Identifying the Common Workplace Relationships
You’re going in to work for an average 8 hours a day. Humans are social animals, so it’s practically impossible that we wouldn’t cultivate relationships during this time. Workplace relationships are just as important as any other relationship. After all, they may also dictate employee productivity.
This guide navigates the common workplace relationships that you might have with different people. But before we proceed, it’s vital to understand that not all relationships are equal. Some will motivate you, some you’ll have to bear, while others may even prove detrimental!
Where do you stand with your coworkers? We’ll help you find out.
Co-Workers
This is the most common dynamic in every workplace. Co-workers are people you work with, nothing more or less. You maintain a professional relationship with them that is usually limited to exchanging pleasantries in the hallway. These relationships tend to be formal, and you rarely move on from being acquaintances at best.
Team Members
Team members work on your team or department, so you share the same goals and plans. You work with them closely through the several stages of planning, designing, and execution. This relationship still remains strictly professional. However, unlike with co-workers, sharing a good relationship with them would be more conducive to your progress.
Work Friends
Work friends are a group of people who share a personal relationship with. Your interactions with them are social. You voluntarily hang out with them during lunch breaks, smoke breaks, and even the walks to the train station. These people help keep you sane as you share your work problems with them-perhaps something your boss said to you. You may even meet work friends outside of the workplace.
Mentor/Mentee
If there is anyone who inspires and guides you in the workplace, that’s your mentor. You share a professional relationship with them that is more intimate than the one you share with your work friends. You go to your mentor for advice and guidance, no matter how serious the problem is. Similarly, your mentee is a person at the office who comes to you for the same.
Office Spouse
You share a personal yet platonic relationship with your office spouse. You spend the most time at work with them; you go to them for advice, a rant, and a good laugh. You’re closer to them than the average work friend, so there might have been rumors regarding the two of you at some point. However, they are baseless.
Manager
You share a vital relationship with your manager, but strictly a professional one. You directly report to them, and they assign you work. They play a significant role in deciding your salary and appraisals. They are crucial to your job satisfaction; as they say, employees leave managers, not jobs!
Life Friends
This is the most intimate relationship you cultivate at work. These people become a part of your personal life, and their role isn’t limited to work. They are with you through the good and bad of life and will be there even if you or they were to quit the job.
Wrapping Up
Workplace relationships are important for everyone as they motivate and encourage you. Knowing where you stand with your office people will help improve the relationships, setting clear boundaries that you must follow to avoid any problems.
