Did you know one third of Americans have met a close friend at work? You’re not surprised? You’ve made a close friend at work before? So have I! I recently moved from working at home to a co-working space and the difference has been drastic. My productivity has gone through the roof. The social aspect not only makes working not seem like it drags on all day, but creates an environment for collaboration. We’re all in start-ups or freelancing and everyone has some skill they’ve seemed to master.
I’ve also worked in traditional office environments, as well as extremely fast-paced service industry jobs. I feel that making friends is vital in all working environments and no matter the job at hand I’ve been able to make a few. Sometimes my friendships end the moment one of us leave the job, sometimes they become lifelong relationships.
Working in a community improves moral, it improves happiness and most importantly to the company, it improves the employee’s connection with the firm.
I always believed that having a friendly, casual atmosphere at work and keeping your employees healthy can create great employee chemistry. Having company outings where employees get to socialize and ‘be themselves’ are critical. [via]