Have you ever thought about working with your girlfriends? At Girlfriendology, we know that working with our BFFs can be wonderful!

But we also know that working with friends can have pitfalls. Guest blogger Amanda DiSilvestro share her thoughts on the benefits (and the risks) of working with your friends.

I have to admit, the minute a position opens at my company all of my girlfriends are running through my head. If I know a friend who could work in that position, I would be on the phone with them right away asking them to apply for the job. Why? Because a job at my company is a great opportunity and I want the best for my friend. While I tell myself this is the absolute reason I would make such a fuss over an open position, I cannot help but admit it: A little part of me just wants to work with my friends.

After all, wouldn’t work be so much more fun if you had your friends there to get you through it? As I contemplated this idea I came up with several reasons why I would love to work with my best girlfriend:

Working with a Girlfriend is the Best!

• Security – It’s always reassuring to know that someone has your back. If you get in trouble or make a mistake, it’s nice to know that someone will cover for you no matter what.
• Entertainment – Work would be more fun. The workweek is long, so it would be nice to have someone to joke around with on breaks.
• Great Advice – Most people have no one they can talk to about their job. You can vent to your girlfriends all you want, but they can’t understand to the full extent because they don’t know what it is really like at your job. Having a friend at work would be great because she would be able to offer you real advice having experienced your co-workers and the culture in your office.
• Efficiency – You and your girlfriend know each other well, so if you were ever asked to create a business proposal together you would do a great job. You might know what the other one is thinking, so collaboration would be simple. If there was something you disagree with, you wouldn’t be afraid to voice your opinions.

I think a lot of women get excited thinking about the possibility of working with a best friend. It would make the workday go by faster, and that’s the point. Right? It almost wouldn’t be like work at all. Unfortunately, this thought ended my excitement. As it turns out, I could come up with just as many ideas discussing why working with your girlfriend isn’t a good idea:

Never Mix Business with Your Girlfriends

• Productivity – Work shouldn’t be about having fun; it should be about getting your work done. If you can have fun and get your work done then that’s great, but first and foremost you should focus on doing your career the best you can.
• Distractions – Going along with that idea, girlfriends would likely cause a distraction while you are working. You may be doing something very important and they may want to have a chat. This would greatly hinder your work performance, and in the end could actually put you behind on your work.
• Disagreements – With work comes a lot of opinions. If you and your girlfriend are working together you are likely to have a disagreement at one point or another. Even though it is work related, it could hinder your friendship outside of the office.
• Gossip – If there is ever confidential information at work, you will not be able to tell your friend. This could go one of two ways: First, you could tell your friend anyway and get in a lot of trouble. Second, you could keep the information from her but then will not be able to get advice from any of your friends because then you run the risk that they will tell her (you probably shouldn’t tell you friends anyway, but let’s be honest: It happens).
• Professionalism – You likely take your job very seriously, and this means acting professional in the office. You will not be able to talk to your girlfriend the way you would outside of work, and that could hurt the friendship. Many times girlfriends have no idea how someone acts in a professional setting, and in many ways this is a good thing.

I think the biggest thing to remember is that whatever happens at work does overlap into your life outside of work. Think about your job now even when you don’t work with a girlfriend. It absolutely affects your entire life. You are at work 40 hours per week (sometimes more) and you come home and want to talk about work. It is what is on your mind. Sometimes you may have a bad day and want nothing more than for it to disappear, but your girlfriend would know about it if she worked with you. Do you really want all of your girlfriends knowing what happens during your work hours? Sometimes yes, but sometimes no. Which is more important?

AMANDA DISILVESTRO is a writer on topics ranging from social media to employee background checks. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including document software to small businesses and entrepreneurs for the leading business directory, Business.com.

What do you think? Have you ever worked with a girlfriend (or two)? Did it go well? Were there problems? Share your story and experiences in the comments below. We want to hear from you, girlfriend!

By the way, we LOVE guest blogs here at Girlfriendology. Have a great girlfriend story to tell? Want to celebrate your fabulous female friends? SHARE! (And, we also have Girlfriend Gurus – check that out to be featured on Girlfriendology!)

Tags: Amanda DiSilvestro, Business.com, girlfriend advice, guest blog, working with friends, working with your bff

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 at 8:56 am and is filed under Be a Better FRIEND, Business and Career, Girlfriend Advice and Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.