You may think dating someone you work with is cool. They know you, you see them often, and there is a lot you can talk about because you both work in the same industry. However, these relationships are not necessarily free of obstacles, especially at first. This is where the work-life balance gets complicated and stressful for you both. While it is easy to date at the office, it can damage your career and your relationship. Here are 10 reasons why dating a colleague is a bad idea.
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Blurring Personal and Professional Boundaries
If you are dating a workmate, do not expect that your work and private lives will coexist smoothly. Most of the time, you may end up discussing work issues at home. Plus, you will also bring your personal conflicts to the office. This will eventually cause anxiety, and your relationship will give you more headaches.
Disrupts Team Dynamics
Dating in the company might alter the environment and your relationships with other colleagues. Other team members might feel awkward, excluded, or even angry about the connection. Group projects will be less efficient because people would feel like there’s a “couple” in the group, making the team dynamic less effective.
Breakups Create Tension at Work
If you breakup, you will still have to see each other every day. Breakups are bad enough without having to interact constantly with your ex, and it can create a difficult or even stressful work environment. It’s also hard for colleagues who might find themselves wedged in between, wondering how to manage each of you without blowing it.
Invites Gossip
If colleagues hear about your relationship, the romance will quickly turn into gossip. Others will focus more on your relationship than your work, which can damage your career, and keep their eyes off what you have to offer.
Can Hold Back Career Opportunities
Although you are dating a colleague, you both don’t have the same opportunities. So you or your partner might reject a promotion or transfer to avoid moving away from each other — even if it would have helped your career. In some cases, companies aren’t willing to promote their workers in office relationships because it might be a conflict of interest.
Risk of Breaking Company Policies
Most companies have workplace relationship policies in place, especially when it involves a manager and an employee. Make sure to learn how your company is handling relationships to avoid nasty surprises.
Jealousy and Possessiveness May Arise
Even though you are in a relationship, working as a team means you have to spend a lot of time with other colleagues, which can make your partner jealous. In the long run, this will create more conflicts in your personal life, and you both may have to distance yourselves from each other.
Distractions from Work
When you’re in close quarters with your boyfriend or girlfriend, things get distracting. You may spend your time chatting and find it difficult to focus on work. This can decrease your productivity, cause you to miss deadlines, and even lead to mistakes, reducing your work quality and performance.
Difficult to Stay Professional During Disagreements
Everyone has quarrels, but when that takes place at work, it’s hard to keep it professional. A one-on-one issue could change the way you treat each other at work and make office encounters awkward or strained. Workmates see it, too, and your problems might bring down the entire team, which can lower morale.
Complicates Office Social Events
Company meetings, whether a company lunch or an office party, can become awkward if you’re dating a colleague. Because your partner is around, other people may feel like they are taking up space or dealing with a “couple dynamic” that no one else wants to participate in. It can also pressure you to behave in specific ways in front of colleagues, making these get-togethers unpleasant.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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