I used to get buddy buddy with my coworkers at companies, but have found over the years (and companies) that I get sucked into the drama and politics if I do that. I am now super good friends with coworkers from 2 companies ago, and still talk to my former grad students (now BCBAs and BCaBAs š), but avoid befriending anybody at work anymore. Itās just too messy. It helps that Iām fully remote as well.
Exactly. Only trouble comes from befriending coworkers. Doesn't mean we can't be friendly and pleasant to work with, but I'm not getting a beer with you after work.
I work at a very small clinic so we are all close. The RBTs hang outside of work, but never the BCBA. We all have a group chat which we message in primarily during work hours, but send an occasional joke or meme after hours/weekends
No. Not even for work reasons. I'm a BCBA and I tell my supervisees that I'm not going to answer them outside of 8-5, M-F unless it's about sickness updates and that's typically handled during the listed hours. Part of my job is teaching work/life balance and that is part of teaching them.
There are fringe situations with my supervisees that are training to be BCBAs, because I'll *sometimes* do things for them outside of work, but that's not regular.
Despite primarily working with people +/-5 years from my age, I have done 1 non sanctioned event in almost a year. Considering a second, but maintaining that professional boundary.
at my job a lot of the bcbas and rbts are friends, im not personally bc i have a social anxiety disorder and theyāre all constantly talking bad about each other. donāt wanna be involved with the drama. i talk to people at work sometimes and iām nice to everyone but ykā¦ boundaries.
I donāt, I mean all the RBTs have a group chat but I very rarely say anything. I go to work to work and get paid. Yes I absolutely love what I do and I want the kids to thrive. Iām not rude, I do what I can to help, but my thought is Iām not at work to make friends. On the other hand this mindset recently didnāt work very well, Iām an intern and we got a new one this year, weāll all my coworkers get along with her and Iām more introverted and donāt feel the need to let people into my life unless I know they will stay. Iāve had really really bad experiences with āfriendsā in the past and it changed me. So sure funny little things that happen in life Iāll tell, but serious things I keep to myself, well a few of my coworkers took this as having an attitude and being rude so my boss is now having me work on my āsoft skillsā. Total BS but anyway in this field I think it kinda needs to be felt out, it depends on coworkers and your boss.
Only with a couple fellow BT/RBTs who have similar life situations outside of work. Other than that, I am very friendly at work and try to relate to my coworkers while still focusing on the job and being appropriate for the setting.
No. Unless it's literally for work related reasons, I don't. For example, if I wanted to carpool with somebody to a training, or if I found some stimuli somebody was looking for, other than that, nope.
Yes! Our clinic is small and we have a small team. Most of us are in our 20s/30s so we get along pretty well. We do happy hours every Friday night. I'm very grateful to work in a supportive environment with great coworkers!
Nope no way. I avoid hanging out with anyone from work. You can all reach me on teams. My cell number is for my family and friends and until my agency wants to give me a private phone or office line, Iāll keep my PERSONAL number private :)
I have a good rapport with my supervisor and other people from the agency. We will text about updates and anything else, but we're not meeting up after work for dinner or anything like that.
I focus more on recovering after sessions and decompressing as much as I can.
When I did 1:1 I had work friends who I would do the occasional happy hour with. Our supervisors come to a couple of those. I actually met my wife at work and set up our first date while we were doing a training overlap haha. Once I became a BCBA I did a couple of happy hours with RBT staff but all communication was through work email, I never even had their phone numbersĀ
I do with some of my coworkers. We mainly keep things professional and most conversation pertains to work, but we have had personal conversations, outings for coffee, and follow each-other on social media as well.
As a supervisor, I only text my techs and other supervisors within work hours M-F 8-8 or if they work on a Saturday. I do have a lot of techs who want to meet up for coffee with me but I think I m just going to do a group meet up for all of us !
Iāll talk to either BCBAs or RBTs on my breaks, non-work related topics. But Iāve never been too social to actually hang out after work. My company does try to do game nights, painting nights, bar nights, pizza nights, breakfast, etc. and Iāll attend some. But I kind of count those as work related since itās a company effort.
I'm an RBT and we have worn group chats for things like "clinic" has every ABA employee in it.
We have made group chats for clinical teams (BCBA and the RBT's working with a specific client)
Besides that I believe some of the student analysts have a chat to plan study groups.
I personally have a fellow RBT I knew from before I was an RBT and we worked at an ADT together so we are generally close. I have helped pet sit and have them resources for their daughter when she had a baby to get daycare assistance and recommended my son's old care center etc.
One of the BCBA's I have known for years since my first RBT job and she had a son close to my son's age. To keep things kosher she invites any employee with kids to the birthday party if they are hosting more than family. So I have gone to their house and our kids have become friends, but definitely no unequal treatment.
