When you’re starting a new job — or even if you’ve been at yours awhile — you know that making friends at work isn’t as easy as it sounds. Cliques and their respective office chat rooms are already in place. You don’t understand the inside jokes your co-workers are murmuring about. You’re the last one to know all the office gossip.
U.S. News chatted with Ladan Nikravan Hayes, a career advisor for CareerBuilder, over email about navigating friendships at work, how to get co-workers back on your good side if you screw up and more.
Is it a good idea to drink alcohol with co-workers? Office happy hours are inevitably going to happen, but you should veer away from certain topics. “Venting about workplace issues over a glass of wine with your co-workers may be tempting, but try to resist,” Nikravan Hayes says. “Steer clear of anything you wouldn’t be comfortable talking about with others in the office, as happy hour gossip can make the rounds [at work.]”
How do you make it up to someone after you somehow upset them in the office? Maybe that office happy hour really didn’t go how you wanted it to go. First step: Say you’re sorry. Then, Nikravan Hayes says you should make a plan so it won’t happen again. You need to know exactly what happened that made the person upset to avoid a repeat occurrence.
Your co-workers don’t eat lunch together, but you’re looking for ways to be friends with them. What should you do? Channel the Beatles and answer the call for “Help!” Seriously. “When someone approaches you for help, do what you can to assist,” Nikravan Hayes says. “Eventually, you’ll develop a reputation for your great attitude and a desire to help your co-workers — and you’ll then become the go-to person for more than just work requests.”
8 Items You Should Never Display on Your Office Desk
More from U.S. News
10 Potential Pitfalls of an Office Romance
8 Items You Should Never Display on Your Office Desk
How You Can Make — and Keep — Friends at Work originally appeared on usnews.com
