly you won't. Working in a team is different. The role of an individual in a company is defined in such a way he or she needs to depend upon the other individual…hence there is interdependency. Team work and professional relationships are different from casual friendship. All other types of relations are just an illusion.
Hence, I like to ask… (Here, we are not considering cross the gender relationships)
What is your relationship with your colleagues at workplace?
Do you consider your colleagues as your friends?
Do you feel comfortable to talk to your colleagues in a same way as you talk to your friends?
How comfortable are you to share your personal emotions with your colleagues at workplace?
Did you ever found yourself cheated by your colleague because you shared some information with him or her…considering him to be your friend?
Kindly share your views and experiences.
Thanks and Regards
Sanjeev
From India, Mumbai
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What is your relationship with your colleagues at the workplace? Just like friends, we discuss personal issues, crack jokes, and help each other in times of need, etc.
Do you consider your colleagues as your friends? Yes, because in my company, we are all working on a certain project. So, until the project is completed, we are here. It's not like any one of us looks to become a manager, etc., as we are not going to stay permanently with my company. All of us know the truth that today or tomorrow we have to move on, so we take it easy, enjoy life, and just act as friends. We help each other a lot. So, even if we finish the project and go separate ways, we can help each other in the future. Unlike other scenarios where you maintain a strictly professional relationship and once you leave a job, your relationship with colleagues ends. Even those who have left some time ago still keep in touch with us because we were good friends when we were working. They don't feel as if we are different, despite the fact that they are no longer with the company.
Do you feel comfortable talking to your colleagues in the same way as you talk to your friends?
Except for certain critical departmental issues, there is nothing to feel uncomfortable about when talking to colleagues, I think. I have experienced this. However, it also depends on what type of colleagues you have. Some people take information from here and tell others, spreading news like wildfire. So, it's best to avoid people like them. But there are colleagues whose wavelength matches ours, and we get along smoothly.
How comfortable are you sharing your personal emotions with your colleagues at the workplace?
One colleague already discussed her emotions with me. It so happened that we had no work on that day and were just good friends. So, she felt like telling me her personal issue. When we don't have any work, and just chit chat in the office with no one else around, it's a natural urge to discuss personal feelings with colleagues, as you feel the attachment and oneness with them.
Have you ever found yourself cheated by a colleague because you shared some information with him or her, considering him to be your friend?
Not yet, till today, and I hope it doesn't happen in the future too.
From India, Pune
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Do you consider your colleagues as your friends? Yes, because in my company, we are all working on a certain project. So, until the project is completed, we are here. It's not like any one of us looks to become a manager, etc., as we are not going to stay permanently with my company. All of us know the truth that today or tomorrow we have to move on, so we take it easy, enjoy life, and just act as friends. We help each other a lot. So, even if we finish the project and go separate ways, we can help each other in the future. Unlike other scenarios where you maintain a strictly professional relationship and once you leave a job, your relationship with colleagues ends. Even those who have left some time ago still keep in touch with us because we were good friends when we were working. They don't feel as if we are different, despite the fact that they are no longer with the company.
Do you feel comfortable talking to your colleagues in the same way as you talk to your friends?
Except for certain critical departmental issues, there is nothing to feel uncomfortable about when talking to colleagues, I think. I have experienced this. However, it also depends on what type of colleagues you have. Some people take information from here and tell others, spreading news like wildfire. So, it's best to avoid people like them. But there are colleagues whose wavelength matches ours, and we get along smoothly.
How comfortable are you sharing your personal emotions with your colleagues at the workplace?
One colleague already discussed her emotions with me. It so happened that we had no work on that day and were just good friends. So, she felt like telling me her personal issue. When we don't have any work, and just chit chat in the office with no one else around, it's a natural urge to discuss personal feelings with colleagues, as you feel the attachment and oneness with them.
Have you ever found yourself cheated by a colleague because you shared some information with him or her, considering him to be your friend?
Not yet, till today, and I hope it doesn't happen in the future too.
From India, Pune
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Yes, I am agreed with your practical approach. Lastly, I also feel that by sharing information to any of staff, bring problemmes. One has to take precaution and be alert!
From India, Ahmadabad
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From India, Ahmadabad
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Dear Sanjeev,
Yes, I treat my colleagues as friends but up to a stern limit.
Being the head of the department, I do not visit their place and do not maintain any personal relationships with their family. In case you have a relation with their family, on a tough call, you can be confronted by their family members.
Regards,
Malhotra
From India, Ahmadabad
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Yes, I treat my colleagues as friends but up to a stern limit.
Being the head of the department, I do not visit their place and do not maintain any personal relationships with their family. In case you have a relation with their family, on a tough call, you can be confronted by their family members.
Regards,
Malhotra
From India, Ahmadabad
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Yeah I do agree with you sandeep. With such a competition and self growth scenerio no one can befriend our colleagues as our Pals.
From India, Hyderabad
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From India, Hyderabad
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Thanks for your replies. I think the phrase "as you go up, you make fewer friends" is very true. The crowd thins out as you progress higher. The higher you climb, the lonelier you become. The interesting thing is that this is a fact of life that no one can ignore. One should either be mature enough to make friends without becoming emotionally attached or avoid it.
Just to avoid any confusion, I am not saying that one should not have friends at the workplace, but having friends in the same department and/or at the same level is a rare sight.
Thanks again.
From India, Mumbai
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Just to avoid any confusion, I am not saying that one should not have friends at the workplace, but having friends in the same department and/or at the same level is a rare sight.
Thanks again.
From India, Mumbai
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