Family at the Workplace?

Image by @randyfath on Unsplash

“You shouldn’t treat your colleagues or workplace like your family.” - I’ve read many articles that support this idea, or at least something close to it.

But it makes me pause and ask: what does it actually mean to be a family within a company?

To me, being a family is about having one another’s back. It’s about looking out for each other as we work together, and genuinely wanting to see success. Not just in our roles, but in one another’s lives as well. Our actions affect one another.

Of course, a workplace can never replace biological family, and it shouldn’t try to. Healthy boundaries still matter. So do respect, responsibility, and a conscious choice not to become complacent or take one another for granted.

Being a family also means recognising each person’s strengths, celebrating victories together, and carrying one another through moments of pain. It’s about building each other up rather than tearing one another down, and taking ownership of our actions, our words, and the roles we play.

I say this not just as an idea, but from experience. I was privileged and deeply blessed to have lived this. While overseeing a running project, I unexpectedly fell ill and was hospitalised. I informed the team of what had happened, and before I could even initiate a handover or contingency plan, they stepped up. They covered my back and ensured the continuity of the project, allowing me the space to properly rest and recover.

That, to me, is more than a dream team. This is what family does.

That said, this ideal isn’t always realised. Not everyone experiences it, and not everyone plays their part. That’s the reality, and at times, it can be painful.

Still, at its best, family looks out for one another and holds one another accountable and that is what the idea of “family” in a company means to me.

So if “family” at the workplace makes you uncomfortable, you’re probably thinking about it wrong.