We have a saying around my office, ‘Coworkers are involuntary friends’. The general premise is simple; you cant pick your coworkers like you can pick your friends. We cover this in new hire orientation during the bit about respect for others and working on a call center type floor.
- Voluntary friends willing spend time with you on the weekends or after work; some even move across the country for you.
- Involuntary friends are nice to you and carry on a conversation with you because you sit beside them or are at the breakroom table with them.
That’s not to say involuntary friends can’t become voluntary, and vice versa. One of my best friends started as an involuntary friend.
As simple as this seems and as often as we cover it with our employees, people get complacent with their surroundings and someone inevitably says something that offends someone else. Even a harmless comment said on the weekends with other friends can be offending to some. People can get touchy.
Reminding employees that even though they spend 8 plus hours a day with the person beside them doesn’t make them their friend is occasionally an enlightening experience. We get comfortable with people and let down some of our professional guards. Employees call their siblings or other friends and talk about their weekend shenanigans while Suzy beside them sits in her conservative pose massively offended by your trip to Buffalo Wild Wings.
The statement is a good way of reminding employees that all though coworkers will laugh and cut up with you, it doesn’t mean they want to hear all the juicy details of your weekend or even discuss the Bible School project with you.
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Moving across the country to work with you; Totally worth it.
My co-workers just wanted to cut me.
This post should be framed and hung in every corporate kitchen and bathroom.