What to Consider Before Working for a Friend

What to Consider Before Working for a FriendWhat to Consider Before Working for a FriendWorking for a friend in any capacity can be tricky. Whether youre a full-time employee, a remote worker, or a freelancer with your own business, there are some important considerations to think through before taking a job where your boss or manager would be someone youre friends with.Even though collaborating in a work capacity with a friend you already like and have a history with may sound like the ideal scenario, there are reasons for the saying that its best not to mix business with pleasure. On the flip side, if youre aware of and prepared for potential common challenges that may arise from this type of arrangement and feel like its worth it to take the risk, then there are potential benefits to reporting to a friend as well.Lets explore some of the plusses and minuses of working for a friendIt can be awkward to change hats, but you have more insight.If youre used to relating to someone on a personal level as a friend, it can catch you off guard to suddenly binnensee that person in action as a professional, particularly if you now report to that person. While you may have great chemistry as buddies, changing the dynamic to one that involves an inherent power imbalance (such as supervisor and employee, or client and freelancer) can be disorienting and upsetting for some people, and can ultimately affect the quality of the friendship.When you work in a professional capacity with someone, the needs of the company or business generally will come before your personal relationship, which can bring up issues of loyalty. If friends have working styles that differ from one another, it can exacerbate these dynamics. On the up side, if youre really tight with someone, you may be able to parlay your strong friendship into a dynamic working relationship.If youre both good at leveraging your prior knowledge of each others strengths and weaknesses to help innovate and solve problems a t work as a team, then you may become a powerful duo.You cant expect favoritism, but you do have a head start.If you take a job from a friend who then becomes your boss, you may hope that youll get some perks that others dont have based on your friendship. Unfortunately, playing favorites wont serve either you or your friend (whos now also your supervisor) well. Youll both need to tone down your personal connection when in the office and not create a feeling of a special relationship that might be construed as favoritism.However, since you do already know certain things about your new boss such as his or her communication style, general preferences, and temperament, this knowledge may help you legitimately get ahead in your career.By smartly applying your storehouse of facts about your boss-friends leadership style and quirks, it can help you perform better as a team and create a more comfortable workplace environment than you might have had if you started from scratch with a boss y ou didnt previously know.You may be on the saatkorn page, but you wont have the last word.In your friendship outside the company, you and your pal may be perfectly matched and see eye to eye on most everything- perhaps thats why you became friends in the first place. But in an office or business scenario, you cant expect to be equal in the same way since a reporting structure is involved. Your boss-friend ultimately is entrusted with responsibility for making decisions and calling the shots- and sometimes, that may mean overriding your suggestions and advice, however good you may think they are.So if youre offered the opportunity to work with a friend, whether as your boss or your client, you should think long and hard about the implications for your friendship and work life before taking the job. There is such a thing as too much togetherness- but if youre both committed to addressing these challenges and trying to make it work, it could be a win-win for both of your careers.