Necessity of Good Relationships
Good working relationships give us several benefits: our work is more enjoyable; give us freedom from negativity; allow us to focus on opportunities; develop our careers, and give us success in life, and above all, make our lives more enjoyable and productive
Criteria for a Good Relationship
The cornerstones of a good relationship depend upon:
Complete Trust – This is the foundation of every good relationship. Trust leads to closeness and bonding which leads to free easy communication causing effective working
Respect for Each other – When you respect the people who you work with, you value their input and ideas, and they value yours. Working together, you can develop solutions based on your collective insight, wisdom and creativity.
Mindfulness – is caring for what one says to others, being responsible for one’s actions and words thus keeping negativity at bay
Welcoming Change – People with good relationships also easily accept various people and ideas and are open to implementing different opinions and insights in making a decision
Communicate Openly – Open, honest effective and prompt reactions and communication lead to enriched and enhanced relationships thus leading to happiness and satisfying social interactions
What can one do to Build Good Relationships
Develop Your People Skills
Good relationships start with good people skills, and how well you collaborate, communicate and deal with conflict. Developing these will help you to deal with any weaknesses that you have.
Identify Your Relationship Needs
Understanding your relationship needs can be instrumental in building better relationships. Finding out and developing what you need from others and vice versa helps in relationship building
Schedule Time to Build Relationships
Little interactions consciously dedicated to relationship building help build the foundation of a good relationship, especially if they’re face-to-face. Some time especially kept aside for this
Focus on Your EI
High EI also helps you to understand the emotions and needs of others.
EI is your ability to recognize your own emotions and understand those of others to develop better adjustment and relationships
Appreciate Others
Show your appreciation whenever someone helps you. Everyone, from your boss to the office cleaner, wants to feel that their work is appreciated. So, genuinely compliment the people around you when they do something well. This will open the door to great work relationships
Be Positive
Positivity is attractive and contagious, and it will help strengthen your relationships with your colleagues. No one wants to be around someone who’s negative all the time.
Manage Your Boundaries
A friendship sometimes can start to impact our lives and jobs, especially when a friend or colleague begins to monopolize our time. To maintain a balance between life, work and friendship it is good to manage boundaries assertively for healthy relationships
Avoid Gossiping
Gossip is a major relationship killer. If you’re experiencing conflict with someone in your group, talk to them directly about the problem. Gossiping about the situation with other people will only worsen the situation, and will cause mistrust and animosity between you.
Good Listening
People respond to those who truly listen to what they have to say. Focus on listening more than talking, and you’ll gain people’s trust
Tackle Difficult Relationships
In case of interaction with someone you simply can’t relate to, make an effort to get to know the person, make the first move to improve the relationship and focus on finding things that you have in common.
Just Remember – not all relationships will be great; but you can make sure that they are, at least, workable!
