The workplace is full of relationships and they often get complicated. This needn't have anything to do with romantic or sexual relationships, though those exist and have their own unique challenges.
Sometimes the complication of mixing personal and professional in the same relationship is extremely demanding. How do you manage when your good friend becomes your boss? What happens when they have to assess your performance, determine your pay, or decide what project you get to work on?
Workplace relationships often incorporate significant differences in power or status and sometimes that creates trouble.
In workplaces you bring people together who may have nothing more in common than the same employer. Sometimes people thrive on that, sometimes they regard each other as Martians and struggle to find enough common ground to be effective as colleagues.
People carry their lives with them to work. When they are under pressure at home, it shows in the workplace. When they are stressed at work it affects their home life.
Work takes up a vast amount of your time. If it isn't enjoyable, ignoring it may amount to ignoring most of your waking life.
This section of the web site examines some workplace dynamics and possible responses. We explore what you can do as an individual as well as strategies organisations may like to consider.