In college, making friends is as
simple as walking over to the dorm room next door and plopping down on the bed.
After graduation, however, there are no such opportunities. Because you might
be too busy to go out and meet new people, the tendency is to target your
coworkers.
But there are differences between
close friends who will be there for you through life’s tough times and people
you hang out with while you happen to be stuck in the same building. You can
spare yourself disappointment later on by noting the differences between a work
friend and a real friend. Here are some
questions to ask yourself:
· If your friend left the company,
would you still be in touch with her in a year?
· If you had a personal emergency,
would you consider asking your friend for help?
· Do you hang out with your friend
outside the office? (weekday lunches, happy hours, and business trips don’t
count.)
· Have you met your friend’s
significant other? What about her friends outside the office?
· If your friend received the
promotion you were banking on, would you be genuinely happy for her?
· If you ran into your friend in the
grocery store, would you be able to talk to her for 10 minutes without mentioning
work?
· Have you seen where your friend
lives?
· Do you and your friend have anything
in common besides your age and your job?
If you answered yes to several of
these questions, you might have found yourself a real friend at work. Take care of this relationship by making a
concerted effort to spend time with your friend outside the office, and to avoid
working together too closely.
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