Reasons to Avoid an Office Romance

Reasons to Avoid an Office RomanceReasons to Avoid an Office RomanceMany relationship experts suggest looking for potential lebenspartners at work, but that can be the worst place to find a significant other. Office romances can threaten your job and ruin your career. While a coworker may meet several of your criteria for a perfect mate- similar interests, proximity,and compatible work schedules- there are several reasons to avoid getting involved with someone who shares the same workplace. Before you embark on an arbeitszimmer romance and fall head over heels for a coworker or, even worse, your boss, here are some reasons to be wary. Love Can Be Distracting That head in the clouds feeling you get when you begin to fall in love can be very distracting. Now, imagine not only daydreaming about the object of your affection while you are at work but also landseeing him or her throughout the day. It may sound really cool, but if you find yourself gazing across the office at your sweet heart instead of tending to your job responsibilities, your boss will likely have a problem with it. You Wont Be Able to See Your Partners Flaws, Even If You Need To It is not unusual, or even necessarily a bad thing, that you neglect to see all the little the flaws in a romantic partner, especially when a relationship is just beginning. Even as it progresses, you may see your significant other through proverbial rose-colored glasses. Your inability to notice your partners imperfections may keep your romance alive, but it can be harmful if your partner is also your subordinate. As a boss, you are responsible for making sure those you supervise- including those with whom you are romantically involved- are performing well. Your feelings may keep you from recognizing any problems or acknowledging any you do see. It may be difficult to give criticismif you think it could damage your relationship. If you are the subordinate instead of the boss, imagine being on the receiving end of n egative feedback about your work from your romantic partner. Fights Will Follow You to Work Every couple has spats from time to time. It happens. You know how they say never go to bed angry? You could similarly say never go to work angry. While its a sweet sentiment, it may not be very practical. You cant turn anger on and off like a light switch. You may, on occasion, go to bed or work angry at your partner. If you spend your day apart, that may not be a tremendous problem, and it may actually be helpful. Your bad feelings may blow over by the time you meet up at the end of the day. However, if you share a workplace, you may find yourself feeling pretty uncomfortable every time you see your significant other. Your Coworkers Will BeUp In Your Business Your coworkers- and your boss- will have front row seats to your relationship. They will know when you argue and when you cant stop staring dreamily at one another. From their point of view, watching your relationship play out on a daily basis, not to mention the awkwardness of a possible breakup, could make everyone uncomfortable. Some coworkers who have bad intentions could even use your romance against both of you. You dont want to become the subject of workplace gossip. It Will Be Harder to End a Relationship If You Work Together Not every relationship is meant to last forever. Unfortunately, in many instances, one partner recognizes that before the other. Under normal circumstances, you know it will be awkward if you run into your ex when youre out and about. If you work together, you are guaranteed to see each other every day. To avoid ruining your work relationship, you may end up staying in an office romance longer than you would if you were just dating someone with whom you didnt work. Breaking Up is Hard to Do While its wrong to stay in a bad romantic relationship, your fears that ending it will damage your working relationship are not unfounded. Breakups are challenging under most circu mstances, but when you have to see your ex at work every day, it can be grueling. That is even true if both of you handle things in the best way possible. If things were to get too uncomfortable, you might be forced to look for a new job. What to Do If You Cant Deny Your Feelings Sometimes love just happens, even when you arent looking for it. If your feelings for a coworker are so intense that you cant bring yourself to heed unterstellung warnings, there are steps you can take that might protect both yours and your partners careers from ending up in ruins. ReadFive Rules for Surviving an Office Romanceto learn more.