2. Many Of Your Workplace Friendships Are Kaput
In line with several previous points, it is hard to effectively maintain a sense of hierarchy when you're working among people you consider friends. A boss is tasked with listening to and helping his or her employees€”but if a boss tries too hard to be a friend instead of a superior, expectations can become muddled. Friends give friends deadline extensions. Bosses don't. Friends let friends get away with "okay" work. Bosses don't. Friends don't bother calling out friends' minor missteps. Bosses do. If you've seen
The Office, you've seen the pitfalls of a boss who values
his own likability over workplace productivity. It's fun to be the life of the party (or office), and it's important to establish a trusting relationship with your staff. But as the boss, you need to strike a balance between these two extremes.