If you’re reading this, you probably already know the importance of building and maintaining good relationships at work. After all, people who have strong networks tend to enjoy more job satisfaction, receive better performance reviews, and are considered for promotions before others
But if you’re able to build those relationships around a shared purpose, or mission, that can benefit your team as well as other stakeholders; customers, partners and shareholders, you’ll find that not only will it result in greater success but even greater happiness and fulfillment at work.
For more information, have a look at this video. How to Build Relationships at Work.
What are the Benefits of Effective Workplace relationships?
Having a healthy workplace environment has several benefits. Let’s look at three:
- When you are positive towards other people, the workplace environment becomes good to work in.
- When you are positive and looking to enhance the work environment, people tend to reciprocate that feeling.
When you have a positive workplace environment, employees tend to go out of their way for you
How do you Manifest an Effective Workplace Environment?
Adhering to the principles of the following six sections will go a long way towards achieving the workplace environment that we need.
Communicate Effectively
Improve your communication abilities by paying close attention to others and speaking clearly. If you’re not sure you understand what the other person is saying, repeat what they said in your own words and ask if you got it right. Make it clear to others that you value their opinions. During conversations, maintain eye contact.
Keep your emotions in check and avoid using berating language if something bothers you. Give clients, service providers, and other professionals your business card so they can contact you.
Manifesting effective workplace relationships cannot be initiated effectively without clear communication.
Find out What you Have in Common with Others
It’s important to find common ground with your peers. If you don’t, it can be hard to work together effectively.
You should look for the following things:
- Common interests
- Common goals
- Common values
- Common dreams (hopes and aspirations)
You’ll probably find that these are very similar to what you have in common with everyone else on Earth. Everyone wants things like health, happiness, and money.
Gossip is Poison to a Workplace
Gossiping is a sure-fire way to create unnecessary tension in any space. You don’t know what others are going through at home, with their health issues or financial troubles. You don’t know how the person on the receiving end of the gossip might react. And you certainly don’t want to find out that they have chosen to tell others about things that were said about them behind their backs.
The same goes for gossiping about coworkers: if there are problems in your office culture or with certain individuals, handle them directly instead of engaging in whispered conversations and petty conflicts that will only make life more difficult for everyone involved over time.
Be Authentic
In order to have effective workplace relationships, you need to be authentic. This means being honest with yourself and others about who you are as a person and how you feel about things. It also means being comfortable with the fact that everyone has feelings—including you—and not pretending to be something or someone else just because it’s expected of them.
If you’re afraid to show your emotions, ask for help, or talk about what’s on your mind, otherwise it will be hard for others around you to form meaningful connections with each other because they won’t know how any one person truly feels or thinks. They might think they know everything there is when really, they only know part of the story behind each person’s personality traits and interests.
Stay in the Present Moment
- It can be so easy to get caught up in your thoughts, especially when you’re working hard and feeling stressed. But this is one of the easiest things you can do to improve your focus and productivity at work. When your mind is wandering, it’s not focused on what’s going on around you or what needs to be done next—and that makes it harder for people (and yourself) to trust what’s happening at any given moment.
- Don’t worry about past mistakes or future challenges—focus only on the task at hand. This is an extension of “stay in the present,” but important enough that it deserves its own bullet point: don’t let past mistakes distract from future success by dwelling on them for too long (or too often). It’s also important not to worry about future difficulties until they actually arise; if there are no challenges yet, there will be plenty of time later!
Add Value to the Work Environment
Participate in a project with your other employees as a group. Discuss approaches and be open to altering the manner in which you normally complete a job. It is also courteous and advantageous to the organization to acknowledge the work of others.
Put in the effort required of you. Put yourself out there and volunteer to take on difficult tasks. Be a person who inspires others to accomplish even more by applauding the accomplishments of others and motivating them to do even better.
In that way you add value to the team and workplace. You have to roll up your sleeves and get things done otherwise all effort put into creating a manifesting an effective workplace relationship will lose their value.
Conclusion
The workplace can be a very tricky environment, fraught with potential minefields. It’s easy to get caught up in the stressors of the day, and to forget what’s important. However, if you remain true to yourself and keep your eyes on the prize, as well as your feet firmly planted on the ground, and practice focus on being present in each moment—you’ll find that your relationships will become much more enjoyable for yourself and everyone involved.
