Why I don’t like work social events

Like many people, I’m not good at small talk.

My brain often works too slow in these situation, which means that I can’t think of the things to say quick enough, and by the time I have, it’s often too late. This inevitably leads to periods of silence, even with people I spend forty hours a week alongside.

But the fact that I’m rubbish at small talk means, stick me in a room of work colleagues, with a bottle of beer in my hand and ask me to mingle, I’ll struggle and start working out at what time I might be able to sneak away to the safety of the train home. I know I’m not alone in this thought.

None of this is a reflection on my work colleagues. Most of them over my career have been nice, with the odd exception (if I’ve worked with you before then I’m obviously not talking about you. I’m talking about someone else).

It’s also not a reflection on how friendly I am. I like people and can happily chat with the small collection of folk that I’m comfortable with, or can talk with a wider bunch of people about work nitty gritty.

It just means I struggle with socially mixing.

So why attend company social events?

I know the benefits that businesses get from effective teams, and know that taking steps to bring…