Relationships in the Workplace

It’s important to have good relationships in the workplace. After all this is where you will spend a third of your life. There are a couple of things we can all do to make our relationships at work more pleasant and less like we were back in high school.

Don’t get too personal. It’s nice to have friends at work. Some of us may even have a really good friend that we trust and know we can share certain aspects of our personal lives without it circulating the office. However, when it comes to serious personal issues, not everyone needs to be your friend and many of the people you work with should only be on a need to know basis. If you’re having marriage trouble or medical issues it doesn’t need to be broadcast. If you must take time off of work due to family issues or the like, the only person who needs any type of explanation from you is your boss.

Stay away from gossip. Sometimes this is easier said than done. Gossip in the workplace is never healthy for any involved. Actually this also plays into not getting too personal at work. The more people know about you and the more you share, it seems the more people talk (whether or not they actually know what their talking about). For some reason, many people love to talk about other people’s lives. I tend to believe it’s due to their own insecurities and lack of interest in their own lives. It certainly isn’t out of care or concern for yours. People are always going to talk; there is no stopping this. But you can make your life a little easier and your co-workers may respect you a little more if you stay out of it and try to ignore it no matter how juicy the latest gossip may seem at the time.

We have to remember that this is still the workplace; not everyone is looking out for our best interest. Our personal lives are just that; personal. It’s nice to share things with our co-workers when we are excited about great news we have received or the plans we have for the weekend (and that’s not the drunken binge you’re planning with your old frat friends). This is almost necessary to keep up workplace moral and to keep our own sanity. However, there is a line that needs to be drawn for the type of information we share and who we share it with.