Blog

December 10, 2013

Building Friendships at Work

We’ve all heard the phrase “we’re not at work to make friends”, and in passing it seems like a legitimate argument. New studies however are showing that it is in fact the opposite that is true. Having social connections at work that go beyond the morning greeting help to boost productivity, increase engagement in projects and stave off stress.

Being able to work independently and direct yourself is an important quality that cannot be overlooked, but generally a workplace requires more than that. Whether it is a collaborative project, a much needed favor or just a question about something you’re working on, having others around you that you can rely on is a huge part of what makes a positive and profitable work environment. Having a solid friendship with those people is not a requirement, but it definitely improves both the willingness of both parties as well as the help given and received. You are much more likely to get the most out of both yourself and your co-workers if you want to interact with each other as opposed to just being required to.

In the same sense, it is more likely that an employee will be fully engaged in a project if they are happy and willing to work with the others around them. Having a positive relationship with the people you are in a partnership with will relieve the need to establish a hasty bond on the fly and allow you to focus on the job at hand, confident in and trusting of the other parties involved.

Stress is a difficult but often inevitable by-product of the work place environment. By building lasting friendships during your career, you create an outlet for that stress through shared joy, laughter and time spent with people whose company you actually enjoy. It is estimated that people will spend an average of 122, 400 hours in their lifetime at work. Spending that amount of time happy and content isn’t just a suggestion to help elevate your career, it’s simple common sense.

CFMS Consulting is a strong believer in the need for friendships at work, and we ensure that every couple of months we all get together to have some fun and relieve stress. Recently we spent an evening playing pool and having pizza at a co-worker’s house. A little while back, the whole office went out for a night of fun and ping pong at Spin in downtown Toronto, and with Christmas around the corner, the usual festivities that come with the season will be complimented with a day spent at the office enjoying each other’s company. The last count had 3 guitars, a drum, 2 saxophones and a flute coming to our office for an impromptu music session with kids and adults of all ages.

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