Tips on How to Make Friends at The Workplace

Workplace friends are vital not just for personal happiness at a job, but also important to career success.?Many people have been known to quit their jobs, not because they hated the job, but because they were unable to make any good friends. Negative work relations can be a stressful affair that has repercussions to your personal life and future career as well. It might be for this very reason that most adults find it quite challenging to make friends in the workplace, as everybody has their guards up in order to not reveal any vulnerability.

If you are new to a workplace setting, or if you are simply facing problems in connecting with your coworkers, then try the following tips on how to make friends at work:

Be patient

Firstly, Don’t rush or force a friendship. Most people work in an organization for at least around a year, and you can thus be sure your coworkers aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. So don’t be hasty and take your time. Start with simple greetings and gradually move on to grabbing coffee and then lunch together.

Participate

Most organizations have all sorts of events and gatherings being held from time to time, and they provide for an excellent opportunity to make friends and expand your network within the organization. If you are part of a large organization, you might find yourself only interacting with colleagues in your own department. Participating in these gatherings provide for great opportunities to meet and befriend people from other departments.

Find commonalities

Randomly trying to spark conversations with co-workers can create awkward situations of silences, and you might find yourself not knowing what to say in order to move the conversation forward. Such awkward situations could only make your quest for friendship worse. Its best to first find a common interest such as gym, movies, sports etc., before engaging your colleague in a full conversation. Talking about these common interest leads to more fruitful conversation and also provides opportunities to better your friendship by doing these activities together.

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