Balancing Professional and Personal
Interpersonal relationships can create difficult situations in the workplace - not just office romances, but also friendships. Whenever someone is promoted, they often have to manage their former peers, with whom they may have formed personal friendships.
Having a personal relationship with a colleague who is no longer strictly your peer isn't forbidden, or even to be avoided as a rule, but it does require discretion and care to avoid the appearance of impropriety: a supervisor cannot show favoritism, and a subordinate cannot exploit their personal relationship to gain an advantage in the office.
Some basic guidelines:
- Be forthcoming - It's best to recognize that your working relationship has significantly changed, and that both parties understand the boundaries
- Be aware of scrutiny - People in the office place will be paying particular attention to the relationship (generally, ready to complain if the subordinate is getting preferential treatment)
- Define boundaries between the personal and the professional
- Use mentors - Especially for the subordinate whose boss is a personal friend, it may be beneficial to seek a mentor from elsewhere in the organization to proved career advice and frank feedback
If all else fails, one or both parties may need to seek a transfer or job change. Conflicts of interest can do serious damage to the reputation, hence the career, of both parties.