My good friend and colleague Ann Zuccardy of the Vermont Shortbread Company prefers to do business with people with whom she’d just as easily sit down with for a meal and some good conversation.

In this new age of forming relationships with customers, it would seem the ideal situation - a client or business partner who is also your friend.

Do you agree?

I’ve thought long and hard about this, recalling the many faces of coworkers past and thinking of the people who I worked best with, versus those who I became close with on a personal level.

I think that the people who I’ve come to admire professionally are NOT the same folks who I’d go bowling with on a Friday night. And I also I think that the coworkers who I feel I’m most productive with are NOT those who I’d share personal stories with.

And really, I like it that way.

I don’t know if others are better at this than I am, but I find that once the boundaries between work and friendship become hazy, those relationships grow more challenging for me. I find myself wanting to control the situation better, but being unable to - for example, if a client or partner gets chatty during what started out as a work-related email. How far do you take the “casual” conversation? How much do you share?

One reason for this may be that I take my friendships - and my work relationships - very seriously, each in their own way. There are of course those people who you might hang with at happy hour or engage in light conversation about your vacation. But those are not what I would call friends - they’re more like friendly acquaintances.

I know that in the grand scheme of things, it’s not worth sweating the small stuff, and I try not to. But if we’re being entirely truthful here, I pay close attention to the things that enhance versus hinder my productivity, and I would have to say that having friendships with clients doesn’t help me get work done any faster.

Now, Ann Zuccardy is one person who I’ve managed to hop back and forth over the line between personal and professional pretty easily. That may be because neither of us is a demanding friend, and also because we have the ability to know when it’s work time versus when it’s fun time. Well, for most of the time.

I would have to say that in my world, work is work, play is play, and I’m not always so good at mixing the two. While it’s nice to have common interests with clients, for me it’s by no means a prerequisite for doing business.

How about you? Are you able to successfully manage relationships that dance on the line between personal and professional? Which do you think is more important - finding people who help you get things done faster, or finding business partners who you’d totally feel comfortable sharing a meal with?

Do you think that those who can successfully balance both are better equipped for working and living in the information age?

Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing

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