I love working at Phonathon, but something I have been thinking about lately is the dilemma that is working with friends.

NOPE! This is not a game people!

Not only am I friends/friendly with everyone at Phonathon by virtue of being on the team for almost four semesters and being a manager, I also have a couple outside-of-work friends on Phonathon with me. This is both good and messy sometimes.

Elisabeth not LOVING something about Phonathon? How could this be?! PS: I love these two <3

Don’t get me wrong! I love having friends on shift with me and I am so glad that I work in a friendly and awesome environment. A friendly Phonathon is a happy Phonathon because you really need solid morale in the call center some shifts. Part of my job as a Shift Leader is to make things fun and to make sure that people are building rapport on and off the phones.

Okay, so no one looks like that while calling….no one.

So I love making friends at Phonathon and having friends at Phonathon. But it gets messy because the lines between caller and manager start to blur and suddenly there can be a totally different tone in the call center–sometimes even out of the call center.

Realistic reaction to me in the call center….basically I don’t dress up to go to the basement. DUH!

I really try to make sure that everything in the call center is the best mix of professional and friendly. I want all my callers to like me and for everyone to feel valuable to our team! Sometimes I struggle with the balance, but it’s good to know that I’m not alone in this. Our management team is trying as a whole to strike a good balance between a casual and professional work environment. We all want Phonathon to be fun and still a professional space. At the end of the day, I remind my friends, if an issue comes up, that I’m just doing my job and that they’re paid to do theirs.

But sometimes it still ends up being awkward.