Office Romance – What to do when the heart takes over the head?

Passion flared. Hearts connected. Meals shared. Files neglected. They were/weren’t scared. Work affected. Depressed they were. Ignored the Sir. Fired they were.

Sounds cheesy? But this mini poem best describes the situation in almost 85% of the cases of office romances. Be it your boss or your partner, things generally turn out bad. Though the unfortunate end is inevitable, there may be exceptions.

Does being smitten by a co-worker lead to ignoring the work and distraction?

While work place relationships aren’t uncommon in today’s working lifestyle, they aren’t new. It was just less evident. While working, you naturally tend to bond with people with the same frequency of thinking as yours. What’s wrong in finding love with someone with whom you have the most in common? It is good to enjoy the possibility of love at work, but this should in no way lead to an unhealthy office environment. The structural framework of the organization must not be prejudiced at any cost.

Office romance is indeed a reality and if managed correctly, its side effects can be avoided. By doing so, one can balance their professional and personal lives.

How?

1. Don’t jeopardize your career in any way. Read you company’s dating policy thoroughly and take care that you aren’t breaking any office rules by falling in love.
2. There is always the possibility of gossip surrounding office romances. Keep your relationship within limits. You may be in love; no need to advertise it around.
3. Socialize with other people too. Keep your work and relationship separate from each other.
4. Work should be your sole priority in office. Don’t let it be affected because of your romantic ventures else the boss will notice. Keep your feelings close, but your files closer.
5. Don’t interfere in your partner’s work at all, no matter how much you care about each other.
6. Don’t try to impose your relationship on another while at work. Address each other as friends. There are other places where you can shower your love.
7. If possible, try changing departments to prevent false allegations and unhealthy gossip.
8. Never use office computers to communicate with your beloved via text messages, emails etc. That is company’s property and creates a permanent printable record of your ‘not-so-secret’ association.
9. While at work, there are several voices in your ear and many eyes on you. If you are too affectionate with your dearest, others might feel uncomfortable. Try not to divert the attention of others towards your romance.

No matter how well you manage, sometimes the cat is out of the bag and there are consequences. Conflicting interests, jealousy, favoritism, lack of space, competition – whatever be the reason, this situation is a recipe for disaster. If you had already surrendered to your heart and are now struggling to cross this sea of office romance, here’s how you can handle a heart-break at work.

1. Accept the fact and move on. Focus on your work. Obvious but effective.
2. Behave as mere co-workers in office. No use in making a big deal out of it.
3. Don’t discuss your break up with your office colleagues. It may result in rumors which may cause unnecessary smoke. It’s your career at stake. Be selfish.
4. There’s no need to criticize or blame each other amongst your friends. Act as adult as possible at least from 9 to 5.
5. Trying to make the other jealous by any means is a perfectly stupid idea. One of two things may happen – same reaction by the other or ending up in the boss’s office for wrong reasons. Evil world.
6. Changing your company, department or team may also be a good idea here, depending on how bad the situation at workplace is.

Love is blind and illogical, we know. But ask yourself if it is worth all the secretiveness and danger before you take a shot at a workplace relationship.

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