Picture the scene. You’re at work when you sense that one of your colleagues is struggling with a professional task. They haven’t made a fuss about it, but you nevertheless suspect they could do with a hand. What do you do?

If your answer was a Hermione Granger-esque ‘ask if they need any help, of course!’, you might want to keep that impulse in check. Because according to a new study, offering to assist co-workers who haven’t actually asked for support is a sure-fire way to create distance between you.

Russell Johnson, a professor of management at Michigan State University, set out to examine the different ways people help one another in the workplace and how that help is received. After surveying more than 50 employees in a range of industries including government, healthcare and education, he concluded that it’s generally more useful for people to keep their professional expertise to themselves – unless or until they are asked to share it.

Johnson’s research, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, suggests there are significant benefits to ‘staying in your own lane’ in the workplace.

“Right now, there’s a lot of stress on productivity in the workplace, and to be a real go-getter and help everyone around you,” he says.

“But it’s not necessarily the best thing when you go out looking for problems and spending time trying to fix them.”

Why you shouldn’t offer to help your colleagues unless they ask for it