Office Romance and its perils

It's your second home as a place of sanctity and emotional comfort where like-minded people shout at each other and provide moment of support and encouragement during the low moments of life. You spend more time with the like-minded fellas on average than what you would spend with the wife or husband if you are married or with boyfriends/girl friends and or parents as well as siblings. Yeah, you guessed it right, it's the office. The very fact that you spend moments of togetherness is bound to create affection, albeit, attraction. Beware! You work in the office and is not a legally permissible place for romance which may lead to uncomfortable situation of the whole thing goes awry.
Ok, cut the crap! I am dead against office romance and it's an absolutely No-no, if you ask for my humble opinion whether both of the people who may get involved or singletons in town.
1. Be Professional in your work. You have been hired to do your work, set to achieve targets in a day, week or month or even yearly and not to romance the girl sitting in the same cubicle or floor. Remember, nobody wants to deal with somebody who spend his or her time flirting and sitting by doing just that except his or her job.



2. Uncle Sam is watching you. There are many Uncle Sams, Peeping Toms and Janes or Khabri who will keep a close watch on what you are doing in office, speaking mushy mushy or even holding hands outside or walking on the streets. If both of you don't want to be an object of delirious laughs, conversos or gossips over coffee, you know how to deal with things professionally. If you are so keen in being made the butt of practical jokes or the star pairs in the office, well! ahem! ahem! Do what you feel is right for you but for sure, don't cry over split milk later. You’ve been warned.

3. Romance at the work place may often lead to clashes if both of you are working on the same project. This may lead to an undesirable situation if the persons involved in a relationship have strong characters and this ego clash may screw the project. What matters is the end project and the team work and not a relationship which will gain upper hand. As it is, romance and work is a perfect recipe for disaster. Romance at work can only work if both the persons involved can demarcate between personal and professional relationship but this happens only in unique cases or in candy floss rom-com. In real life, romance at the work place has much more risks of leading to a disastrous end and it can lead to a severe dent in your reputation as a professional.

4. Often, romance at work lead to break up and in case of a split in your love life, it makes it difficult to work together as tense moments is bound to creep in. It is only in the film industry that actors date and it suits them since they work on different projects at the same time. In your case, you spend a whole day together and it will become increasingly difficult to cooperate as team mate huddled together in the office space. Often, one of the persons involved in the relationship has only one option but to quit or may be asked to do so. It is better to leave a job on a good note and what would say to a prospective employer? I dated my colleague and had to leave. It is reason enough for your prospective employer to thank you for giving his company a chance to hear what you say with a best of luck note for job hunt.

5. A team is like a family where members are here for each other during good and bad moments. It is the positive vibe and energy we share with each other and certainly, you don’t want to be blame for breaking the wonderful team spirit by your romance and it’s candy floss talks behind the back. Be professional and come on, you guys are not school kids that will risk a career and jeopardize the family/team at work.

 

6. Be a professional at work, no matter what and how strong the attraction is. Remember, it is the work place and the sole consideration is to deliver the goods to the best of your knowledge. I firmly believe that the ethics of profession should ride over any other thing at work and one should never give way to emotions. This is one lesson I learned from my boss at my earlier work place and it’s something that I have adopted and will adopt in my professional dealings.

7. You are a brand of excellence and as an employee, you sell yourself on the market. Don’t create a situation where your name will be met with contempt on the part of ex-colleagues, employer or future colleagues. Words spread real fast and the world is too small to run away from.

8. You build your credibility on account of good reputation earned over the years and a small mistake can throw everything into waters. It’s been found that romance at work is an absolute no-no and proved disastrous to somebody’s career, no matter how talented and smart the person is. Love and romance knows no reason: It’s the matter of the heart but you must use your brains at work.

Remember what work for you in a professional environment is, Ethics, Ethics and Professional Ethics and there is no two ways bout it. Office romance can only break your career.

Gosh! Why the fuck do I write about such gyaan giving stuffs. I feel that I am telling people the Dos and Do Not’s but if you feel I am getting on your nerves, please ignore ma sheer madness. I mean, I am nobody to tell you what to do or not.

PS: The writer wish to express that it is his personal views on matters and is not responsible for any computer crash at the work place or the employer involved in office romance breaking their computers or lap-tops. Hence, he cannot be prosecuted by the employees for their office romance staffs.

Cheerio,

Vishal