Learn how to follow your heart and, at the same time, remain professional. When people regularly spend time together, a romantic relationship will inevitably develop between them. Back in the late 1960s, social psychologists discovered that we often find attractive those we often see. During the study, subjects were shown photographs of multiple faces. Some pictures were shown up to 25 times; others appeared only 1-2 times. The more often the participants came across a certain person’s photo, the more willingly they reported that they liked that person.
Statistics also confirms this theory; HeadHunter Research Service reports that 41% of employees had relationships with colleagues, while 18% of such romances led to marriage. According to valentine’s Day VTsIOM, 64% of Russians consider intrigues at work “the norm of life,” and 26% are critical of such situations but are ready to accept them.
Apparently, people cannot do without office romances. Here are some tips on how to make them enjoyable and painless for both parties.
Read also: Why Extraordinary People Avoid Mediocre Friends
1. Find out the position of your company
According to research at Vault.com, 41% of employees are unaware of their company’s office romance policies. The organization may have some attitude in this regard; they are not too advertised. Information about your personal relationships at the wrong time can come up and play against you.
Of course, you have the right to privacy, and the ban can only be unspoken. However, if the management does not approve of such things, the situation can become unpleasant. So it’s best to find out everything in advance carefully. Sometimes it is enough to look around; if someone meets in your department or a neighboring department and treats it normally, no reprisals will follow.
2. Think about the consequences
You should always think about how our actions will affect your future life, including starting a romance. However, if the acquaintance took place on neutral territory, you can relax a little and watch where your feelings lead you. After all, nothing binds you except the desire to be together. But in the case of an office romance, the stakes are high.
If something goes wrong, the further career of one of you may deteriorate or being in the same office will become unbearable.
3. Avoid Power Imbalances
The hardest part is when one of you is the boss, and the other is a subordinate. Dismissal, salary, participation in important projects – when the chosen one affects these aspects of your career, it is better to avoid relationships or start them in a different status. If you are in a higher position, it is in your best interest to avoid favoritism to remain professional. In any case, a situation in which one person is dependent on another is fertile ground for abuse.
4. Do not sort things out in the workplace
One of the main questions is whether to advertise the relationship or not. However, the collective problem is not the very fact of your novel, but what may follow from it. For example, a violation of boundaries, in which personal life affects professional life. Therefore, you should not sort things out right in the office. This is not very ethical and provides food for gossip. The same applies to manifestations of affection; colleagues do not need to see this unless it happens in a bar where you all went for a drink in the evening.
5. Talk less about dating
Each of us has a whole set of social roles. To some, we are children, to others as parents, as neighbors. We are both a personal partner and a colleague for the chosen one from work. Balancing these roles can be difficult.
Of course, you can’t do without talking about business at all, especially if you are workaholics and work for you never remains outside the office threshold. But for the sake of relationships, it is sometimes worth imposing such a moratorium. On the other hand, maybe your passion is fueled by how your partner solves work problems, which is how he attracted you. The main thing is that relationships are a priority when you are alone.
Also read: How to Stop Being Shy: 10 Effective Tips
6. Be prepared to take drastic action
Life can give you a choice; career or relationship. At the very least, you have to choose between this particular relationship and this particular job. Based on the polls in Russia, every third person is ready to sacrifice a workplace for love. Whatever your final decision, you need a clear position.
7. Finish beautifully
Staying friends is a challenge that many broken couples fail. However, if you met with a colleague, and now you are trying to forget about what happened, this is just when a bad world is better than a good quarrel. Provided, of course, that both of you stayed in the same company. If not, and the relationship ended badly, you can safely block your ex-partner in all social networks after sending an angry rebuke.
Adapted and translated by The Cop Cart Staff
Sources: Life hacker
