Are Any Of Your Work Colleagues Also Your Friends?

[RabbitsRock]

I like to think I get on well with everyone where I work & I have one or two folks that have become really good friends. One lady I work directly with has been there for me more than some friends that I’ve known for several years. I’m currently off on long term sick & have been a bit upset as some colleagues that I expected would message me haven’t done any more than sign a card. Even what’s written in the card is not what I thought - one lady who I think quite a lot of & thought the feeling was mutual put something very formal & obviously without much consideration. I’m probably overthinking it though as I know I’ve signed Get Well cards in a rush & haven’t put what I would do if I had more time.
I don’t socialise outside work except with the friend I mentioned, although I’m not sure that anyone else does much. The younger ones used to organise pub nights etc, which I have no interest in anyway, and there’s a Christmas meal but I don’t go.
I do like where I work & some of my colleagues have been very supportive when I’ve gone through some really tough times. My Manager has been brilliant & really flexible with my hours too.

I have a couple of people at work I'd consider friends and by that I mean I see them outside work, we talk or text on our personal phones outside work and I'd speak to them even if I left but there are not many like that. I may have been been to their houses.

There are people at work I'm friendly with but if I don't see them out of work I don't think they're friends.

Do your colleagues know why you're off sick?

I wouldn’t put too much thought into what is written in a card. After all it’s a join affair and everyone will read what is written so it has to fall within professional limits if that makes sense.
As to the question of work colleagues being friends, yes. Infact some of my closest and long term friends were those I met through work. I’m still in touch with work colleagues from over 30 years ago.

Yes, and some of my closest friends are people I’ve met through work. But in my case, those friendships were built by seeing one another outside of work. I’m not sure I’d necessarily forge much of a bond with people I only saw because we were in the same place during the working day, unless the job involved a lot of downtime.

My DP is my colleague….🤣

I met one of my very best friends at work. We've just come back from holiday together.

Some of them are. I see them outside of work, we do things together socially.
But some of them are ‘just’ colleagues, I chat to them in the office, we have a laugh or whatever but don’t see them outside of office hours or work events.

Also a couple of my closest girlfriends are former colleagues from 10+ years ago. Haven’t worked together in a long time now but we have regular dinner dates, visit each other at home etc.

You spend a lot of time working, I like to work with people whose company I enjoy and have always felt lucky to have found some good friends there.

If someone I considered a friend was signed off sick I’d have sent them a personal message but put something a bit more generic in the card that was being passed around. Do get well soon though op 💐

I met my four closest friends at work and we've been firm friends for over 30 years.

Not at work no. But when people have left or I have, we have kept in touch and I have three close friends that I originally met at work.

I wouldn't be messaging people who were off sick...I wouldn't want them to be thinking of work / make them them feel under pressure to come back / bothering them if they are ill.

I also wouldn't put something personal in a card being passed around the office for everyone to read.

Do you message them outside of work normally?

In the past, at past places, I had brilliant work friends. That was in the single days where no one had any responsibilities and we could go out after work on a whim or meet up at weekends. Wake up hungover on a Saturday at a random colleagues house and go out drinking again. However, since becoming a Mum and wife, there’s obviously none of that unless it’s for a couple of drinks after a random day in the office.

I considered myself to be quite close to my current team. However, after being signed off for 8 weeks with mental health last year, it did show most of their true colours. When I came back, only one of them emailed me and said ‘welcome back’. We had our usual team meeting on my second day back and they acted like I didn’t exist. I was so upset and complained to my line manager saying it had heightened my anxiety about returning. That proved that there was still a stigma surrounding mental health. Had I broke my leg or had surgery, I would’ve been sent a card and welcomed back nicely!