5 tips to move on at the office when your 'work spouse' leaves

In the daily grind, it helps to have someone at work that you’re close to, whether it’s someone you can cut loose and joke with or an “office spouse.”

But it’s also inevitable that, one day, one of you is going to move on — for more money, a better opportunity or as the result of downsizing. So what happens when you lose that close bond?

Here are tips on how to move on at work when your friends take off:

1. Expand your inter-office network

Lunch gets pretty boring — and entirely awkward — when you’re sitting at the diner talking to yourself because you limited your office network to just one person … and that person is gone.

Become more social at work. Try to go to lunch with different co-workers. Whittle them down like a reality show.

2. Open new doors

Your friend left for a new company. Keep in touch, because you have an opportunity to network elsewhere.

If your old buddy is going out with some new friends after work, he or she might invite you along. Now you can meet new people who might be able to advance your career. Your network could exponentially increase.

3. Take advantage

Let’s assume you and your BFF work in IT, and you’re the only two people who understand program XYZ.

Now your friend is gone, and the company is looking to hire someone in the future. However, you’re still there working your tail off. It might be the perfect time to take on extra responsibility and ask for a raise.

4. Reassess your life

If your friend’s departure suddenly left you miserable at work, you need to start asking some important questions.

What do you like about your job? If the only part of work you enjoyed each day involved the social ties and goofing off with one of the colleagues you were close with, then it might be time to start looking elsewhere for work.

5. Be proactive

Those 20-minute coffee breaks you guys used to take or those moments where you would spread gossip over Gchat despite sitting in the same pod might now be better spent being proactive with your day.

Your friend moved on for success, but you’re still at the same job — and if you plan on getting ahead, use the extra time to achieve new goals.

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