Your personal life should always be separated from your professional life, but sometimes they meet at a point, e.g., working with your friend in the same office. Several pieces of advice discourage working with your close friends. This is because the friendship both parties share may get in the way of work.
You will have to face many excesses you can’t open up about unless you’re tagged as a bad friend. For instance, your friend takes credit for your work. As close pals, it’s normal to cover up for each other. But after putting in much work without getting the deserved recognition, anybody will be hurt. Aside from talking to your friend about it, there are two ways you can approach such situations, and they include:
Differentiate Friendship from Work
Separating work from friendship is one way to solve such a problem. This means discussing with your friend that when it’s time for work, there are certain things you guys can’t talk about or do. Also, establish that you don’t want to discuss work after work hours. Then, you can set boundaries where you are comfortable but with your friend in mind. They include:
- Friend communication should be limited to phone and text, while work communication is strictly on Slack, Discord, or the preferred work communication platform.
- No reviewing each other’s work.
- Do not treat them differently than other colleagues. Don’t be extra nice or extra hard on them.
Zero Your Expectations
If you are uncomfortable setting boundaries for your friend, you must remove all expectations of getting credit for your work.
It’s okay to categorize such behaviour from your friend as toxic, and reasons for remaining close to that person are best known to you. A friend should have your back anywhere and anytime, not taking credit for your work or contribution.
