Saying goodbye to bosses and nasty coworkers can be easy, but saying goodbye to the people you genuinely like at your job can be difficult. Luckily, permanent goodbyes aren’t necessary when leaving your job because there are a fair amount of ways to stay in touch with them.
Don’t force it
Sometimes you might want to keep in touch with an old work friend, but they don’t feel the same way. This can be difficult but there’s nothing worse than forcing a friendship with someone who doesn’t want one. So try not to force a friendship if you feel as though a work friend is pulling away once you’ve quit. In the long run, it’s better to let a relationship fizzle out than it is to go through the heartache of trying to be good enough for someone who isn’t interested.
Opt for quality over quantity
Sometimes we struggle when trying to talk to a friend every day. With some friends talking every day is possible; but, most people run out of things to say quickly when trying to contact them all the time. Because of this, it’s better to try to talk to these work friends once or twice a week. Quality over quantity also applies to spending time together face-to-face as well. It’s better to meet a work friend once a month for coffee and have a super interesting conversation, than to try to meet once a week and have nothing to say. The closer you are to this work friend the more often you should be able to contact them. But, it’s also a mark of true friendship when you eventually do see this friend and it feels like you were never separate from them. Ultimately, with making plans and with text conversations, it’s a good idea to reach out when you genuinely want to see the person rather than when you feel pressured to.
Keep an interest in their life
After leaving a job, it might not be your favorite thing to hear stories from your old work friend about that old job. While it is possible to form a bond without speaking about work, sometimes being a good friend means listening to your work friend vent about what’s going on in their office even if it isn’t yours anymore. Building a relationship where you have something in common with this friend other than the fact that you used to work together is important as well. Because if the job was the only thing you and this work friend have in common, then the friendship will fizzle out soon after you leave the job.
Don’t just rely on phone calls and in-person communication
Social media is a great way to keep in touch with friends without constantly being in your personal message inbox. With all the social media apps available, you can see exactly what’s going on in your friend’s life without always having to ask them. It’s not about just seeing their posts and liking them, it’s also about leaving fun comments and taking part in their life through their posts. Tagging them in a cute picture every now and then will remind them that you care. Leaving encouraging comments on their posts makes them feel supported. This is a good way to really keep in touch with work friends without feeling like you’re being overbearing.
