5 reasons why being friends with coworkers is a bad idea

1. Friends are more likely to be distracted

And they admit it themselves when they participate in the survey. Here, in general, everything is logical. If a friend works in the next office, there are much more temptations to go to the smoking room or drink an extra cup of tea in pleasant company. As well as chatting with each other in the messenger or just chatting while you work.

This is unlikely to have a huge impact on results, but working with such a powerful distraction around can be difficult.

2. More friends - fewer alternative opinions

Yes, in one of the polls it turned out that teams that consist of friends are less likely to come up with fresh innovative ideas, since all their members tend to think in approximately the same direction, support each other's opinion and not get into arguments. But discussions, if conducted in a civilized manner, on the contrary, can lead people to interesting decisions.

3. Separating the personal from the worker can be difficult

Especially if people often communicate in the process of work, and not just sit somewhere in different departments. Switching over and seeing in front of you not just a friend, but also a colleague can be difficult. As well as putting the professional above the personal.

Therefore, difficult and unpleasant situations are not excluded. For example, such:

The man expressed a stupid idea, but no one dared to tell him about it: they did not want to offend a friend.
Some of the employees occasionally mumble, but they turn a blind eye to this out of friendship.
In a conflict situation, people take the side of a friend - regardless of whether he is right or not - and prejudice his opponent.
It is much more difficult to be strict with a friend, especially if they are having difficult times. So the workflow may suffer.
If friends quarrel violently outside of work, it is possible that it will be difficult for them to cooperate for a while. And a conflict will flare up at work too.

4. Friendship is incompatible with competition

If both friends are in roughly the same positions and have similar career goals, their relationship can become a problem. Because a friend is also a competitor.

And you have to solve a difficult ethical dilemma: be tough and try to earn a higher position without looking back at your friend and his feelings, or be soft and miss a good career opportunity. A balance between these two extremes is possible, but it can be difficult to achieve.

5. Friendship is not eternal

People periodically break off relationships. Sometimes - on a very unpleasant note. And after one of them set the other up, said nasty things to him, or did something else bad, they still have to come to work in the morning and communicate. It's not as hard as it is when a romantic couple breaks up, but it's also pretty awkward.

And if people manage to quarrel so that they turn from friends into enemies, each of them will have personal information about the other. It will be enough to spread gossip, put pressure on pain points and do nasty things. And this can have a great effect on both the career and the psychological climate in the team.

So, before getting along with a person, including in a friendly way, you should carefully ask how he speaks about past friends.

Of course, there are also positive aspects. People who have friends in the team perform better and receive more attention and support. They feel important and share the company's mission.

However, it is worth remembering that you come to work in order to solve certain problems and earn money. And friendship can sometimes get in the way.