Are the people you work with your kind of people?

[PrincessHoneysuckle]

I get on with my colleagues well but they are reserved compared to me.At my old work place it was an anything goes type of work place where you could talk about literally anything and noone would bat an eyelid This is what I'm like as a person and my friends are too.Do you work with similar people to you or do you just have your workplace in common?

[DestinationFkd]

I can't recall mentioning drinking and swearing in my post @Sparklesocks

[iano]

I only like about 10% of them. I used to love them all. The place has really changed

[EmeraldShamrock]

They're a nice bunch of people who work the night shift, all pleasant just there for the paycheck the day staff are a different kettle of fish the majority are a manager or supervisor of some petty thing enjoying a wee power trip.

[isabellerossignol]

I've worked in quite a few different places over the years. I've always got on well with colleagues generally but there is only one other workplace, aside from where I work now, where I made friends that lasted and have remained actual friends long after we were no longer colleagues.

[maddiemookins16mum]

We’re all very different but get on well.
However, my last job was in travel and everyone I worked with were very much cut from the same cloth and we were (and still are) incredibly close (perhaps because we’d all been in that sector for decades). I think that happens in certain types of job.

[isabellerossignol]

I think when colleagues get on well it's a special kind of bond. That sounds really cheesy but hear me out. I went to a charity event a few months ago that was organised by my best friend's employer. As a result loads of the people there also worked for her company. It was a great night out but I had great fun observing people because I could immediately see what tables consisted of groups of colleagues and which were groups of non work friends, and when I checked with my friend I was right every time.

On the flip side, a bad relationship with your colleagues would be a special sort of hell.

[Lemonyfuckit]

Not really. Well, some of them might be, but no one in my place brings their actual personality to work, they are all just relentlessly corporate. So I don't feel like I can ever say what I really think, I too just have to be bland and corporate, all the time. It's very very boring, and I don't feel any kind of connection with anyone. We very rarely do any sort of team drinks, but when we do, again, people still just have their work faces on. There was one guy in my team who I felt actually acted like his true self, which was such a breath of fresh air, but he's left, and I really miss working with him!

[dudsville]

My team is staffed with very intelligent, interesting and highly ethical people who understand diplomacy. This means we can really discuss and explore ideas. I like this very much but, although we do have a real laugh occasionally, the work doesn't call for it and by nature I'm a little more batty. I suspect this is true of a lot of my team.

[MondeoFan]

No one of them are. There's only like 12 of us who work there and most are moody, out of 12 of us 6 are in a senior position and not overly friendly.
Would love to have a job where everyone is nice and a laugh

[PrincessHoneysuckle]

3 of my oldest best friends were former colleagues I miss that kind of friendship in the workplace

[amillionnamechangeslater000]

@PrincessHoneysuckle nearly all of my friends are work colleagues from over the years

[billybullshitterz1n]

I found my tribe in my current job. Utterly brilliant people I now consider good friends. I'm moving onto pastures new soon and one of the contributing factors was that we had all moved on to promotions and new roles. I hope to find a new tribe in my new role as you spend an awfully long time at work and those tight relationships certainly makes the experience better.

[BeNiceToYourSister]

Fuck no! I’m a sweary leftie feminist goth with young kids and colleagues are mostly conservative/reactionary types in their 50s/60s with a completely different outlook to mine. I find it very lonely and depressing sometimes (and they clearly think I’m a loon). It’s wonderful not to have to see them every day and listen to their bile now we’re all WFH. I really miss the camaraderie of the jobs I had in my 20s.

[NoMoreFlowers]

One is. The other hundred or so aren’t

[BayLeaves]

It's a tricky one. I was once in a male-dominated corporate team where I was in my early 20s and the rest were middle-aged men. TBH I would rather not have an 'anything goes' culture in that context because it can make you feel uncomfortable if older men are making jokes about shagging and boozy nights out etc

[Crikey0000]

There's a couple who I can relax around, most of the are nice enough, we don't connect entirely but I like to think we respect one another. Maybe I'm deluded and they all slag me off behind my back 😏

[crosser62]

Mostly yes, but there’s a lot of them.
Dark dark humour and kindness combined.
Open, funny, funny people.
We lean heavily upon each other, we support and boost each other.
We celebrate our work yet I’ve never met such humble human beings.
They are colleagues, friends, and an absolute privilege to be around.
Every one of them a hero and an amazing person.
They could save your life, ensure your comfortable and peaceful death, they could keep you from the edge of the cliff as you are about to fall off throughout the duration of one shift.
Honestly, they are my people, your people, your loved ones people, your friends as well as mine.
Love um!

[LettyBriggs]

Not at all. My boss is a weapon of the highest order. The rest of them are nice enough but won’t miss any of them if ever I leave.

[AgeLikeWine]

Yes. Aviation ‘lifers’ are a different breed, and I’m one of them. We are multi-national, multi-lingual and well travelled. Many of us have been around so long that we remember the ‘good old days’ before the low-cost carriers buggered up so much of what was good about our industry.

I’m pretty institutionalised so I wouldn’t fit in a ‘civilian’ environment. I would be a fish out of water in a po-faced, politically correct public sector job.

[Livpool]

I get on really well with 2 of them, pretty well with most and can't stand a couple! I think that is fairly standard!

I think the person I am closest to has become more of a real friend during lockdown as we have made a genuine effort to keep in touch and call each other. We talk about anything

[IjustbelieveinMe]

I started a new job last November. It's the first job I have worked where I don't feel like I have gelled with anyone. There is a clique of 3 girls who I am convinced were sending text messages about me to each other when I first started. Every person in the team are friends with each other on Facebook (yes I have stalked). But my manager is a lovely person and the only reason I have stayed so far.

Now we are all working from home we have a Teams meeting every day at 3.30pm. I dread these meetings because it's the same 3 girls who take over the conversation, interrupt me when I try to ask a question, or just talk about themselves. My manager- a bloke- is too kind to direct or structure the meeting to allow everyone to get the chance to speak up. I now keep my camera turned off (I say it's because of internet issues) and mute my microphone.

I am hoping that when we return to work it will be staggered so I don't have to be in the same company as them all.
This team has caused me so much anxiety and I have had to have counselling because of it.
Like others have said, I too have remained friends with colleagues from previous jobs and have never felt this way before about working with other people.

[JustaScratch]

My team are all quite a bit younger than I am so I feel a bit protective and motherly towards them. I like each of them very much, but I definitely consider them colleagues, not friends. I wouldn't want to hang out with them at the weekends!

[BikeRunSki]

Yes, the works we do attracts a particular mindset

[SpiritEssence]

Yes the 2 main colleagues in work with we get on really well. Infact one has become a very good friend now and when we work together we have a good laugh. The rest are a bit older than me and are all nice to.

[BobbinThreadbare123]

Not on the whole, no. I don't mind that but I am often on the periphery, as is usually the case. But - I work almost entirely with men and I miss working with women. I like most of them and we get on in general. One chap is becoming a friend though, and we natter most days.