15
We none of us can do it alone. So, how’s your ‘work family’ holding up? And can you call your colleagues ‘friends’?
It matters: over half of us say having a friend at work makes us more productive and creative. Yet 44% of us report having no true friends at work.
People with fewer work friends report 77% more stress, 109% more burnout, and 158% more anxiety and depression. So, why wait for them to come to you? Reach out, and make a friend today!
Try this experiment
Shh…no-one needs to know, but we dare you to play a game of ‘Get to Know Your Colleague’. Rules are simple:
- Find a workmate with whom you have a nodding acquaintance.
- When opportunity allows, try to ask this colleague 3 consecutive open questions (ie, questions that can’t be answered with a one word answer, like ‘yes’, ‘no,’ or ‘burgundy’).
- 3 answers down, do you know them better? Or are you resolved NEVER TO ENGAGE THEM IN CHAT AGAIN? If it’s the latter…
- Rest, recover – and hazard 3 consecutive questions at a fresh colleague.
- Keep going until you have made a friend. Or been fired for harassment (make 2025 a year to remember!)
Why it works
Open-ended questions encourage more meaningful chats, generating trust and rapport as they trigger oxytocin, the “bonding hormone.” By persisting with the game, you build your social resilience, and get into the habit of chatting to everyone…anyone… someone who could become your friend!
And finally – a ‘Friends’ clip. (Yes, of course, we were going to go there! Just hearing the theme music cheers us up. Could I beeeeeee wearing any more clothes?)