Are You a Friendly Boss?

Have you ever wondered that being friendly with your colleagues can undermine you authority? Having a friendly relationship?or even a friendship?with your co-workers can make the day much more enjoyable. But what happens if that co-worker happens to be your boss, or one of your employees?

Properly managed, supervisors can be friends with their employees just like with anyone else. Few things could change. Yet it?s important to draw the line?somewhere?between your social life and your professional one. If both the parties in a friendly relationship are not mature enough to understand the lines, it can lead to messy workplace scenes.

Most of us spend a major part of our day in our workplace. It therefore becomes necessary to have some friends at the workplace as well. But?there are significant differences being professionals?and friends, and being?professional friends. Nowhere is this line more important to maintain than in an office setting.?Imagine your very closes friend to be evaluating your performance and giving you feedback. It can get difficult to carry on partying and having a fulfilling relationship with the same person. The question then arises, should you chose your friends based on their designations? And if yes, what are the chances that this so called friend might not get in a higher position than yours sometime later?

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Professionalism is key to any relationship in the workplace. It means that even if you do find yourself befriending a senior, try not discussing the wild weekend on the morning and performance reviews on Saturday night parties.

Here are a few simple tips for keeping work relationships healthy and effective:

• After-work parties are not a bad idea: ?Its fine to grab a drink or go out to lunch with your boss?just keep the conversation light.
• It?s not a kitty party:?There?s nothing wrong with asking about weekend plans, chatting about the latest movie, or inquiring about an employee?s children. When conversations start to include discussions about other employees, however, that?s where you can run into trouble. So avoid gossiping and passing it around the cubicle.
• Don?t ask for favors:?As the boss, be careful not to position a work request as a ?favor? to seem nice.
• Avoid being a ?teacher?s pet.??Allegations of favoritism could put you both in jeopardy of professional misconduct. Additionally, any promotions or bonuses awarded may be questioned, putting reputations on the line.
• ?No man?s ground: ?It would be very easy to side with your friend in a dispute, but as a manager, you need to hear both sides during employee conflicts. Don?t get so close to someone that you can?t remain unbiased.

Friendships are good to have and maintain, but while you are at your workplace, caution must be exercised in general. Get to know your co-workers, look to build friendships in the office pool, and work on those relationships, but know when things turn disastrous for you.

Source: http://blog.triggeru.com/hr-exposed/are-you-a-friendly-boss/

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