How to Strengthen a Relationship With a Coworker: 7 Ideas 

Strengthen Your Work Relationships With These Seven Tips 

The following ideas can help you strengthen a relationship with a coworker. Finding a best friend in your workplace can make every day on the clock more productive and healthy. 

Is there someone in your office you’d like to know better? Maybe they always wear a smile, even on the most stressful days. Maybe they bring innovative solutions to the table, and you want to pick their brainIts also okay if you just want to make a friend! 

So how do you bridge that divide, the one between coworker and friend? How do you strengthen a relationship when you’ve kept things mostly business? Here are seven ideas to get you started. 

1. Make Small Talk

If you’re an introvert, this step might sound a lot more challenging than it really is. In order to strengthen a relationship with a coworker you need to create small talk environments. You probably hear the wordsmall talk and start to sweat. However, one of the best ways to improve at small talk is to harness your inner curiosity, and you probably have that in droves! 

When you ask your colleague, “How are you doing today,” pay attention to their reply instead of expecting the typical rote response. Ask open-ended questions such as, “What did you do this past weekend,” instead of, “did you do anything fun,” which elicits a yes or no answer. 

Remember to mentally high-five yourself for stepping out of your shell!

2. Show Appreciation 

Many workers feel unappreciated at work, but you don’t have to rely on higher-ups to give all the recognition. Giving a co-worker kudos for a well-done job benefits your company as a whole. When employees feel like their contributions don’t matter, they often become less productive or even leave. This turnover and lack of productivity cost U.S. companies between 483 billion to 605 billion each year.

If your colleague crushes her presentation at a meeting, mention how much you benefit from their ideas. While you never want to participate in negative gossip, it’s okay to let them overhear you raving about how much you learned.

3. Ask Questions 

It doesn’t matter if you love them or hate them. Preparing a ready arsenal of icebreaker questions can help you to get to know any of your co-workers on a deeper level. Plus, their answers provide you with valuable insight. 

If you ask your colleague, “How do you prefer to start your day,” and you like their response, perhaps you could chat with them about mentoring you with some life-coach tips. 

Asking questions shows a genuine desire to get to know the other person. It also takes the pressure off of you to talk if you’re shy. Your colleague will think you’re the best listener ever, and they’ll begin to seek you out as a confidant. 

4. Grab a Coffee 

One ideal way to show that you’d like to deepen a platonic friendship with a co-worker is to ask them to join you for lunch or a coffee break. 

This step helps to strengthen your relationship because it enables you to speak more freely outside of the office, where you don’t have to worry about being overheard. Besides, you hardly want to give your boss the impression that you’re wasting time on the clock. 

5. Find a Shared Passion 

What if you’re not sure which of your colleagues would make the ideal office pal? Look at the recurring themes in your separate lives.

Is your backpack littered with running magazines? Maybe you can find your workplace soulmate in your organization’s fitness room. Do you live to read? Ask a colleague about the novel you see peeking out of their briefcase. 

6. Steer Clear of Drama 

Hey, it’s natural to want to feel like a part of the “in” crowd. While it’s true that many workplaces have cliques, as much as possible, aim to steer clear of any drama. Alwaytry to avoid negative gossip. Remember, if you can’t say anything nice, stay silent

Plus, as tempting at it may seem to bond with a co-worker by kvetching about another personsave the complaining for when you’re off the clock. You never know who may secretly repeat what you’ve said behind your back, and you don’t want a higher-up to catch wind.  

7. Maintain a Positive Attitude

Everyone has dark days, but few want to associate with the team’s Negative Nancy. If you’re a chronic complainer, identify ways to keep a positive attitude at work so that people seek out your friendship. 

When you cultivate a reputation as an uplifting person, others naturally gravitate to you for inspiration and encouragement. You don’t have to do all the heavy lifting when forming relationships! 

19 Thoughts We Have While Talking to an Annoying AF Coworker

It’s their voice, their laugh, their obnoxious habits.

It’s simply the fact that they exist and are in the same general area as you that drives you absolutely out of your mind. Like, would it be too much to ask them to stop breathing? Yeah, okay, probably. But there is nothing worse than an annoying, brain numbing coworker. Nothing.

You know the type. The person you have to tiptoe around and act like they don’t fit every single one of your pet peeves to a T. And the person who gets offended by every joke you make. The person you side-eye constantly because you know if you said what you were really thinking you’d get escorted to HR.

So instead of screaming in their faces, you tolerate their bullshit like the classy hoe you are. Even though this is what you’re really thinking….

1. No one gives a flying fuck about your ex-fiance, so please, stop trying to get us to ask about him.

2. Did no one ever teach you what an ‘inside voice’ is? Ohhh, were you raised in a barn?

3. Congratulations on needing an “entire liquor store for attending a family function.” Most people do. It’s called adulthood.

4. So glad you voted for Trump, I can tell you two have a lot in common.

5. No on here cares that you’re really, REALLY craving tacos right now.

6. Aw, your cat crawled into bed with you this morning? No one asked.

7. That failed relationship that you got over, like, forever ago? Maybe you shouldn’t bring it up anymore, you know, since you’re “over it.”

8. That voice thing you do to try to be funny? Stop. Just stop. It’s not funny and it makes my brain feel like its melting out of my ears. Please, chill the f out.

9. Literally no one wants to go to a happy hour with you, give it up already.

10. I’m screaming in my head right now.

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