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Workplace relationships are a unique type of interpersonal relationships with important implications for the individuals in those relationships as well as the organizations in which the relationships exist and develop.

Workplace relationships directly affect a worker's ability and drive to succeed. Today, workers are spending an average of 50 hours a week in the workplace. As a result of these long work hours, relationships form between individuals in the workplace. These connections are multifaceted. They can exist in and out of the organization (these are known as multiplex relationships), they can be positive, but they can also have the potential to become detrimental. One such detriment lies in the nonexistence of workplace relationships. This lack of relationships can lead to feelings of loneliness. Workplace relationships are not limited to friendships, but also include superior-subordinate, romantic, and family relationships.

Workplace Friendships

Friendship is a relationship between two individuals that is entered into voluntarily, develops over time, and has shared social and emotional goals. These goals may include feelings of belonging, affection, mutuality, and intimacy.[2]

People spend approximately 50 hours per week in the workplace. Friendships often develop due to the great deal of time co-workers spend together, their shared experiences, and their desire for a built-in support system .

Blended friendships are friendships that develop in the workplace and can have a positive impact on an employee's productivity . Workplace friendships lead to more cohesive work groups, more satisfied and committed employees, greater productivity, greater goal attainment, increased positive feelings about the organization; they can make enjoyable or unenjoyable tasks more pleasant, and are a factor in preventing employee turnover.[3] Workplace friendships tend to have a positive impact on employees overall productivity and attitude toward the job. However, they can also be detrimental to productivity because of the inherent competition, envy, gossip, and distraction from work-related activities that accompanies close friendships.

Another form of workplace friendships is the multiplex friendship. These friendships involve having relationships both inside and outside of the workplace. One benefit of multiplex relationships is that each party receives support in and out of the workplace. These friendships also make the involved parties feel secure and involved in their workplace environment. Studies show that having larger multiplex relational networks within the workplace results in more positive feelings associated with their workplace environment. These feelings of involvement and belonging lead to positive effects such as increased productivity and a reduction in exhaustion.

Having friendships in the workplace can not only improve efficiency but it can also encourage creativity and decision making within the organization. This will increase job satisfaction and commitment to the organization. It can be difficult to maintain friendships in the workplace. When individuals thinks their friendship with another coworker is becoming too serious, they may start to avoid the other person. This will make it harder for the coworker to maintain their friendship, which may cause tension in the environment. If an individual feels that a coworker is pulling away from the friendship, openness may be used to maintain the friendship by confronting the uncooperative member and discussing why the relationship is deteriorating. Openness is a useful tactic in some situations but not in all. Parties using contradicting communication styles, a pre-existing hostile work environment, and significant status differences are situations in which openness would not be an effective maintenance tactic.

In the workplace, individuals cannot choose their co-workers. However, they can choose who they want to have a professional relationships with and who they would like to form a friendship with outside of the workplace. These friendships are distinguished from regular workplace relationships as they extend past the roles and duties of the workplace. Workplace friendships are influenced by individual and contextual factors such as life events, socialization, shared tasks, physical proximity, and work problems.

Workplace loneliness can be caused by a lack of workplace friendships, competition, and lack of cooperation at work. Workplace loneliness can negatively affect an organization as it is often linked to low affiliation and organizational identification. Lonely workers tend to become overly self-conscious and they may begin to think of their coworkers as untrustworthy. This then hinders them from forming and maintaining important relationships at work, such as friendships or camaraderie.

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