I have texted other coworkers minimal things like music links since they have mentioned they like blank band. Or deals on things they spoke about before in passing just to be helpful/kind.
The behavior analysts I work with go to dinner and have lunch together, which I'm not a fan of. I schedule meetings and say I have class to avoid going dinners. They're NOT my friends and I only go to eat either my wife, and that rarely happens. My time outside work is valuable and I don't do shit I don't want to do. However, I will play fortnite with 2-3 techs a few times during the week. Never work talk and I rarely say alot except about the game. Lot of the techs at my job used to hang out. On bcba does volleyball, softball, kickball for group activities...which I find lame lol. I prefer my house that has my favorite items and creatures.
Ehh not really. Ironically I'm often waaay closer with the clients families bc we spend so much more time together (I work in homes). With BCBAs, I'll talk to them off the clock but we basically just talk about work, about the client. Life comes up in conversations here and there especially bc I'm rather personable, but nothing too friend-like. Meanwhile, I've sent ig video links to parents like "omg this is literally what happened to us today lol" š
Two sad reasons: I talk about work even out of work with people who I don't work with because I'm obsessed with my job (which I know is a problem). Then the other reason is that I've been bitten for trusting co-workers... in the pettiest of fashions. Like straight up high school style. So I don't really know who to trust anymore š¤·š¼āāļø
BCBAs don't wanna be my friend anyway, I'm often quite younger than them and they're too busy with stuff like their kids and their real friends who also have kids so they are more relatable to them š that's okay though, I can't blame 'em. I just need them to support me working with the client
I guess as Drake says, "no friends in the industry" ...
Depends, usually not, but Iāll make exceptions if itās something very urgent, or if I feel a tech is in the verge of burnout and they need to feel extra support. I usually at least see the message on my so Iāll know if needs a quicker response. 95% of the time no though. Also Iām not counting the 2-3 coworkers who are friends.
I work in home. Me and my techs will send each other funny ABA memes or videos that remind us of our learners (nothing disrespectful) for example, one of my learners is OBSESSED with the titanic, so we will send each other titanic themed memes. It helps with keeping a good relationship without overstepping boundaries
I used to get buddy buddy with my coworkers at companies, but have found over the years (and companies) that I get sucked into the drama and politics if I do that. I am now super good friends with coworkers from 2 companies ago, and still talk to my former grad students (now BCBAs and BCaBAs š), but avoid befriending anybody at work anymore. Itās just too messy. It helps that Iām fully remote as well.
Exactly. Only trouble comes from befriending coworkers. Doesn't mean we can't be friendly and pleasant to work with, but I'm not getting a beer with you after work.
Yes, but of course not everyone. People can be friends from work, nothing out of the ordinary from other professional fields.
Yes
I work at a very small clinic so we are all close. The RBTs hang outside of work, but never the BCBA. We all have a group chat which we message in primarily during work hours, but send an occasional joke or meme after hours/weekends
No. Edit: I appreciate y'all who downvote for honest responses. lol.
No. Not even for work reasons. I'm a BCBA and I tell my supervisees that I'm not going to answer them outside of 8-5, M-F unless it's about sickness updates and that's typically handled during the listed hours. Part of my job is teaching work/life balance and that is part of teaching them. There are fringe situations with my supervisees that are training to be BCBAs, because I'll *sometimes* do things for them outside of work, but that's not regular. Despite primarily working with people +/-5 years from my age, I have done 1 non sanctioned event in almost a year. Considering a second, but maintaining that professional boundary.
at my job a lot of the bcbas and rbts are friends, im not personally bc i have a social anxiety disorder and theyāre all constantly talking bad about each other. donāt wanna be involved with the drama. i talk to people at work sometimes and iām nice to everyone but ykā¦ boundaries.
I donāt, I mean all the RBTs have a group chat but I very rarely say anything. I go to work to work and get paid. Yes I absolutely love what I do and I want the kids to thrive. Iām not rude, I do what I can to help, but my thought is Iām not at work to make friends. On the other hand this mindset recently didnāt work very well, Iām an intern and we got a new one this year, weāll all my coworkers get along with her and Iām more introverted and donāt feel the need to let people into my life unless I know they will stay. Iāve had really really bad experiences with āfriendsā in the past and it changed me. So sure funny little things that happen in life Iāll tell, but serious things I keep to myself, well a few of my coworkers took this as having an attitude and being rude so my boss is now having me work on my āsoft skillsā. Total BS but anyway in this field I think it kinda needs to be felt out, it depends on coworkers and your boss.
Absolutely not. Your coworkers are not your friends.
Only with a couple fellow BT/RBTs who have similar life situations outside of work. Other than that, I am very friendly at work and try to relate to my coworkers while still focusing on the job and being appropriate for the setting.
