Friends.

Who didn't love the six twenty somethings, inhabiting their small New York apartments, navigating life's mysteries, finding the best coffee houses and trying to maximise time outside of work. Willing to sacrifice all for each other, they were the "best" of friends, regardless of family and work challenges thrown at them, over a decade of television laughter. The circle was so tight it was difficult for anyone to be admitted, especially from the disparate work situations they found themselves in and the feeling was, work, family and other friends were discordant from each other. Each space was sequestered and dealt with humourously but no one from outside the circle was ever allowed to break the chain of six.

If the program was still being produced today, work relationships would have a more compelling story arc as the friends find they spend so much time at work, their success would depend on having "best" friends to get them through the day. As loose as "best" can be defined, friends at work is seen by researchers globally as an indicator of accomplishment and endeavour, not achievable singularly. A Gallup study of five million workers over 35, found workers with a "best" friend are seven times more engaged, productive and successful than those going it alone.

The survey goes on to indicate "best" friends can become buffers between management which doesn't dole out enough thank you's, encouragement, recognition or make staff feel their contribution is worthwhile. Friends at work have the capacity and capability to provide all of the above within a small circle of relevance that keep many people at jobs longer than management knows. Work "besties" are an unfailingly predictable cure for the malaise of work ailments brought on by expectations of longer hours, 24/7 contact-ability and under resourced departments.

Work friends may not be for life, may not be family and may not show up at your wedding but the above choice is becoming blurred as the time spent at work triples and doubles the time you spend with anyone else, including partners and parents. For many lucky enough to work in smaller organisations, work can have a familial feel but for the rest of us it's about finding like minded souls within your work space and making sure the reciprocity of giving back becomes the norm. The jokes about work husbands and wives has long hidden the deep friendships that can be made at work as you accomplish and become successful as a duo or a team in ways you could never have achieved individually.

Howard Schultz of Starbucks was successful in creating the "third" place, after home and work, a place for people to gather and socialise. The "best" friend at work has become something akin to Schultz' thinking, where family and friends outside of work don't understand the machinations of the work day landscape but your "bestie" does and this "third" friend becomes invaluable to you. What has become obvious to the researchers, is the way you treat your friends outside of work, forging life long relationships is encroaching on the work place and creating the incubator for connections that outlast your CV.

In the end friends are friends, no matter where you meet them.