friendship

How to Form a Friendship With a Coworker, Even Though You’re Working From Home

By in Living Well 1 Comment Tags: ,

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If you’re working from home right now and you’re a new employee, you may be finding it hard to form friendships with your coworkers. It’s difficult to create a bond with someone when you can’t see that person face-to-face, chat in the hallway, eat lunch together, or interact on a daily basis. And that’s really unfortunate, because work friends are important. Research indicates that work friends help to make us more productive, focused, happy, healthy, and engaged.

But don’t worry. It really IS possible to form friendships from a distance. You can do it. It just takes some planning and determination. Here are a few tips:

  • Create a plan – Unfortunately, you can’t strike up a conversation with someone while walking down a hallway together or sitting next to each other in a meeting. When you’re working from home, these natural interactions don’t happen. So you need to make a plan. Commit to interacting with your coworkers (about things other than work) at least a couple times a week.
  • Find time to talk – Find opportunities to interact with your coworkers. If you’re having a meeting with a coworker over the phone, take a little time to chat. Or, if you’re feeling really brave, invite a coworker to have a “virtual lunch” with you. Be honest with your coworker, and explain that you’re feeling a little isolated because you’re new to the organization. The person will probably be more than happy to spend some time with you.
  • Share your interests – Be open about the things that you enjoy. Before a meeting starts or at the end of an email, you might mention that you’re going to be taking your dog for a long walk after work, starting a new home improvement project, or watching a movie that’s just been released. Let your coworkers know about the things that you’re interested in, and they’ll feel more connected to you. You’ll also have things to discuss, other than work.
  • Learn about your coworkers – You should also make an effort to learn about your coworkers’ interests outside the office. Try to remember the things they tell you, and then ask about those things later.
  • Be helpful – If you can do something nice for one of your coworkers, you should do it. Your small, generous acts will earn you the goodwill of your coworkers, and will also make you feel good about yourself. In addition, your coworkers will be more interested in getting to know you better.

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Markman, A. (2020, June 16). How to become friends with your coworkers while working remotely. Fast Company. Retrieved from: https://www.fastcompany.com/90516285/how-to-become-friends-with-your-coworkers-while-working-remotely

Vozza, S. (2020, September 21). How to make friends with coworkers when everyone’s working from home. Fast Company. Retrieved from: https://www.fastcompany.com/90550709/how-to-make-friends-with-coworkers-when-everyones-working-from-home

How to Get Your Coworkers to Like You

By in Learning No Comments Tags: , ,

Popular_Coworker

Unless you work remotely, you probably spend a big portion of your life in the office, surrounded by your coworkers. They’re kind of like your work family. So naturally, it’s beneficial to have a good relationship with them. Life is a lot easier and more enjoyable if you all get along!

Having office friendships makes collaboration easier. It helps people to be more effective and productive. And, of course, it makes the office a happier and more harmonious place to be.

But what if you aren’t close to your coworkers? What if you haven’t managed to connect with them yet, or form any friendships? Author Kat Boogaard suggests that you try the following techniques:

  • Be helpful – If you can see that a coworker is stressed out and swamped with work, and you have some free time available, offer to help. Your offer will be greatly appreciated, whether your coworker takes you up on it or not.
  • Make small talk – Take the time to say “good morning” to your coworkers, and chat for a minute or two about what’s going on in their lives. Don’t linger too long and don’t get too personal. Just be friendly and make an effort to learn about their interests outside the office. Try to remember the things they tell you, and then ask about those things later. (For instance, if a coworker tells you that his cat has a cold, you could ask him about his cat the next day. Your thoughtfulness will be appreciated!)
  • Be complimentary – If your coworkers do a good job on a certain task, tell them so. Let them know that you think they did amazing work. They’ll feel good that you noticed their efforts and took the time to let them know.
  • Do nice things – Do you have leftover cookies at home? Bring them in to the office for everyone to enjoy. Does someone in your office have a headache? Offer that person some of the medicine you keep in your desk. Are there not enough chairs around the meeting table? Go get one from a nearby office so that your coworker isn’t forced to stand. These small, generous acts will earn you the goodwill of your coworkers, and may also make you feel good about yourself!

 

Boogaard, K. (n.d.). 4 easy things you can do to show your co-workers you care. The Muse. Retrieved from: https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-easy-things-you-can-do-to-show-your-coworkers-you-care

 

How to Make New Friends

By in Learning, Living Well No Comments Tags: ,

Making_New_Friends

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

 

 

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