Having friends at work is important and chances are you chose DCKAP in the hopes of getting along with your teammates–but who has time to think about that when there’s already so much on your plate?
Learn People’s Names-- As Dale Carnegie, author of How to Win Friends and Influence People, wrote, “A person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Learn your coworkers’ names, use them when speaking to them, and you’ll leave a more positive impression from the start.
If you know you share a common interest with coworkers, start a chat room where everyone can discuss a designated topic. It can be about anything work appropriate–sports, a TV show, or recipes, for example.
Meet up! If you consistently invest in the people who work for you–by honoring your one-on-one meetings and showing through your actions that they’re a priority–then when you ask for something extra, they’re more likely to reply, “I’d be happy to” (and mean it). Offering your time and attention to your coworkers and direct reports doesn’t mean becoming close personal friends with them, but it’s a crucial way to show they matter and that they can rely on you.
Proactively offer support, especially when you colleagues feel particularly vulnerable at work. Perhaps it’s at the start of a new project when the project plan needs definition, maybe it’s when a major issue comes up halfway through, or maybe it isn’t until the home-stretch. Whatever the case may be, try to stay aware of these moments times for your coworkers.
You need to be able to anticipate when a task or project they’ve been working on might be turning a corner, and offer support whenever you can. Being friends with your coworkers isn’t the only way to know when those moments arise; you don’t need to be chatting regularly over lunch each day to know when your colleagues might be able to use a hand. Just pay attention to the rhythms of your own work and the big initiatives your whole team or department is tackling, and use that as a prompt to reach out. You can use the template below to draft your first message:
Hi [name]!
I know that [stressful situation] is happening. I’d be glad to meet with you about it in case you could use a hand. If not no worries! Just wanted to let you know I’m a resource if you need it.
Socialize through Zircly. Zircly is our very own community-building platform where we share thoughts, opinions, and achievements openly. Make sure to engage with the posts on there and network with people outside of your team. Also actively participate in any slack groups you get added to. This makes it much easier for you to get involved in conversations with your coworkers and will help you make friends quickly and easily.
Company Tree: Be sure to check out our Company Tree on Zircly. The Company Tree displays the structure of our company. It is presented in the form of a flow diagram and helps to visualize the relationships between different departments and employees.
The last thing we want you to remember about engaging with the community is that we do our best to protect You and the Community at large from harassment, bullying and intimidation (whether sexual, caste based or otherwise). Our Policies aim to ensure and maintain fair treatment and dignity of people at work. Harassment in all its forms- unwanted physical contact, unwanted verbal/non-verbal conduct, bullying, or victimization in any other form that denigrates, ridicules, intimidates, isolates or is physically/emotionally/mentally abusive to an individual or group in any form is a red flag to us, and is acted upon immediately.
If you feel like you or someone around you is being bullied, harassed, victimized or treated unfairly please reach out to your manager, your team lead, or the HR Team immediately. If you are hesitant about making a formal complaint, you can reach out to members of the HR Team privately, and choose to remain anonymous.
Remember, if someone is comfortable enough to behave inappropriately around you, especially in a group setting, they are probably upto no good one-on-one. It is upon us to protect those around us, if not ourselves and we are here for and with the victims of harassment in any way, shape, or form.
