Team Productivity: Striking a Balance Between Being a Boss and Friend

Straddling the line between authority and camaraderie can be a challenging task for any leader. Discover how to strike the perfect balance, fostering a productive team environment without compromising your role as a boss or the potential for friendship.

How to make sure your personal connections at work are healthy and productive

To successfully be friends with your team, you’ll want to find balance.

• Some of the best ways to work towards and achieve a greater balance include: finding a balance between work and personal relationships.

Treat everyone the same

You can’t pick favorites, and you need to be consistent

• One way to keep things equal among employees at work is to pay special attention when you’re hiring new employees
• Focus more on their qualifications and if the new potential hire is sold on your vision
• Be respectful to all of your employees

Be honest, trusting, and understanding

Honesty is one of the best principles you can use to establish a healthy balance between caring your employees and leading them professionally

• Build trust with each of your employees
• Grant them autonomy and flexible schedules
• Trust in your employee builds resilience — shows you rely on them enough to work where, when, and however they prefer

Don’t be a toxic leader

Motivate your team and achieve positive outcomes

• Avoid disastrous leadership mistakes
• Publicly creating and bullying others
• Failing to share and receive feedback
• Discouraging creativity and innovation
• Not properly delegating work to the right people
• Resisting change
• Micromanaging and assigning too much work
• Setting goals for your organization

Enlist the help of a third party

Seek assistance from someone else if you don’t feel confident enough to strike a balance between being a boss and friend

• Have an unbiased party make important decisions
• Don’t mention anything about your personal feeling and relationship to the third party — give them complete autonomy to determine the decision

Establish ground rules

Stay within guidelines by establishing ground rules (e.g., don’t spend time outside of work during happy hour, volunteer, etc.)

• Maintain a separation on social media to maintain a sense of separateness
• Never confide in employees sensitive information

Take the time to nurture the relationship

Get out there and mingle

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