It’s really important to have friends at work. Research indicates that work friends help to make us more productive, focused, happy, healthy, and engaged. Work is so much better when friends are involved!

But what if you’re having trouble making friends at work? If that’s the case, here are a few tips:

  1. Keep trying – Even if you’ve made an effort to make friends and it hasn’t worked, don’t stop trying. But you might want to try switching up your approach. If you haven’t had a lot of luck making friends when hanging out in a big group, try scheduling a lunch with just one or two coworkers. You might have an easier time making a connection when there are fewer people involved.
  2. Attend social events – Accept invitations that you get for lunches, happy hours, or other activities, even if you feel like you’d be a lot more relaxed and happy if you declined. It takes effort to make new friends, but it definitely pays off in the end!
  3. Join teams or committees that will allow you to meet people in different departments – The more people you come into contact with, the greater your chances of making a new friend.
  4. Help people out – If your coworkers ask for your assistance with something, do your best to help. They’ll appreciate it, and they’ll like you for it. That’s the kind of thing that friendships are built on.

 

Augustine, A. (n.d.) Feeling lonely? 4 ways to make friends at the office. The Muse. Retrieved from https://www.themuse.com/advice/feeling-lonely-4-ways-to-make-friends-at-the-office