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Why Relationships at Work Matter

It is icing on the cake when we naturally connect with people at work. And if only we could pick our coworkers like we pick our friends. For most of us though, we probably work with a few people we would not have hired ourselves.

Nonetheless, how we manage key relationships with even the most difficult people will determine our level of success. Building strong relationships with others heightens our ability to gain support for our work and manage barriers that will inevitably come up along the way. There is also a personal perk with effective relationships in that they can make us feel more engaged with our work which can lead to greater job satisfaction.

Work environments are becoming increasingly complex and require greater skill to navigate corporate cultures. Without effective relationships, we risk poor results, not reaching our full potential and overall job dissatisfaction. Building relationships is about mutual trust, understanding other people needs, balancing both asking for and giving support and creating win/win situations.

Take a moment and reflect on your relationships at work:

● Who is most important? These are people that enable the success of your work or could potentially be a barrier and stand in our way. Our boss is just one of many stakeholders, others include our peers, direct reports, internal and external customers and any opinion leaders. Make a list of these key stakeholders and assess the level of your relationship with each of them. Which ones are strong relationships and which ones need work.

● Are you listening? For the relationships that need work, spend more time learning more about these stakeholders goals and business challenges. People like to talk about their work and want to be heard in a genuine way. Some of us listen just enough to respond to the other person; listening to truly understand is a deeper level of listening. Effective listening is also how we begin to build trust.

● Is it mutual? For the relationship to be mutually beneficial, there should be balance between asking for and giving support. Many a relationship has suffered when there is plenty of taking and little or no giving. Find ways to support people so they too can attain their goals. If we have listened well, we can often find ways to support people who may have common goals.

● Are you being real? Most of us can see right through a fake, we all know those people that reach out simply because they want something. People know we are genuinely interested in them when we demonstrate a commitment to building a relationship. Conversations should be genuine and have the right balance of personal disclosure on our part and inquiry of the other person. There should also be a willingness to put difficult topics on the table and find ways to solve disagreements in a collaborative way.

● Are you nurturing? Maintaining established relationships takes continuous effort. Consider a few key questions to assess how well you are maintaining relationships. Have you reached out to lately to invest in key relationships? Are there any relationships you may be taking for granted? Have the goals and interests of some of your stakeholders changed? Are you regularly supporting people to meet their goals?

The bottom line is that relationships matter and they can make or break your success. Making investments in relationships can benefit us now and well into the future as we expand our networks. For more on building effective relationships, check out the following book: Working Relationships Using Emotional Intelligence to Enhance Your Effectiveness with Others.

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