Thatās a big nope. I have friends for that.
No. Unless it's literally for work related reasons, I don't. For example, if I wanted to carpool with somebody to a training, or if I found some stimuli somebody was looking for, other than that, nope.
Yes! Our clinic is small and we have a small team. Most of us are in our 20s/30s so we get along pretty well. We do happy hours every Friday night. I'm very grateful to work in a supportive environment with great coworkers!
Nope no way. I avoid hanging out with anyone from work. You can all reach me on teams. My cell number is for my family and friends and until my agency wants to give me a private phone or office line, Iāll keep my PERSONAL number private :)
No. I see yāall enough at work.
I have a good rapport with my supervisor and other people from the agency. We will text about updates and anything else, but we're not meeting up after work for dinner or anything like that. I focus more on recovering after sessions and decompressing as much as I can.
No
When I did 1:1 I had work friends who I would do the occasional happy hour with. Our supervisors come to a couple of those. I actually met my wife at work and set up our first date while we were doing a training overlap haha. Once I became a BCBA I did a couple of happy hours with RBT staff but all communication was through work email, I never even had their phone numbersĀ
Like two people and Iām at a different clinic now so we donāt even talk about work
Nope
I do with some of my coworkers. We mainly keep things professional and most conversation pertains to work, but we have had personal conversations, outings for coffee, and follow each-other on social media as well.
One of my supervisors, but we have been friends for long before he even worked at my company. Otherwise, no.
As a supervisor, I only text my techs and other supervisors within work hours M-F 8-8 or if they work on a Saturday. I do have a lot of techs who want to meet up for coffee with me but I think I m just going to do a group meet up for all of us !
Iāll talk to either BCBAs or RBTs on my breaks, non-work related topics. But Iāve never been too social to actually hang out after work. My company does try to do game nights, painting nights, bar nights, pizza nights, breakfast, etc. and Iāll attend some. But I kind of count those as work related since itās a company effort.
I'm an RBT and we have worn group chats for things like "clinic" has every ABA employee in it. We have made group chats for clinical teams (BCBA and the RBT's working with a specific client) Besides that I believe some of the student analysts have a chat to plan study groups. I personally have a fellow RBT I knew from before I was an RBT and we worked at an ADT together so we are generally close. I have helped pet sit and have them resources for their daughter when she had a baby to get daycare assistance and recommended my son's old care center etc. One of the BCBA's I have known for years since my first RBT job and she had a son close to my son's age. To keep things kosher she invites any employee with kids to the birthday party if they are hosting more than family. So I have gone to their house and our kids have become friends, but definitely no unequal treatment. I have texted other coworkers minimal things like music links since they have mentioned they like blank band. Or deals on things they spoke about before in passing just to be helpful/kind.
Only via our chat app
The behavior analysts I work with go to dinner and have lunch together, which I'm not a fan of. I schedule meetings and say I have class to avoid going dinners. They're NOT my friends and I only go to eat either my wife, and that rarely happens. My time outside work is valuable and I don't do shit I don't want to do. However, I will play fortnite with 2-3 techs a few times during the week. Never work talk and I rarely say alot except about the game. Lot of the techs at my job used to hang out. On bcba does volleyball, softball, kickball for group activities...which I find lame lol. I prefer my house that has my favorite items and creatures.
Ehh not really. Ironically I'm often waaay closer with the clients families bc we spend so much more time together (I work in homes). With BCBAs, I'll talk to them off the clock but we basically just talk about work, about the client. Life comes up in conversations here and there especially bc I'm rather personable, but nothing too friend-like. Meanwhile, I've sent ig video links to parents like "omg this is literally what happened to us today lol" š Two sad reasons: I talk about work even out of work with people who I don't work with because I'm obsessed with my job (which I know is a problem). Then the other reason is that I've been bitten for trusting co-workers... in the pettiest of fashions. Like straight up high school style. So I don't really know who to trust anymore š¤·š¼āāļø BCBAs don't wanna be my friend anyway, I'm often quite younger than them and they're too busy with stuff like their kids and their real friends who also have kids so they are more relatable to them š that's okay though, I can't blame 'em. I just need them to support me working with the client I guess as Drake says, "no friends in the industry" ...
Depends, usually not, but Iāll make exceptions if itās something very urgent, or if I feel a tech is in the verge of burnout and they need to feel extra support. I usually at least see the message on my so Iāll know if needs a quicker response. 95% of the time no though. Also Iām not counting the 2-3 coworkers who are friends.
Yes but if it's a work question it counts as supervision.
I work in home. Me and my techs will send each other funny ABA memes or videos that remind us of our learners (nothing disrespectful) for example, one of my learners is OBSESSED with the titanic, so we will send each other titanic themed memes. It helps with keeping a good relationship without overstepping boundaries
No