Workplace expert Taylor, the author of 'Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant,' shared with Bored Panda some of the ways that employees can build friendships with their coworkers. "One of the best approaches is to help out a fellow coworker when they need it. This may not be the work itself, but might be as simple as offering helpful advice. Or just being a compassionate listener," she shared.
"As with any relationship, and the office is no exception, communication is king. It’s easy to have misunderstandings at work when there are so many moving parts. Job descriptions and project areas can sometimes overlap between colleagues, causing conflict, for example." According to the expert, it's best to communicate often and remain transparent.
You could also take the time to have lunch or coffee with the colleague you want to befriend. Workplace expert Taylor suggests focusing on learning more about them and you talking about yourself. What's more, you should try to be attentive—put your smartphone away. "If you have similar interests, even better. Does your colleague like live music or sporting events? Do you share other common leisure activities?"
Meanwhile, if any issues arise (and they will), it's best to confront them sooner rather than later. "Always critical is the way you approach the conversations. Diplomacy and empathy are paramount," she urged. However, Taylor noted that you don't necessarily have to make someone your BFF at work—sometimes, it can be better to have a 'business' friendship with someone you work with.
"Much depends on your personality and how closely you work with the coworker. But sometimes sharing too much information about your personal life in a work setting with a coworker can backfire," she told Bored Panda. "Still, it’s a much better choice to be friendly with as many coworkers as possible. After all, we spent 50% of our total waking hours at work."
Bored Panda was very curious whether it's possible for an employee to form a genuine friendship with their boss. From Taylor's perspective, it's possible to be business friends with them, "especially if you share some common interests and like getting together socially."
However, there should be limits to how much you open up to your boss. "Because work and your personal life can be at odds, you want to be careful about how much you share about your private life. Boundaries are important. You might tell your regular BFF that you partied a little hard over the weekend, but that may not help advance your career with your boss-friend," Taylor, the author of 'Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant,' explained.
"It also becomes difficult when you expect special treatment from your manager because of your friendship. You may be disappointed, or be viewed as a 'favorite,' much to the disdain of coworkers. So the key is that there are different types of friendships, and the topics you share with them can vary. Be kind, helpful and friendly, but also know your audience." To read more of Taylor's insights about work, you can visit her website or her blog on Psychology Today.
At the time of writing, the ‘Coworkers Be Like’ account had nearly 4.4k followers. The curator of the page focuses on featuring funny content that is incredibly relatable to anyone who’s ever had any work experience at all.
The page looks at topics like burnout, frustration, lack of purpose, poor wages, bad management, and workplace toxicity through a humorous lens.
The memes help people take a more lighthearted look at serious issues that they often have to deal with, whatever company they might be employed at, whether it’s a global megacorp or a backwater non-profit.
Though humor won’t solve all of your deep-rooted issues, it can, however, reduce stress and improve your mood. Something that often comes in handy if you have to regularly deal with clueless managers, poor work culture, and unpaid overtime.
Mayo Clinic explains that there are both short-term and long-term benefits of laughing more. In the short-term, laughter improves your blood circulation, relaxes your muscles, stimulates your heart and lungs, and increases your oxygen intake. It also makes your brain release endorphins. Meanwhile, in the long-term, it boosts your immune system, helps relieve pain, and improves your mood.
Burnout is a massive issue in many companies. A recent survey done by Deloitte found that a whopping 77% of respondents have experienced burnout at their current job. Emphasis on ‘current.’
What makes matters even worse is that over half of them revealed that they’ve burned out more than once at their place of work. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has officially recognized burnout as an occupational phenomenon.
Though there are things that we can do on an individual level to fight back against burnout, Jennifer Moss argues in the Harvard Business Review that the responsibility lies with the employers, not the employees.
“Burnout is preventable. It requires good organizational hygiene, better data, asking more timely and relevant questions, smarter budgeting, and ensuring that wellness offerings are included as part of your well-being strategy,” she writes.
Workplace stress has massive negative consequences. Stanford researchers found that in the United States alone, this leads to 120k deaths each year, as well as 190 billion dollars of additional spending. Meanwhile, 615 million people around the world suffer from depression and anxiety, costing the workforce around the globe a whopping 1 trillion dollars per year due to lost productivity.
In short, burnout leads to high turnover, lower productivity, and higher healthcare costs. So it’s in any employer’s self-interest to fight back against burnout, not just for the sake of their workers (which is the moral thing to do either way), but also to increase profit margins. There are very utilitarian reasons to be altruistic, empathetic, and responsive to workplace issues.
