Want Employees to be More Productive? Make Sure They Have Friends at Work.

At Hootsuite in Vancouver, the bosses wanted their employees to socialize more, so they launched an unusual initiative. Employees voluntarily enrolled in a new program called Random Coffee, which pairs employees from different departments — who are ostensibly strangers — for a quick coffee date. The smiling, caffeinated results are all over Twitter.

Hootsuite is onto something here. Having work friends means so much more than just water cooler or pantry gossip (or that regrettable karaoke performance at the holiday party that your boss can never un-see). Here’s why you should show up to your job and start to get comfortable with those around you.

Having friends makes you more productive

There have been plenty of adorable things written about the joy of having a “work spouse” — that is, your go-to coworker pal who pumps you up before meetings and saves you a company sponsored doughnut when you’re running late in the morning. But beyond adorability, close friendships at work are closely correlated not just to employee happiness, but to employee productivity. A few years ago, Gallup discovered that people with a “best friend at work” are seven times more likely to be fully engaged in their job.

MIT professor Alex Pentland, who studies “social physics” (how ideas move through groups and affect productivity), has found that one of the most important measures to predict productivity is interaction between team members. When engagement is high groups are extraordinarily productive. And “engagement” doesn’t mean “everyone in the meeting is throwing around ideas.” It can mean something as simple as “talking around the coffee pot” and “saying hi as you walk down the hall.” Pentland even convinced a Bank of America call center to let their employees take coffee breaks in pairs, and productivity jumped 20% in the lower-performing teams.

By contrast, the reality of not socializing with your coworkers is distressing. Studies by the Queens School of Business and the Gallup Organization found that workers who weren’t engaged with their job were absent 37% more often, had accidents 49% more frequently, experienced 18% less productivity and 37% lower job growth. The takeaway? Organizations should invest time in helping their employees build personal relationships with one another.

Provide your team with opportunities to build relationships.

Small talk is valuable, and a necessary part of forming friendships. Providing your team with the space in which to open up and get to know one another on a personal level is key. One scientific study learned that when coworkers focused more on “self-disclosure and nonwork-related topics” in conversation, they became both more productive and more collaborative at work. Note that this doesn’t mean immediately asking the new hire about his deepest, darkest fears. This could mean something as simple as asking, “What was the most interesting thing you did this weekend?” instead of idle talk about the weather.

Leaders should walk the line, but can have fun doing it

But what if you’re a boss? The best bosses are engaged, empathetic, and open — but how do you manage to be a friend to your employees without breaking down the boundaries of professionalism? The truth is that upper management has to walk a thin line when socializing, but that doesn’t mean you can never crack a joke or let your guard down after hours.

In general, it’s a good idea for upper management to think of themselves as modeling the company culture, according to Gary Kelly, the CEO of Southwest. Want your employees to bond with each other? Spend more time with them. Craving a more empathetic environment? Treat your employees with empathy. Want your employees to have fun at work? Have fun at work yourself!

Walking that line effectively can be as simple as knowing when to leave. For example, at Accela, I often come to happy hours with the team, buy the first round or two of drinks, and then duck out. This allows the team to unwind further without feeling the pressure of the boss’s presence, but also allows the team a chance to unwind with me and vice versa. Win-win!

How to start bonding in real life

The bottom line is: socializing with your coworkers is really an untapped opportunity to increase your own productivity and happiness. Grab a random coffee with a team member from another department; ask that cool new hire how they feel about anything from the revival of ’90s fashion to their favorite place for Chicken Rice; demand that your work spouse saves you a Krispy Kreme. You’ll feel the ripple effects.