We spend more time with our co-workers than our family. So, it is natural that strong friendships will occur. While this can bring teams together, it can also tear them apart. Here are some advice on how to handle the office clique, whether you are part of one or not.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a clique as “a small group of people who spend time together and do not readily allow others to join them.”

A clique by its very definition excludes people and there are never any benefits in excluding your fellow employees. Remember at school when your teacher separated you from your friends for giggling and telling secrets in class? Well, the workplace is not that different to the classroom. No matter how old you are, it will always be human nature to want to be part of the "in" crowd. But just like in school, it is often wiser to be a little less obvious. And it is important to be aware of how your actions may exclude others.

If you are part of a clique, take a moment to consider the consequences this could have on your future career prospects. DBM’s worldwide research has consistently found networking to be the most effective career-transition strategy. People with good personal and professional networks in place find the process of job hunting less daunting than those who don’t have a solid contact base. In today's workforce, where turnover is often high and people have as many as six to eight jobs in a lifetime, storming through your career and in the process, creating enemies and generating hostility is not a wise thing to do. Although you may believe you are forming strong relationships and creating future opportunities by being part of a clique, you should never confuse this with genuine networking.

In a workplace with high staff turnover, a member of a clique can easily find himself in a lonely situation, feeling left out once fellow clique members have moved on. Limiting your interaction in the workplace to a few select people at the expense of others can be extremely destructive to your professional image and have a career-limiting effect.

In a workplace with high staff turnover, a member of a clique can easily find himself in a lonely situation, feeling left out once fellow clique members have moved on. Limiting your interaction in the workplace to a few select people at the expense of others can be extremely destructive to your professional image and have a career-limiting effect.

So how can you as an employee help to create an office culture that is free from cliques? The following 10 practical tips can help you discourage cliques in your office, no matter where you are in the pecking order.