Having friendships in your place of employment may be a very tricky decision to make. On one hand, it is comforting to our social needs to have someone to talk to and make our work day a little less stressful and a little more enjoyable. On the other hand, forming a friendship with employees may bring difficulties such as not knowing where to draw the lines of boss and friend.
We live in a world where technology is at our fingertips. One of those technological advances is the use of social media sites, such as Facebook. We can instantly know a person just by looking at their page and skipping through weeks or months of getting to know the person the old fashioned way. Although Facebook is a great tool for connecting with friends, it may not be so useful or recommended for the supervisor/boss relationship with a worker. Forming a friendship with employees only makes disciplinary actions difficult and blurs the boundaries of professional relationships. Knowing how to set boundaries between employees is very important. This does not mean that we must be serious and rude to our employees. We may show that we care or be supportive of our employees but accepting an invitation to go out for drinks after work would not be a wise decision. It is better to have other friendships outside of the work area.
As we have learned, it is not a good idea to have friendships with employees. Not only does it make taking disciplinary actions difficult but it also blurs the lines of professional boundaries. We may interact with employees for many hours a week and not forming friendships may be difficult, but in the end it will be beneficial for the business and keeping a positive environment.
I was taught to respect but not necessarily be friends with, or even like, my boss. Having respect for, and being friends with my peers, was encouraged. Being friendly with your workmates to me was conducive to more efficient working and better results…but with a manager or Boss!! It’s a difficult question this. On the one hand most people seem to agree that Leaders and Managers develop better by being engaged with Social Media (broader perspective, understanding their customers better, etc) but then using social media they may become too close to their employees and visa versa.
So should you be friends with your boss what are your thoughts on this?
Quent Bendele (Social Media commentator).