When Juliana and Serwaa joined Prime Choice Insurance, they were both new to the company and knew no one. However, they found each other quickly.
It started with lunch. Then came the occasional walk to the bus stop when they closed. Soon, they became the best of friends.
Their colleagues noticed. “If you see Juliana, Serwaa won’t be far,” someone joked once.
Neither of them minded.
They were friends, but they also knew how to work together. If Serwaa disagreed with Juliana during a meeting, she said so. If Juliana thought Serwaa had handled something badly, she told her. They could have an argument at 10 a.m. and still go for lunch together at 1 p.m.
For three years, that was their normal.
Then Juliana was promoted to Team Lead. Serwaa was genuinely happy for her. They celebrated after work, and Serwaa joked about how Juliana would now have to approve her leave requests.
Juliana laughed. “Please don’t start.” she said.
For a while, nothing seemed different. Until Juliana became cautious.
She stopped telling Serwaa about certain conversations with management. If Serwaa complained about someone on the team, Juliana listened without joining in. Even their lunch conversations became a little tense. Serwaa noticed the change but didn’t say anything.
The first time she really felt the difference was during her performance review. She had missed a deadline on a client account. There had been a genuine reason, and Juliana knew about it.
Still, the rating wasn’t what Serwaa expected. She looked at the form and then at Juliana.
“You gave me this?”
Juliana nodded.
“You know what happened with the account.”
“I do.”
“So why this rating?”
Juliana took an exasperated breath.
“The deadline was still missed.”
Serwaa leaned back in her chair.
“If you weren’t my manager, you would have said this rating was unfair.”
Juliana didn’t answer.
That conversation stayed with both of them.
A few weeks later, Juliana asked Serwaa to lead a presentation for an important client. It was exactly the kind of opportunity Serwaa had been hoping for.
Then someone made a comment about the two of them being close. Juliana started to worry about how the decision would look so she gave the presentation to someone else.
Serwaa found out later that day. She walked into Juliana’s office.
“So you gave the task to someone else even though you knew I was the best person for it?”
Juliana looked up.
“I thought it would be better this way.”
“For who?”
Juliana didn’t answer immediately.
Serwaa shook her head.
“You gave me the project because you thought I could do it. Then you took it away because we’re friends. Unbelievable.”
“I don’t want people thinking I favour you.”
“And now you look like you’re doing the opposite.”
Juliana knew she couldn’t argue with that. She had been so focused on avoiding favouritism that she had stopped trusting her own judgment.
The two friends eventually talked about it outside the office. There was no easy solution. Juliana couldn’t pretend their friendship didn’t exist. But she also couldn’t manage Serwaa based on the friendship.
Serwaa had to accept that being friends with her manager meant some conversations would now be uncomfortable.
They agreed on one thing: what happened at work would have to be handled at work.
It wasn’t perfect after that. There were still moments when Serwaa disagreed with Juliana’s decisions. There were times Juliana had to give Serwaa feedback she knew would be difficult to hear.
But neither expected the other to make work easier just because they were friends.
Key Takeaways
Workplace friendships can make work more enjoyable, but they can also become complicated when roles change. A promotion can alter the relationship between two people who were once equals.
Set boundaries when roles change. Being friends does not mean the professional relationship stays the same.
Be fair without overcorrecting. Trying too hard to prove that you are unbiased can create a different kind of unfairness.
Talk about the change. The friendship may need new boundaries, but avoiding the conversation usually makes things harder.
