Compatibility and co-operation most important among co-workers

I think working with co-workers of opposite sex is easier. Through some years of experience, what I have personally felt is that in a work place, between co-workers of same gender there exists rivalry and jealousy instead of healthy competition, may it be between men and men or women and women. And at the same time, men and women have different sense of perceiving things and different ideas of getting the work done. So its easier to get along with opposite gender in a work place.

— Aarati Shrestha

In my view, having colleagues of the same gender is easier to corporate and get along with. It is easier to express feelings with each other as in our context, a man and woman cannot express all their feelings. But a man and a man can share all their feelings. We all know that a woman and a man will feel awkward to talk with each other. But one of the bad things among friends of same gender is that they can spend most of their time talking and enjoying themselves and will not concentrate on their work.

— Anjum Rajbhandari

It is quite stupid to differentiate between male and female in this 21st century. Friends are always friends, be they males or females. It is quite possible that co-workers of same sex can be unco-operative and co-workers of opposite sex can be co-operative. Above all, the relationship between same sexes or opposite sexes does not make any significant difference. The problem, however, remains because there are some limitations between people of different sex. Anyway, I believe that relationship with the same gender may be guided by egotism while the co-workers of different gender can be more co-operative and helpful.

— Shankar Babu Acharya, Motipur-5

It is nice to have colleagues around, with whom you not only hang around with, but also share your feelings. It becomes a must to have a companion of our own gender, whenever it comes to very personal matters, which is particularly concerned with ones own gender. Personally, I prefer being with the opposite sex even though I can easily cope with people of any gender. I have to admit that instead of judging the gender, I seek for virtues such as easy going and smartness in an individual.

The advantage of working together with men for me, is the enjoyment that comes from the enormous freedom, whereas, the tendency towards being rowdy is the disadvantage of working with someone of the same gender. The merits of ladies' company is the opportunity to learn more about them and perhaps the chance of being romantically linked with them, whereas, unnecessary expenses and the possibility of being too emotional can be its negative outcomes.

— Cool Cristofer,

Lake Side

Well it depends upon type of work. If it is field work or you have to go out with someone, then it definitely is easy with same someone of the same gender. But if it comes for discussing ideas and sharing it is better to work with opposite sex. Working with same or different sex depends upon one's own will and the level of comfort that he or she can feel with them. We don't have to think much about that, as the most important thing is that the work has to be done and we have to do it, whether with same sex or opposite.

— Diwas Bhattarai

Co-workers of same sex or opposite sex does not make any difference in work if we, ourselves are full of confidence and experience in related field. Some may find it easy to work with a co-worker of opposite sex but some may feel nervous and shy in opening up internal matters with them which may hamper office work too. So, in conclusion it depends on the person, place of work, working time and office environment too.

— Tukti Sherpa

For me it does not matter whether colleagues are of same or opposite sex. The main thing that can make the relationship compatible in the workplace is understanding and positive attitude among co-workers. Understanding will be good if all of them have equal knowledge. However, in my opinion some problems and feelings are not easy to share with colleagues of opposite sex and they will not understand them. Since females are more sensitive and pay attention to their job it is easier to work with them. If there is majority of female in any organisation, warbling is expected. But anyone finds tranquil environment among men.

— Hareram Pradhan

No doubt colleagues who are easy going and compatible are very helpful for anyone in the office. But there is no difference whether such colleagues are males or females. Female service holders are equally helpful in the office as men. They are also intelligent and can help us as equally as male workers do. We can make a lot of progress in our work with the help of female workers rather than male workers who, sometimes, become aggressive when they are not satisfied. So, for me any gender is acceptable as long as they are easy going and compatible.

— Mohan Narshingh Shrestha, Kupondole

In order to maintain excellent professional life, not only sound professional attitude but ability of maintaining cordial relationship among colleagues is essential. Personal endeavour along with support of colleagues helps honing one's professional skill. In addition, one always seeks compatible colleagues whom s/he can share difficulties with.

I personally, reckon that the prejudice on the basis of sex should be utterly discouraged. Sometimes working with co-workers of different gender might be difficult especially during night or when the job requires frequent travelling. Co-workers should not necessarily be of same sex. What matters most for me is that s/he should possess cordial nature, be communicative and co-operative. With these characteristics, we can rejoice in every professional achievement. Instead of scrutinising pros and cons of working with different gender, we should devote ourselves to self- development and development of the team as a whole?

— Suman Shrestha,

Balaju

Everyone seeks colleagues who are easy going and compatible as it will be easy to do any work. It will be very good if the co-worker is of same sex because there is more co-operation and work gets done faster. It is more easier than working with someone of different sex. That's why men want men as co-workers and the same is the case with women.

There are many cases where people of different gender work together successfully. However, there are some things which we cannot share with different gender. If co-worker is of same sex we cant share things with them which we cannot share with opposite sex.

Moreover, in the context of Nepal if a co-worker is of different gender then people look at them negatively. Parents too want their son/daughter to work with the same sex not with different gender. So, everyone who works in an office, industry, factory gives first priority to the same sex, all because of our social structure and narrow mindedness of people in our country.

Yet, we need to encourage friendship with the opposite sex so that we can feel comfortable while working with them.

— Sanjay Lama

Even though working with someone of same gender seems more easy and comfortable, I do not believe that working with either gender can make any difference. It is our nature and ability, and not a specific gender, which brings a difference in working environment. There are several advantages and disadvantages working with colleague of opposite sex. One of the most important advantages is that it sometimes helps to find a partner. People can learn about feelings, choices and behaviour of opposite sex and if they find they share the same feelings, they can become lifelong partners and this can reduce extra burden of parents as they do not have to waste their time to find a suitable person for their children.

