Coworker? Only-at-Work Friends? Real Friends? Strangers? Enemies? Frenemies?!

Considering most of us spend half of our waking hours amongst our work colleagues, it’s probably good to get this question out of the way; “Is it good when we are more than just colleagues with our fellow co-workers?”

In 2018, researchers at Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois (USA) conducted a survey of 3,000 American full-time workers studying their attitudes and preferences towards friendship in the workplace. When asked to place their co-workers into one of five categories, the results returned some interesting findings.

35% of respondents indicated they would describe their co-workers as either “Only-at-Work Friends” (20%) or “Real Friends” (15%). 82% said they have at least one friend at work, 30% even considered themselves to have at least a best friend who is one of their colleagues.

In a 2013 survey conducted by OpinionWay in France, 93% responded they consider the workplace a good place to make new friends. We are social creatures we humans so these numbers really should not come as a surprise. Some of our longest-lasting relationships in our adult years can come from our places of work. A LinkedIn study conducted in 2014, “Relationships @Work”, found that almost half of professionals across the globe (46%) believe their overall happiness is impacted by their relationships with work friends.

To add one last set of data exploring this concept, we turn to a multi-year research study conducted by the well-known and respected Gallup Organization. The stated objective of this research effort was to “...identify the consistent dimensions of workplaces with high levels of four critical outcomes: employee retention, customer metrics, productivity, and profitability.” The result of this ongoing project? Twelve dimensions were identified that consistently correlated to the four outcomes mentioned above. As a result, Gallup now sets these dimensions as benchmarks to measure the overall health of a workplace.

Gallup also observed that employees who report having a best friend at work were:

• 43% more likely to report having received praise or recognition for their work in the last seven days
• 37% more likely to report that someone at work encourages their development
• 35% more likely to report coworker commitment to quality
• 28% more likely to report that in the last six months, someone at work has talked to them about their progress
• 27% more likely to report that the mission of their company makes them feel their job is important
• 27% more likely to report that their opinions seem to count at work
• 21% more likely to report that at work, they have the opportunity to do what they do best every day

Boil it all down; our work relationships definitely have an effect on our overall lives, they matter because they affect how connected (or not) we feel to one another. These relationships help motivate us and help drive our productivity.

It’s A Generation Thing

As you’ll notice, each of the studies mentioned thus far in the article was conducted prior to the Spring of 2020. Need I remind us all what phenomenon began just over two years ago? What’s that? Oh yeah, that’s the one, that global pandemic!

In addition to an almost complete overall of the traditional workplace, including where we work from, the hours we work, and the tools we use to communicate and complete our work, there was already a generational shift occurring. By that I mean, the largest age demographics which make up today’s workforce consist of Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z, essentially all those born between 1965 and 2015. The Baby Boomers have already begun their transition into retirement.

It is Gen X through Gen Z who have grown up with technology as an integral part of their lives, most especially their working lives. Laptops, cell phones, tablets, Zoom, Slack, blogs, and social media, are all essentially considered inescapable requirements of today’s workforce.

Consider the implications if the pandemic had occurred in 1950, when the vast majority of workers reported to an office, factory, farm, or other physical location. Imagine the effect on the world economy by asking or requiring “non-essential” workers to stay home. Calamity!

While there is no doubt economies around the world were affected, some very drastically, many were able to adapt and in some cases grow as a result of the convergence of the pandemic and the already changing workstyles mentioned above. Additionally, the relatively short amount of time it has taken for businesses to rebound as a result of the current working generation’s familiarity and ease of telecommuting partially or completely appears to be a continued sign of this digital transition.

And so, as our work environments and the tools we use change, so does our concept of working relationships and friendships at work.

Art Reflects Life

In 2019, the website Work and Money ranked the top 14 television or streaming shows centered around the workplace. Their (sarcasm font) “rigid criteria” for determining which shows could be considered were as follows;

• “The central characters must be connected to each other via their jobs, with most of the episodes primarily set in their shared workplace”
• “Watching the show provides some day-in-the-life insight into what a particular profession or industry is all about”
• “The shows chosen focus on workplaces with traditional corporate structure, with a couple of exceptions made to include working life within a small business”

Without giving away the entire article as it’s a great read, here are the top 5 best workplace TV shows as determined by WorkandMoney.com. And apologies upfront, these are US-based sitcoms although were are certain this phenomenon can be found all over the globe;

1. The Office | 2005 - 2013 (US version, although we know the original UK version to be hysterical as well)
2. 30 Rock | 2006 - 2013
3. The Mary Tyler Moore Show | 1970 - 1977
4. Cheers | 1982 - 1993
5. Mad Men | 2007 - 2015

Without a doubt, there are a dozen or more shows out there that could be added to the list. Why do we mention this? If such a large portion of the entertainment we consume is based partly or solely upon our work lives, it really must be an integral part of our lives. And what drives these shows most often, are the interpersonal relationships that take place in these stories. As 11 of those 14 shows are pure comedies, we take great delight in both celebrating and mocking that 50% of our waking moments.

