Sponge Bob Agrees: Work Friendships Matter

A friend has passed along an unusually valuable article in the New York Times, “Friends at Work: Not So Much.” Here are key highlights: 1. In 1985, about half of Americans said they had a close friend at work; by 2004, this was true for only 30 percent [what is it today?!]. 2. Because work relationships are more transitory, work interactions are more narrow, with negative implications for organizational health and effectiveness. 3. The workplace is much more “transactional.” Consider this observation: “We may be underestimating the impact of workplace friendships on our happiness — and our effectiveness. Jobs are more satisfying when they provide opportunities to form friendships. Research shows that groups of friends outperform groups of acquaintances in both decision making and effort tasks. When friends work together, they’re more trusting and committed to one another’s success. That means they share more information and spend more time helping — and as long as they don’t hold back on constructive criticism out of politeness, they make better choices and get more done." Read here.