On the other hand, many females have to face problems while working with males. Women generally hesitate to express their problems with male colleagues. For instance, periods they have every month and she is unable to go to work. As she cannot tell the reason behind her absence males think that the woman is cheating work. This might worsen the working environment. Therefore, working environment and understanding mainly depends on individual staff whatever their gender may be.

— Abja Sapkota

It is a natural phenomenon among human beings that they seek colleagues who are easy going and compatible. But in some cases easy going and compatible behaviour may lead to a wrong path at work. To achieve better outcome of teamwork, every member of the team must work with good intentions. If colleagues are not easy going, it creates conflict within the team and the goal cannot be achieved. I think having co-workers of same sex is easier. In every organisation, there is a presence of pool of workers of different caste, sex and religion. Having co-workers of same sex is better is in the organisation there is discrimination between sexes. But, to get better results and strengthen relationships among workers it is better to work with different gender rather than same gender, which helps to lessen gender discrimination and encourage them to respect each other's feelings.

— Kul Chandra Rijal , Wangla-4, Arghakhanchi

In the present context, where society is moving forward with the concept of co-education, coexistence and equal opportunities to all it would be injustice to expect colleagues of same gender having same feelings and emotions. On top of that I do not believe in gender biasness and have the capacity to adjust with anyone. To find a colleague who is helpful and understand the problems of another co-worker is really an occasional episode in the journey of life. Despite having lots of differences between colleagues of same gender we should be able to make certain adjustments so that both sides can work easily and happily. As far as the pros and cons are concerned I have noticed that male colleagues are far more liberal in their overall behavioural approach. They are generally aggressive in nature and at times can be seen crossing the limitations, particularly when they are under the influence of alcohol. Whereas, females do not have to face this kind of situation while working with colleagues of same gender. In spite of all the goodness or the badness co-workers or colleagues have of any gender, one should develop capacity within them that enables them to overcome any adverse situation in a wise manner .

— Ambika Pandey,

Chitwan

When it comes to profession I don't mind having male colleagues but if my opinion were to be considered I would prefer to have female colleagues. I think working with a female would be more compatible as we can share our feelings, sometimes even share stuff about our private lives apart from our busy professional life. We girls desire to have people around us who are very humble and sensitive in nature, boys rarely have that understanding nature and we cannot share everything with them unless he is someone we know really well.

But the disadvantage is sometimes we may have dual philosophy and even due to competition in work our close bond can easily break down. Females are sensitive so there is always a chance of being carried away by little stuffs. The advantage of working with a male is that we can seek help anywhere when it is required as there won't be much competition unless the person is of the same position or has an huge ego. However the disadvantage could be that males may be given more priority and sometimes there are chances of even being dominated if your boss is a male.

— Aishwarya Rai, MGA

Colleagues are like family at work place. It is true everyone seeks colleagues who are easy going and compatible. But it is not necessary that colleagues of same sex get along easily. Having good relation with colleagues does not depend on the gender of the person but more on their co-operative behaviour. If they do not have good understanding every minute they end up fighting, a family with good understanding will always live happily.

In a office different types of people work together to help their company to earn maximum profit, if they help each other work becomes easy and fun. But at times people of different genders start having ego problem which might effect work. While working we should only work towards better understanding and co-operation so work done achieves best results.

— Dipti Mittal

The women of Nepal today have become very dynamic. It is not like earlier times when they kept themselves confined within four walls. They have become as much a part of the working environment as men.

Even in my college, I get to see lot of girls getting involved in various projects and tasks voluntarily. They want to gain a good experience of working before entering the work environment.

So in that process, I have been involved in many projects working with the opposite gender. And I personally find more pros than cons. Some of the exceptional qualities they posses are enthusiasm, endurance, intelligence, hard work and most importantly good communication and interpersonal skills.

But I do feel that their managerial skills, in terms of managing their time and responsibility accordingly should be sharpened a

little more. And they should not engross themselves in unnecessary conversations if they happen to meet another of their gender while at work.

But all in all, working with the opposite gender is always an enriching experience because they can sometimes help you open the doors that you thought never existed.

— Avishek K Karky

It entirely depends upon how we perceive our co-workers we work with. I think if one seeks easy going and companionable friends, it naturally would hamper their work as they become dependent on each other and it will likely deteriorate their performance. It does apply to both; co-workers of same sex or opposite sex. I believe it is good to work with co-workers of opposite sex provided the co-worker is competent, broad-minded and have mutual understanding. If the co-worker is competent, one gets a lot of opportunities to learn new things. There is nothing wrong working with opposite sex as we are people of 21st century. There are many instances of ladies who have become successful working with male co-workers. Moreover, if we keep ourselves reserved, focused on work and make relationships only professional, we can have only pros working with different gender. Therefore, we should make ourselves clear about the relation and bear this in mind that we are working and helping each other to attain success.

— Ranju Shrestha

Definitely male and female have different ways of working but the mentality of both changes with access to same level of education and exposure towards the outer world. The importance of team work, co-ordination, co-operation and harmony is applied in the same manner and if you are good in expressing your views and opinions then the matter of being male or female disappears with it. I prefer to work with someone who is responsible, sincere and true to their words regardless of gender. Gender does not matter much in working in a team, it is the qualities that matter. Therefore, I am not comfortable working with irresponsible person without regards to gender. With the experience in working in a group, it never mattered working with any gender.

— Sabina Baniya