Importance of Workplace Friendships in Career Success

Since we spend the largest portions of our daily lives working, we are bound to make some friends at the workplace. We all understand how important these friends are in making our lives easier at work. They make coming to work on the first working week so much more tolerable, and also reduce the stress of having to spend 8 long hours at the office each day. They provide for someone to whom we can safely complain about our ‘horrible’ bosses, and also offer support and compassion when anything goes wrong. They also bring fun, humor and warmth into the mix. Work friends are hence, very important in determining our personal happiness at a job.

However, having friends at work is not simply a means to your personal happiness, but is also vital for having a successful career. Following are just a few ways how your work friends can help you in your career:

More productivity

Although it was earlier believed that work friends were distractive to each other and thus reduced productivity; recent Gallup analytics prove it to be otherwise. These analysis shows that people are?more productive?when they experience positive emotions as positivity generates more motivation towards work. You might yourself have noticed that you are able to work better when you are in a good mood, and work friends are often a great source for generating such positive vibes within you.

Enhancement of skills and knowledge

Having good friends at the workplace often allows for an exchange of skills and knowledge. This is particularly so when you have friends working in other departments of the organization. You will often be talking about work related subjects within your friend circles, and such conversations can help in expanding your knowledge on diverse subjects that ultimately assist you in forwarding your career. Also, friends often teach and help each other in learning and improving hard and?soft skills?which further helps your career. Thus, having no friends in the workplace restricts you from potentially improving yourself.

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