Dating A Coworker! 9 Tips To Save Your Workplace Romance
by Shahnawaz Alam Human Resources 29 September 2023
It started little by little.
You came across that coworker who gives off the vibe you want in a partner—then texting between work, taking coffee and smoke breaks together leading up to – a workplace spaghetti (that’s how your boss might see it).
Workplace romance can be complicated. Well, let’s be honest. They are challenging to handle. You have both your career and your love life hanging from thin strands. You do not know how to prioritize or save one or both.
Can you pursue your career while also keeping your love life working smoothly? Or do you have to break up and focus on your career alone?
Go through this article to learn about a few things you should know before dating your coworker.
1. Take It Slow
Workplace romances are pretty common. A 2014 study shows that 38% of people end up in a workplace romance and struggle to find their way around it. So, how do you approach such a relationship if you are experiencing something like this happening?
Yes, your workplace might be against your romance with your colleague. But, before anyone has to impact it, be sure about the person people catch you with occasionally. People have different expressions of themselves under different circumstances.
An office setting may not be ideal to understand the true nature behind a person’s face. Are you sure that you want to spend the weekends with the coworker you are meeting every now and then? Before you make any move on them, be sure that this is the relationship you need and want.
2. Think Again
This is that time when you think again before making another move toward your college. Dating a coworker is difficult enough. Even if you are determined to propose and go on a date with a worker, try thinking twice.
The impact of dating someone from the office can significantly impact your career. Let’s say you have an office romance, and you are overly sweet and flirty with them on the office floor. If this is what’s happening, then the management might see it in an unprofessional light.
When you are in a particular phase in your career, you cannot risk getting fired or having multiple red flags raised against you. Also, dating someone in the same team or in the hierarchical chain can also create a place for favoritism. If you have to date someone at work, dating someone from another team or another building entirely is a better choice.
3. Don’t Spread It Early On
There is no need to make an official announcement. That Instagram post or Facebook relationship status update (not sure if people are doing it anymore) could wait. Do not make the news public so early.
If you do so, you will get a varied set of expressions from most of them. Either they won’t care; some might think that you are being obnoxious, or some can also get jealous.
You are mature and adult enough to decide it with your partner. If both of you are sure about the relationship, you can decide how to disclose the relationship to your surroundings.
4. Get On The Same Page
Setting boundaries or rules for yourself and your partner are elemental to succeeding in a workplace romance. Not just keeping the romance safe and growing; what matters is also to keep your career safe. Setting workplace boundaries and rules for yourself and your partner will help you stop any gossip from spreading on the floor. Setting rules and boundaries will help you tackle an unwelcoming situation that unsettle you.
5. Keep It Professional In The Office
Setting a boundary in the office might feel like you are overcompensating your relationship by creating an artificial distance. This is awkward at the start. Doing well in professional life is equally important as your relationship. You would not want to constantly reach the limit of violating workplace etiquette. Overcompensating with professionalism can be one of those ways to keep things.
6. Be Respectful To Others
Since you are working a job, it would be better to focus on working a job. When you want to reduce the amount of gossip spread around your relationship, you must be professional with your other colleagues. There is no need to express the depth of your love for your colleague. You do not gain anything from it, neither do they.
On the darker side, this might allow them to gossip. It is better to save the heartfelt romance and personal life-related conversations for your friends outside work.
7. Love Quarrels Are Not Welcome At the Office
You do not have to explain to your office love interest that you were not fawning over Jennifer at the team dinner. Of course, you are not pursuing another office romance. But the office hour is not the time to explain that to your newly bloomed love interest when one of this quarter’s projects is drowning like a middle child.
Take you to keep your workplace quarrels and personal quarrels separate like you would keep so many other things separate.
8. Don’t Let Disagreements Affect Your Work
This is one of the most difficult things you need to avoid. When having a personal difficulty with your workplace love interest, you cannot let that reflect on your professional life. We often find it difficult to balance our personal life and professional lives.
One of them might end up affecting the other. But when working with your partner at the same workplace, you must keep personal disagreements aside and work professionally at the office. Do not let the decisions of your personal life affect your work.
9. Consider A New Job Position
You must consider alternative job opportunities if you want to keep your personal life growing with your newly found office love interest. If both you and your partner are sure about your current relationship and want to take it to the next level (like getting married), looking for a new opportunity to work would be a good idea.
As a corporate professional, you can take up a new job role and proceed in a different direction. This way, you will get exposure to a new workplace while also keeping your relationship healthy and intact.
Bottom Line
Dating a coworker, especially someone you have power over in terms of their promotion or career growth, does not reflect well professionally from a corporate point of view. But if it comes down to saving your relationship, then you can consider the different solutions I have provided in this article.
Hopefully, you have found some solutions to your query. Thank you for reading. If you have any queries related to the same, let us know through the comment section. Thank you for reading.
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