Ways To Develop Effective Work Relationships

Your actions and your behaviour towards your colleagues at work have a direct impact on your “effective” work relationships and career. Your education, personality and experience will only take you so far in your career if you can’t form meaningful and effective work relationships with others.

It is very important to have effective interpersonal relationships at work to achieve satisfaction and success in your career and life. Effective work relationships pave the way for increments in salary, opportunities for promotion, the accomplishment of goals and job satisfaction.

When the Gallup organization analyzed various factors related to work satisfaction, they found that one of the key questions asked to predict job satisfaction was whether the employee had a best friend at work. If a person does not have a good friend or a number of friends at work, their job satisfaction deteriorates.

A person who goes out of his way to antagonize his colleagues would limit his chances of growth in the company. Not only that, he would have a tough time getting better opportunities elsewhere as well since no one would want to support someone who has an unlikeable personality. Thus, it is important to be sociable and cultivate personal relationships at your workplace.

Some Ways to Form Effective Work Relationships –

1. Suggest Solutions for Problems During Meetings

It is easy to identify and discuss problems. What you should be focusing on is coming up with innovative solutions to gain the admiration and respect of your bosses and co-workers. But simply coming up with solutions will not be enough. You should also be able to effectively defend it against criticism and show your commitment when it comes to its implementation.

2. Don’t Ever Blame your Co-workers

If there is any issue your first instinct shouldn’t be to blame any of your co-workers or supervisor. This can create a toxic work environment and alienate you from your colleagues. Even if it is clearly someone’s fault, try to solve the issue instead of focusing on the fault of the person. Not complaining about your co-worker’s fault to the boss will create camaraderie among your colleagues.   

3. Verbal and Nonverbal Communication

Talking down to others, using sarcasm or simply being abrasive will alienate you from your colleagues. Human beings pick up on both verbal and nonverbal cues so if you are being even subtly unpleasant to someone, they will know it. Your tone and body language should be pleasant while conversing with your co-workers and bosses.

Even if a boss shouts at his employees he will garner a horrible reputation and that will impede his growth in the company. It is very important to treat everybody at your workplace with respect and humility. One might think these things will go under the radar and will not be appreciated but that’s not true. Your personality and behaviour will play a huge role in the development of your career.

4. Honour your deadlines

In a company, everything is interconnected. If you fail to complete your work in time, you will end up affecting the work of your co-workers as well. Make sure you fulfil all your commitments and if for some reason you might not be able to, let your co-workers or supervisor know in advance. When you honour your deadlines consistently, the manager will realize that you are a trustworthy and dependent employee.

5. Share Credit and Accomplishments

Whenever you accomplish a goal at your workplace, make sure you give credit to every member of your team as well. This will create healthy interpersonal relationships within the company which will result in heightened productivity as well. Thus, it is important to take the time to recognize and reward your fellow colleagues for all their help.