The Crossover Between Our Professional And Personal Lives

So where does all this leave us? Well, we are at a convergence of sorts.

We’ve seen that our workplace environments, both the locations we work from and the tools we use, have changed drastically in the last two decades and most especially as a result of the pandemic. Next, we seem to take great interest in further exploring our working lives within the entertainment we seek. We can’t get enough of the real thing by itself. And finally, our relationships at work, be they in-person relationships or remote, can often include close or even best friendships. That can be a good thing, both for our professional and personal lives.

To wrap it up with a bow; The friendships that are part of our working lives are important aspects of who we are individually and as a culture. As a result, our working environments must allow for the continued development of these and new relationships while still allowing the work to continue to get done. Boom!

This means the tools that form the basis of our work environment, that drive productivity and communication, must also evolve to allow for these interpersonal relationships to exist alongside as one supports the other. Our healthy, personal work relationships help drive our work productivity, which helps further bond and flourish those personal relationships.

With that in mind, let’s step back for one quick second. When you think of the traditional tools many of us use to get our work done - email, intranets and shared networks, video conferencing, instant and pervasive messaging, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones - my guess is these do not then simultaneously make you think of friendships, celebrating those friendships, sharing both the personal and professional gems of your lives. They most likely make you think, “these are the tools I use to get my work done”, period, end of sentence.

Well, what if we were to suggest that there is a new breed of workplace tools and platforms that provide the traditional work tools you need, but do so seamlessly hand-in-hand in an environment more akin to the social media tools of your personal life?

May we introduce you to the Linchpin Intranet Suite from Seibert Media.

The Beginning of A Beautiful Friendship

Linchpin Intranet Suite (Linchpin) is a standalone solution that runs on your desktop or laptop browser, or on your iOS or Android device. For those that are already Confluence and/or Jira users, Linchpin can be integrated with your instances to show issues and pages on the dashboard.

Consider it your central workplace hub for your daily business; company news, posts from colleagues, events, detailed profiles. Think of it like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn brought together all in one platform, all with a professional touch. Similar to those social media platforms for instance, posts allow for the social exchange of information. However in this context, these exchanges are not only interest-based, they can easily be used when communicating around a team or departmental project or initiative.

You can use your profile to introduce yourself to your colleagues and learn more about your crew. Fill out your profile with the most important information about yourself. Let your crew know what skills you have and help everyone in the company find the right contact person. Learn more about the people you work with on a daily basis and find your way around your company. Or discover common interests and hobbies and make new friends.

You can put a smile on the faces of your colleagues with a 'Thank You'. Whether you're in the office, at home, or on the road, a tile on the home page shows who would be happy to receive congratulations today or who you can wish a great start at the company with one click.

Identifying the general mood in a company is not always easy. However, you can stay up to date on how your colleagues are doing with Linchpin. To make such a feeling tangible, a mood indicator helps. What issues are employees concerned about? What can be improved? Answers to these questions help create transparency and identify blind spots. They promote exchange among employees and provide room for new ideas.

Use Stories in Linchpin and share special moments with your colleagues. The best way to generate attention for an experience is to create a story - a photo or short video that is available for 24 hours and can be accompanied by a short text. A story can be used to draw attention to a company event, celebrate a project completion, or introduce yourself as a new team member.

We’ve just scratched the surface of the many features of Linchpin. Features that can help your organization in its quest to make the work environment more than just simply colleagues working together, and more about encouraging them to better know and engage enthusiastically with one another. And all the while maintaining a level of professionalism and getting the work done.

Get Started With Linchpin Intranet Suite

Interested in learning more about Linchpin Intranet Suite? Visit https://linchpin-intranet.com/test to start a free web-based demo trial, or find us on the Apple AppStore or on the Google PlayStore. If you are already a Confluence customer, check out our Linchpin Intranet Suite integration in the Atlassian Marketplace.

Further Information

Hit the Road, Jack – the Atlassian Data Center Roadmap and More Accessibility in Confluence and Linchpin
By You, for You: 3 New Features for the Linchpin Intranet Suite!
Soon In Your Linchpin Intranet: Timeslots for Events