What's the point of having friends at work?

[mugs]

Originally posted by: MrLee
I didn't ask that. But someone else did and I'm starting to see where its coming from. We just had 35 layoffs, 2 of them were good friends of ours. Other then to making things comfortbable, I can't really answer why there is a point to haveing friends in a corporate environment. From a company perspective it wastes time, is very unproductive, and always ends with someone leaving the compnay now a days.

So why have friends? Why even be nice. Nice isn't really all that efficient. I mean if our bosses want us to make sure we focus 100% on our work then why not swing for the fence and just tell us that they don't want us to do anything but work when we are here.

You would accomplish LESS work in such an environment, not more.

 

[SSSnail]

Same can be said for "why make friends in middle school, high school, college?" It's natural progression of life. It's a social environment where you can have interaction with people. Like minded then can become friends, just like any other environment. That is unless you're anti social and nobody likes you.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Originally posted by: TuxDave

Originally posted by: MrLee

Originally posted by: Ramma2
Friends make work enjoyable. If I'm not enjoying myself, I'm not going to work there.

And from a humbug perspective wouldn't you consider that an efficiency flaw on your behalf?

At least for me, if I'm happy I tend to get more work done. In addition to that, if we care about the people around us, we tend to work together better and get more things done. So it's good to be friends with the people you work with even if they end up leaving.

friends and coworkers leaving and working somewhere else is one of the best, if not the best way to find other opportunities when it's time for you to move on yourself.

 

[Wheezer]

I prefer to have associates rather than friends at work.

A relationship such as "friends" is much more personal, and if one of you moves up and is put in charge of the others, well some people assume that the friendship is still in play and will always override any decision to their favor, when it does not, well the friendship usually suffers.

A friendship is a much more personal relationship than just associating with someone and I have always tried to maintain a distinct distance from my work life and my home life.

As someone said you spend a considerable amount of time during your day with these people....why the hell would I want to see them at my home?

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: MrLee
I didn't ask that. But someone else did and I'm starting to see where its coming from. We just had 35 layoffs, 2 of them were good friends of ours. Other then to making things comfortbable, I can't really answer why there is a point to haveing friends in a corporate environment. From a company perspective it wastes time, is very unproductive, and always ends with someone leaving the compnay now a days.

So why have friends? Why even be nice. Nice isn't really all that efficient. I mean if our bosses want us to make sure we focus 100% on our work then why not swing for the fence and just tell us that they don't want us to do anything but work when we are here.

B/c nobody spends 100% of their time at work working. Most jobs also require you to interact with others.

Over time, people that enjoy social interaction will socialize with others. Friendships may form. It happens.

I've worked at companies where a number of folks will go out after work for drinks/etc b/c they enjoy one another's company.

No different than at school and outside of work. You interact with others and friendships develop.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Toasthead
I find it essential to have one good friend in every dept. Makes getting things done MUCH easier

Ah, it's also good that too many people don't go missing from the same department.

 

[purepolly]

I can't even being to imagine not having good friends at work, that would be down right frightening. We have so many potentially dangerous patients on the floor, if I didn't absolutely know that my friends had my back when push comes to shove, I probably wouldn't even walk through the door.

And yes, we all socialize with each other outside of work, who else would appreciate the bizarre nursing stories without being grossed out?

 

[Mr Pickles]

This is out of speculation. But I can give an example that might state my case a little better.

I spent a week up in an office that we have with an IT guy up there and about 6 others working on a large domain consolidation project. We worked 33 hours straight on the weekend, slept, woke up, worked another 18 hours straight, slept, and flew home. During that time that we worked we had a chance to hang out, order in food, goof off, that sort of thing. Bottom line, we became good friends.

A week later I needed that IT guy to get something done and he didn't understand the imprtance of my request. I had to actually be mean in order for him to realize that this wasn't something that I asked him to do during his spare time. This was something that needed to to be done right away.

Had we not been buddy buddy, I wouldn't have had to deal with that. I would have told him it was critical that the job be done asap and he would have done it rather than jerking around.

 

[rasczak]

the only time i didn't have friends at work was when i was working on an alaskan fishing trawler. and that was because most of the guys there were the kind you just didn't want to get to know. every other job i've worked at i've had a friend or two there which makes it easier to get through the day. interestingly enough, I've found that my days are longer when my workplace buddies are not there.

 

[trmiv]

I don't have any friends at work, at least not any I would talk to if I left this job or would want to spend any time with outside of work. I have people I'm friendly with because I see them a lot, but no one I consider a friend. My last job was a different story, I had multiple friends there, many I still talk to on a regular basis. Unfortunately I moved to a different state, and in the 7 months I've been at my new job there just isn't anyone I'd even want to be friends with. It's one of the reasons I keep looking for a new job, I've just never felt comfortable here.

 

[TecHNooB]

Being good at what you do and socializing is necessary to move up the ladder

 

[ShockwaveVT]

Friends in the work place make it a much more tolerable environment, if you don't love your job. Also making friends in your profession leads to job / promotion opportunities in the future. Those good friends who got laid off? Maybe in 5-10 years one of them is a VP and is looking for a department chief in your specialty.

Sounds like your problem was that you weren't clear with your friend that the task was urgent, not that you were friends with your co-worker.

 

[Modeps]

Typically, its easy to become friends with people you work directly with. Why? Because you're in the same industry doing the same or similar jobs. Interests are clearly similar to start out with, so there is common ground.

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: MrLee
Had we not been buddy buddy, I wouldn't have had to deal with that. I would have told him it was critical that the job be done asap and he would have done it rather than jerking around.

Why didn't you tell him it was critical in the first place? This sounds more like a communication issue. If you are friends, you have to approach things a little differently I would think.

 

[imported_glacier]

According to research done by Gallup, having a best friend at work is among the 12 most important elements of a strong workplace that attract, retain and keep the most talented employee. [ Source: Buckingham, Marcus. First, break all the rules. Pocket Books, 1999]

Personally, I find that the support from good friends at work make my working life easier. Plus, their support for me is even more critical when i had to face office politics from my rivals !

 

[Chewy]

for buhhsecks

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
who else would you ask important questions?

ATOT of course. Everyone else does.

 

[EGGO]

You can get a lot more from them and your work.

 

[HammerCurl]

Originally posted by: ShockwaveVT
Friends in the work place make it a much more tolerable environment, if you don't love your job. Also making friends in your profession leads to job / promotion opportunities in the future. Those good friends who got laid off? Maybe in 5-10 years one of them is a VP and is looking for a department chief in your specialty.

Sounds like your problem was that you weren't clear with your friend that the task was urgent, not that you were friends with your co-worker.

Truth.

Also, this was discussed on NPR and what they were saying that friends actually are the MAIN REASON as to why people stay at companies that they weren't completely satisfied with. Now your argument is with efficiency, but come on, no company is going to be 100% efficient. And from a company perspective, they're keeping higher talent at a lower cost (by not having to constantly retrain new people) with people having these entrenched friendships.