Companionship is the bond that exists between colleagues. Companions, for their part, are people who accompany each other for some purpose, forming some type of community , body or team .
For example: "We need to promote camaraderie in the company if we want to meet our objectives" , "The team won again due to the camaraderie and solidarity of its members in defense" , "The teacher is worried about the lack of camaraderie between the children" .
What is companionship
The notion of companionship is often used to refer to good correspondence and harmony between colleagues. This means that, in this sense, not all relationships between colleagues reflect camaraderie, but some only arise due to physical proximity or the forced sharing of certain tasks.
If a class is made up of 25 students, it can be said that all of them are classmates. However, camaraderie will be given by supportive attitudes between them, such as when one child lends his school supplies to another or when someone shares his lunch with another person, and these situations and actions must arise spontaneously.
In a company , an organization or a sports team, camaraderie is the basis for successful teamwork. Cohesion between members helps individual capabilities to be exploited and the result of the group's action to be better. Teams whose members share values, standards of conduct, and goals are those that are most likely to succeed. Companionship also makes daily life more enjoyable since it helps build climates of camaraderie.
How to forge it
Two fundamental objectives for establishing the bonds of camaraderie in a work environment are the well-being and defense of others. Some of the basic points to achieve them successfully are the following:
- Build relationships with as many colleagues as possible, preferably with all of them, to try to get to know them well and know what their strengths and weaknesses are, their needs and the values they can contribute to the rest of the team .
- Keep an open mind , since in large groups it is very common for people of different races, cultures, sexual orientations and religions to coexist, among other characteristic traits, and contempt or lack of acceptance can only lead to failure.
- Kindly welcome new members , avoiding any type of practical joke and teaching them everything possible to make their time at the company a pleasant and enriching experience , both for them and for others.
- Criticize constructively , thinking about how to help others improve, always taking into consideration the efforts of others before pointing out their mistakes, looking for words that do not hurt but rather suggest possible changes.
- Accept other people's criticism , since, as long as it is constructive, it will help us grow and become better professionals.
Benefits of companionship
Camaraderie makes the difference between productivity and production ; A group of people who learn to treat each other with mutual respect and with a constructive vision have many possibilities of achieving more than what they set out to do, since the richness of an activity done with motivation is incalculable. On the other hand, when unity is forced and there is no good work environment, the day-to-day life becomes monotonous and the effort gradually loses meaning, which seriously affects the strength of the team.
It is important to emphasize that at the base of camaraderie is also seeking one's own well-being in the group; In no case should the needs of others be allowed to overshadow our own, but the best path is one that allows everyone to grow to the greatest extent possible at every step.
Differences with friendship
Although they share certain characteristics, companionship and friendship are not synonymous. Companionship is primarily associated with collaboration or cooperation and respect, while in friendship there is more trust, stronger or deeper support, and unwavering loyalty.
Although empathy and altruism are present in both relationships, in friendship there is genuine affection that does not depend on other factors. Companionship has to do with sociability and the needs for communication and understanding in a certain framework.
For example: in the work environment, workers are required to have a good relationship so that they provide mutual help and teamwork is successful. This interaction will be more fruitful if there is work camaraderie. However, it is likely that the integration that exists in the group does not translate outside the office or that, if an employee resigns or is fired, he or she will lose contact with others.
In friendship, on the other hand, the connection is maintained over time and beyond the context. It is a brotherhood or sisterhood where each assumes a tacit commitment to the other to provide emotional support and share the vicissitudes of life.
Examples of companionship
In a school year, camaraderie is forged when there is group solidarity . Students provide assistance to each other, act with tolerance in the face of differences, and there is mutual collaboration to achieve collective well-being and meet common objectives.
Let us now take the case of a company. The owner of the company seeks to foster team spirit and a joint effort for the good of all. It also tries to ensure that each worker achieves personal and professional growth within the framework of group satisfaction . In this way, with companionship it is more likely that each person will achieve their individual goals and at the same time contribute to shared success.