Here are tips to help keep your relationship moving smoothly:

1. Avoid showing affection. It is fine to have casual contact, but no kissing or major displays of affection.  That is simply not appropriate and could put you both in hot water with the boss.

2. Don’t talk about your relationship with co-workers. You know gossip gets around.  You don’t want to hurt each other by venting about your latest fight to co-workers who then spread it around work.

3. Don’t talk about others who are dating. If you start spreading gossip about others then they will do the same to you.  This is just setting things up for disaster.

4. Feel free to socialize in appropriate ways. You can attend functions together, just stay professional.

5. Set boundaries. You should know what goes at work and what does not.

6. Don’t use company email to send personal messages. You should stick to text messages on your private phone or just wait until you get home.

Step 1: Get to know her.

Don’t be pushy.  Just be casual.  If you see a girl that you like then just find ways to chat with her or get to know about her.  Make sure you introduce yourself so she knows your name.

Step 2: Move it from work to outside work.

After you start to get to know each other a little better, you should find a way to get together outside work without any pressure.  A good way to do this is to get a group of co-workers together to go out for drinks after work.

Step 3: Find a way to get her alone.

Once you have started to be able to talk and you know each other on a friendly basis, you can move things to the next level by getting some one on one time with her.  Still take it slow.  Don’t make it a date yet.  Do this on a casual, friend basis.

Step 4:  If things go well, then ask her out.

If your friendship seems to be going well and you think she is interested in you as more than a  friend, go ahead and ask her out.  Take your chance to ask her out and be careful about it.  Don’t be pushy.  Make sure she has shown signs she is interested in you.  Casually throw out the idea of a date and see if she takes it.

A Recipe For Disaster

In some cases office romance may work, but in most cases it is just a recipe for disaster.  Not only do office romances not usually work out, but they can really do some damage to your reputation at work.

One of the big hurdles of an office romance is office gossip.  No matter how low key you try to keep your relationship, people will talk.  It is inevitable.  People love to talk about other people.  If you are not careful, rumors can spiral out of control and soon you can come out looking like a big sleaze.

Right Career Move?

Another major aspect to think about are your company policies.  Many companies do have strict policies about interoffice dating.  Before you even think about dating a coworker you need to be sure you won’t be putting your job in jeopardy by doing it.

Lastly, really think about this.  You will be working with your girlfriend.  That means you will see her all day and then of course she will want to hang out outside of work, so you will be seeing a lot of her.  There will be little breaks.  Can you really handle being with her that much?  There really is truth to the saying about too much of a good thing.

Office romance may seem great, but when you really look at it all the cracks start to appear.  For many people it just is better to keep your love life and work life separate.