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The workplace is a community of its own, and though what brings us together as colleagues is the work we do, we would always get to know each other beyond our professional personalities. In the process, friendships are made. Some even go ahead to become romantic partners (a whole conversation we had in this blog post). And some remain unforgettable colleagues marked by terrible memories.
In this previous vox pop edition of On These Corporate Streets, three young Nigerians share their experiences with office politics. One of them, Folasade, mentioned how a previous experience has made her paranoid about workplaces and colleagues. And that was what led to this edition. To what extent do work relationships remain remarkable, either for the good or bad?
We all have that one colleague who we just can't forget. In this post, six people share stories of colleagues who have made the biggest impression on them.
Ayobami
There are two people for me, actually, and I have good memories of them. We worked together for a year in an NGO. Before then, people had advised me to be wary of office friends, and since it was kinda my first proper work experience, I took that advise to a fault. It was the two of them who pulled me out of that closet when I was at a bad place. At that time, we had to travel to the south-south for a few months, and I had some family issues I was battling and they also affected my work. Somehow, they noticed and came helped me out with work stuff, and we became close. Even outside work, we became friends and there was never a day when our work relationship had to suffer because of persona stuff. When our contract ended, we hung out at this bar and they took the opportunity to lash me for being so distant from everyone at first. One of us has Japa-ed, but we all still talk.
Mercy
I was an instructor in this technical college for about a year and some months. It’s basically lecturing and a little administrative work. One of my colleagues, Isa, is this very funny Hausa guy. Long before that time, I have always had this prejudice against northerners and thought I could never be friends with them, but this guy changed that notion. I think the best way to describe that year was that “work became like a place to be productive and have fun”.
He was that colleague that would make sure everyone on the team is doing well, no one left behind. Few months before that year ended, he just got a sudden call from home that something happened, and he had to travel immediately. He didn’t mention what was wrong and when he would return, and that was the last we saw or heard of him. This was about five years ago, and I’m sure his things are still in the quarters where we stayed.
Jumobi
Mine was my flatmate and colleague during service year. To be honest, I was a pain in his ass. He is really introverted, but I made sure I disturbed the hell out of him. In return, he was really a great guy at work. I had personal stuff I dealt with that year, and it was just cool to have someone around. The school we were both posted to had this principal that made us look like we were full time staff members. Plus, the school and lodge was in a remote place far from where other Corp members were. If I were the only one there, I would have gone to change PPA since. But it was easier with him. Basically, he just made the service year bearable. Now, we live far from each other and haven’t even seen since our POP four years ago, but we still chat and call once in a while. There was even a time we helped each other with the whole job hunt thing. I had other friends from service year, but he really stood out.
Doherty M.
Mine was a former employee and quite a nasty memory. He was the one who got me crazy about the whole Gen-Z work culture thing. We hired him to join me as an assistant, handling content and marketing stuff. I don’t know how he did his resume and sold himself at the interview, but it was a disaster. At first, I gave him the first three months to learn on the job and get used to the process, but he was absolutely nonchalant. After six months, I had to tell the management to let him go and told them I didn’t want any assistance anymore. If I needed extra hands, I contacted agencies who could help on a contract basis and left after each project. Even now, I’m not sure I’m open to working with entry-level Gen Zs.
Blessing
Last year, I was at this company for some months before I japa-ed, and I will never forget the CTO. It even started on my first day at work when I was introduced to him and his response felt like “Get the fuck out of here”. The man doesn’t smile! I was in the tech department, but I had to work closely with them sometimes. Picture this; we are all in the office, working, and having fun while doing that, then this man walks in, and everywhere goes silent like we are in prison. At some point, some of us came up with excuses that made us sit somewhere else to work. If I had anything to do and he was the one to give the final check, I was always fidgeting cause of his countenance. I left the company after some months and traveled, but I will never forget him. I really don’t pray to work with such kind of person anymore.
Emenike
If you ask me to either work with a female boss or stay home jobless, I will sit in my father’s house without shame. That may be absurd though, but really I haven’t had nice experiences with female bosses. And there’s one of them I would never forget, the first one I worked under. Let’s call her Clara. In plain words, she was toxic. And this is the part I hated most; she would not hesitate to hold you responsible and put you in the spotlight when something goes wrong, but on the other hand, she would share credits for jobs well done. The very few times we could crack a joke with her, we would hail her and call her “Boss woman”, but deep down, we meant something else. One of our colleagues then couldn’t take it anymore and they had a serious argument at the office one day. If no one else was there, they’d probably have fought. Of course, he was laid off, and soon, I left too. I worked with other female bosses since then, and while they had their own issues, it doesn’t compare to Clara’s.
Interesting stories right? Well, whether you work remotely or on-site, you would always be in contact with people and navigate work relationships. And you should get it right. Read these to help: How to Maintain and Build Work Relationships