Comments on: Are Friendships the Key to Workplace Happiness?

By: Richard | RichardShelmerdine.com

Richard | RichardShelmerdine.com — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 06:31:51 +0000

Be content without friends and the ones you do have will be a totally new experience. You’ll be happy without them so you can give them your best side all the time because you expect nothing in return to “fill you with happiness”.

By: Chris Edgar

Chris Edgar — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:17:43 +0000

I definitely agree with what Megan said — given the amount of time most people spend in an office environment these days, we’ve got to make some friends there if we crave a sense of connectedness with others in our lives.

By: Mike King

Mike King — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:59:05 +0000

Friendships are certainly important to making one’s day and job much more enjoyable but I don’t think it is linked to happiness really. One can like their job and still not be happy and vise versa. Friendships make it more likely as we gain our basic needs from connecting with others and building relationships that are important and enjoyable to us but all too often, friendships at work are not the best friendships anyway, they are often shallow connections formed out of a work based need or position, not out of love. There in lies the difference to me.

By: Stacey Shipman

Stacey Shipman — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 01:45:52 +0000

I always made friends at work and while they made it easier to go in every day, they didn’t help me enjoy my time at work any better. I met my husband at work and we had to keep it quiet for a long time, he worked in HR…a big no-no! But we figured, our relationship was too important and if it became a problem one of us would leave and find a new opportunity.

By: Tess The Bold Life

Tess The Bold Life — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:24:41 +0000

I think friendships are what makes our work world go around but I’m a strong believer in boundaries. If you have are in primary relationship outside of work (husband, boyfriend, girlfriend) it’s important to keep that friendship primary or there will be problems. My best friend is my hubs…is today and always will be.

Two girlfriends I’ve made at work over 15 years ago are two people I continue to respect the most over other friends to this day. One only needs to remember where their primary commitment lies and if they are being true to that. If so every other friendship will fall into a healthy place. If not the primary one will eventually crumble.

By: Sue

Sue — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:40:20 +0000

Hi Eileen,

Interesting post–thanks for writing the article. Over the space of many years in one place, I experienced the best of what workplace friendships had to offer, and I was also a witness to some of the challenges that can emerge among office friendships–particularly when a good friend of an employee is brought into the same department. For the most part, I’ve found that the best policy is to most definitely cultivate friendships at work yet still keep a bit of a boundary in place between the personal and professional. I agree with J.D.’s test–and would add the caveat that things can change and for all kinds of bizarre reasons you might your former friendly colleagues are ready to toss you into shark infested waters.

I’d be interested in knowing whether there were any questions on the survey about personal friendships with bosses. That particular dynamic can really open a can of worms around favouritism and conflicts of interest within a department.

By: Megan "JoyGirl!" Bord

Megan "JoyGirl!" Bord — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:18:06 +0000

Friendships were the reason I stayed at my last job as long as I did. I’m a connection-oriented type of person, so from Day 1 I set out making friends at work. By the time I left (7 years later) I’d forged some of the greatest bonds imaginable, that stay with me to this day even though I quit the job finally!

In today’s world of social media and people connecting more and more “outside” of work, I think blurred boundaries between work & personal will become more prevalent, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Many people spend more than half their lives at work — if that can’t include really heart-felt connections, I’d question a person’s quality of life.

Karl, you’ve had some tremendous guest authors lately — wow, and thanks!

Happy Monday!

By: J.D. Meier

J.D. Meier — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 06:14:50 +0000

One of the most important tests I think is whether you feel your team has your back. If you were in a boat, would they push you overboard, or help you out of the water? … it sounds silly, but that little test tells you a lot about the context you’re in and whether you can go out on a limb.

By: Jarrod@ Optimistic Journey

Jarrod@ Optimistic Journey — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 04:11:36 +0000

Last year, I worked on a temporary assignment at our local Blue Cross Blue Shield, here where I live and it was a team of us. Roughly about 20 people. And they were all nice, such lovely people.

I guess being the optimist that I am, I see the bet in everyone but, I actually LOVED going to work everyday because I made such good friends there.

Work was fun because of the relationships we had with each other, so I’m a testament to the fact that, Yes, friendships are key to workplace happiness. They may not be the only key but they play a very important part!!

Great post Eileen, thanks for sharing!!