As a professional, one spends more time with co-workers and colleagues than with friends and family.

Friends enhance our lives but it is not always possible to have them in office. Good teamwork and communication in office may seem the start of a valuable friendship but one has to be careful before considering colleagues as friends.

Issues

Colleagues may have some differences with each other.

"Issues that affect office friendships are as follows:

- Promotion- Employees start resenting friends once they get promoted to higher positions

- Betrayal of trust- People who become friends on the job may share too much personal information about themselves, which can later be misused. Hence, one must be cautious to avoid such a situation.

- Competition-Friends at work, despite being friends, tend to compete with each other and this leads to the downfall of their friendship.

- Partiality/ Biased treatment-In some cases when a supervisor is fond of a subordinate, other employees misunderstand all his/ her actions to be biased and it can create jealousy and a sense of unfairness at the workplace." Most of these differences exist in every organisation, as it is a money and power equation, and there isnt an exact solution to these problems.

However, it is observed that employees who are friends are able to handle these differences in a better manner, thus, preserving a peaceful work environment. It is important to deal with problems straight away and avoid causing further conflict.

Friendship improves work environment

"Office environment is much more healthy and lunch and tea breaks are more fun with friends around. Friendship benefits employees as stress levels become low one has fun on the job and productivity is enhanced." The best places to work are the organisations which have open and friendly work cultures. Having friends at work makes individuals feel at ease being themselves.

Keep healthy relationships

Maintain a high degree of professionalism and have cordial relations with colleagues. Have a strong work ethic and be true to your work. Stay out of office politics. To properly maintain the relationship, its best to keep a fairly low-profile and to do most of your get-togethers outside the work environment.

"If one is honest in communication about work with colleagues, one can sustain the friendship. One can iron out differences by showing empathy and clarifying issues. Always draw the line by not getting too personal and always maintain ample space for the friendship to thrive. Its also healthy, not to spill the beans to others in the office, however strong the urge, about your office friend.