Personal Friends at Work
Remain professional at all times. Two friends should never talk about anything personal during work hours. This way, other employees don't feel uncomfortable, get left out of conversations or risk hearing risque details about outside activities. Discussing personal matters in a work environment can also confuse a relationship, and make professional situations unclear and unprofessional. Worst of all, becoming too chatty with friends at work can easily lead to upper management wondering how much work the two are accomplishing while conversing with each other.
If you like this, you'll want to check out: "Building healthy workplace relationships: Part 1 Diversity"
It may initially be hard for an employee to accept orders from a peer who got a raise. Legitimate friends should want to see each other succeed in careers. The best way to avoid favoritism accusations from other employees is to work that much harder. Being in a leadership role is hard enough without worrying whether someone who is a friend will support the new manager. Sadly enough, sometimes friends can be quicker to turn on each other. While not taking things personally in a personal relationship is easier said than done, that's the requirement for the two to successfully work together.
Go Easy on the Complaints
People have a tendency of complaining to other employees that they have a connection with. Some people feel connected by similar race, class, geographic background, education and similar interests.
Employees should be very careful about assuming the individuals that seem similar from face value share their same frustrations. Venting is natural, but venting too often can make an employee into the Office Gripe. Stanley from "The Office" may have been funny on television, but do you really want to work with him?
On top of that, excessive venting during work hours is counterproductive and keeps people off task. Every worker may feel frustrated towards their employer or work environment at one point or another. It is natural to want to vent, but it is important to be very careful about where and when venting takes place. Wait until after work where workers can comfortably vent, but avoid crowds. They don't want to hear the negativity either.
Remember "Customer" Is In Front of "Service"
Never make the assumption that because a customer looks like the employee that they want to hear all about that employee's bad day. Once it gets to the point where the customer-service employee is complaining more than the client or customer, that's a major problem. From clothing stores to toll-free phone calls, there's an uncomfortable amount of times when a customer service representative can make a client dislike the company. An employee should be friendly with a customer but remember they are not friends. An employee’s issue should never be a customer’s issue. Never treat customers and clients like they're managers, too.
When employees are new, there are usually clear boundaries about who is the boss and who is the employee. But spending 40 hours or more per week with the same people for years will ultimately lead to both friends and foes. No matter the circumstances though, as long as all parties remember why they're there in the first place, these tips should be easier to follow.