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What's so bad about mandatory workplace socializing?

3 points| skyhatch1 | 10 years ago |qz.com | reply

2 comments

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[+] skyhatch1|10 years ago|reply
"My coworkers, for example, bonded at lunch over their dating lives and the quest to find the perfect yoga pants. They couldn’t really relate to worrying about the cost of daycare. I didn’t think the fact that we had little in common in our lives outside the office was a problem. To me, it had no bearing on our ability to collaborate on projects."

There's a lot of talk about culture - especially in startups. This article challenges the notion of culture, and could force many to think about and clarify their position. I have experienced what the author has - being the odd one out in a homogeneous workgroup, having to force myself to fit in socially just to get some work done!

[+] dudul|10 years ago|reply
Like this post, I also don't really like "forced" socializing.

However: "The lone black employee in my division, I wasn’t fitting in with my (white, single, childless) co-workers."

Really? Do we have to bring race into this? This is the only occurrence in the article and doesn't seem relevant at all.