Teamwork: a reason to get up in the morning to join your beloved office colleagues for some, dreaded for those who prefer to stay in their own bubble, with as little interaction as possible. Here’s what our readers have to say.
“At work, we’re always told that we need to connect, to be authentic, but the truth is that sometimes showing ourselves as we really are means taking a risk. So we almost play a role to be acceptable and fit into the mould. It sounds fake, it’s a shame,” says Marc, 33, a lawyer.
“For more than ten years, I worked in a large consulting firm,” says Audrey, 48, a business coach. “I believed I was accumulating experience, titles, projects. What I didn’t see back then is that I was also building relationships. Some of them are no longer ‘work relationships’. They are friends. Some are even godparents to our children. And sometimes, what you call work is actually where life quietly begins.”
Fanny, 40 and a consultant, for her part has “always been the solitary type. I do my work, I go home, that’s it. But I eventually realised that this was closing doors for me. So I learnt to socialise, to laugh, to talk… even when it sounds wrong. Today, I fit in better, but I often feel like I’m playing a role that isn’t really me.”
“He dumped me between meetings”
Sometimes, relationships go even further. “I started a relationship with a colleague—a huge mistake,” confides Julie, 32, executive assistant. “We were completely inseparable, everyone could see it, and of course everyone ended up getting involved. Three months later, he ledumped me at work, in the lobby, between two meetings. Since then, I just can’t fully trust a relationship in the workplace anymore.”
“I became manager of the team I was part of. At first, I wanted to keep the same closeness, the same complicity. But I was wrong. Between jealousies, low blows and false smiles, I quickly realised that you can’t be a ‘buddy’ and a manager. Setting limits isn’t about being tough. It’s about protecting yourself… and your team,” says Sarah, 33, communications manager.
Working together is rarely the most complicated thing on paper. In reality, it’s often the relationships that make or break day-to-day working life. (Illustration: Bernard Hage)
For Julien, 32 and from the audit sector, “working in an open space sometimes means putting working relationships to the test! I’m not against teamwork, but I’ve realised that not everyone is cut out to share the same space for eight hours a day…”
Sharing your social networks: a “bad idea”
“I agreed to let a colleague and my boss have access to my personal networks. Bad idea,” says Pauline, 26, an assistant accountant. “Very quickly, what I shared became a weapon: mockery, judgements, pressure, surveillance… You think it creates a bond, in reality, it crosses boundaries. Since then, I’ve protected my private life. Pro is pro.”
“I work in a small company and I often end up taking on the workload of a so-called ‘over-whelmed’ manager. He mainly delegates when deadlines hit. The result? I end up exhausted. He thinks he can handle everything on his own, but that’s precisely what a team is for: sharing the load,” finishes Emma, 25, accountant.
Share your stories at temoignage@paperjam.lu, before the deadlines. In our upcoming issues, we’ll be exploring new themes: the most motivating phrases heard at work (testimonials to be sent in by February 15); your routine and habits to stay focused at work (testimonials to be sent in by March 1).
This article was written for the February 2026 issue of Paperjam magazine, published on 28 January. The content is produced exclusively for the magazine. It is published on the site to contribute to the full Paperjam archive. Click this link to subscribe to the magazine.
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