Can your boss be your friend?

December 22, 2011|Interesting Facts, Tips At work| No comments yet

They’re friends and co-workers. Not just co-workers, but boss and employee co-workers. The question arises, “How do they make that work?” With some basic understandings spelled out between them, they manage to make their professional and non-work-related relationships succeed.

While some may argue that as boss, you cannot be friends with your employees, and that, as an employee, you shouldn’t be friends with your supervisor, it can be done. Those saying it is impossible state that bosses should avoid getting too close to an employee because it can look like favoritism with every decision that the manager makes where the friend is remotely involved. Between the employee and manager, however, some basic rules of professional and friendly conduct must be established and adhered to. If they are, the boss-friend relationship can exist.

First, whether you are the boss or the employee, commit to discussing work outside office hours in only the most disinterested, factual way. Avoid any gossip, knowing looks when you know the other person wants to say more about a work situation or any other indication that you understand or are dying to know how the person feels about something about work.

Next, if you are the manager, keep your insider manager knowledge about upcoming changes to the company on the low-down. Avoid giving your friend a head’s up that the department will soon be downsizing, and she may lose her job. Other employees can become very upset if you tell your friend first. As a friend, don’t expect to be first to know.

Finally, neither expect nor give special treatment. If you are friends with an employee, don’t expect him to tell you all the gossip that is going on in the department. As a manager, you should also let your friend know that he will be disciplined like anyone else if he breaks company rules. Likewise, don’t expect your boss to give you the best office chair, to not discipline you or to promote you just because you are her friend. When you have no expectations, you are not disappointed, and your friendship and working relationship don’t suffer.

Having your boss as your friend and being friends with your employees can make your working environment more pleasant. With established boundaries and expectations, both working and personal relationships can continue to thrive and grow. It is only when unrealistic expectations arise that one or the other of the relationships suffers.