Improving work relationships is the need of the hour
According to Google, the average age of people is 79, and the average length of their career is 30 years. The data shows we spend 37% of our days with colleagues.
We spend most of our adulthood, the best time of our lives, with peers.
With some of them, we share an unbreakable bond. From day one, our thoughts resonate with such special coworkers. In fact, we talk a lot, hang out during lunch, tea, or bio break.
And we share with them such secrets that not even our childhood friends know. Because during this time, they are the only ones in close contact with us. They know our family inside out, our daily hustles, and our struggles at work.
Indeed, they know our child is too cranky; they know our partner cooks delicious food. In their absence, we feel lonely at work.
In contrast, there are colleagues to whom even giving a slight smile takes an effort. Our faces itch when we try to do so. While crossing them, we wave without looking and roll our eyes.
We avoid tables where they eat lunch, change our coffee break times, and question them in front of a group or manager.
A bitter relationship with colleagues will delay the outcome of your efforts because you will never see cheerful faces around you. A negative air will follow you at work.
In most cases, people cannot get promotions not because of their failures, but because of sustained negative attitudes and unfriendly relationships with colleagues.
Just performing well is not enough to get ahead these days. Your comprehensive 360 personality and work feedback need to be good and competitive.
This is one key reason some people get promoted early because they are good at relationship management.
But if you want to attract a positive vibe at the office, destress your life and grow at work, then you must improve your relations with colleagues.
This is an arduous task, especially if the other person does not care at all. But it is worth the effort.
If you can improve, they may not admit it, but will say positive things behind your back. You won’t have a tough day because of uncooperative people.
And you will never see a face that doesn’t want to talk to you. It lifts your mood, makes you happy and helps you improve your performance.
Let’s look at the steps you can take to improve your relationship with colleagues.
1. Never Forget a Name
According to Dale Carnegie, a person’s name is the sweetest and most important sound to that person in any language. Never forget a person’s name in the office. The other person may take it as humiliation if you forget it, or if you do, don’t ask him again. Try to find out with other ways. Ask other colleagues, search the database, but do not ask again.
2. Show Genuine Interest in Them and in Their Lives
Aside from work, people like to talk to someone who is interested in their life without ulterior motives. Talk to them like you talk to your friend. Either of you needs to break the cold air between, and that happens when you talk like a friend — do not just ask how they spent their weekends. Show interest in their lives and careers.
3. Don’t Hold Back Your Appreciation
Always acknowledge a colleague when you see a job well done. Whether it’s in a group or in person is up to you, but honest appreciation motivates people and fosters good relationships. I regret times where I could have appreciated colleagues but held back, just to show that their performance was not that significant.
You can choose to be diplomatic and it may benefit you in the short term, but in the long run you will regret it.
4. Smiling is the key.
This is the easiest tool to improve relationships. The main reason some people make friends easily is because they are happy in their lives and have a radiant face. We all want to connect with people who are happy and welcoming with us.
5. Ask Them for Help, or Help Them.
Asking people for help is also a way of showing them respect. It means you recognize their abilities and appreciate them. Never hesitate to ask for help. It’s a win-win situation: you get the job done and improve your relationship.
Last week, I asked my colleague for support, and he was so happy that I asked for his help. The tone of our conversations later changed from reserved to positive. Try it, it works.
6. Never Ignore Them on a Coffee Break.
Ok, we do this a lot, and others do it to us too. It feels one ignored. Imagine if you are sitting in a restaurant and you desperately need to talk to the waiter, you wave your hands; you call out to him, but he completely ignores you. That’s how one feels when you ignore him.
7. Talk About Their Children.
Whether a CEO or an executive, they all love to talk about their kids. They are so excited to tell what their kids are doing, what hobbies they have, how their last award was and so on and so forth. You can have a great conversation.
8. Offer Help When They Need it Most.
Help them when they need it most. When you hear about their problems, call them and offer to help. They may not ask for it, but they will certainly appreciate the wonderful gesture. Even if you have a disagreement at work, do not mix it with a relationship that two normal people can have outside of work.
9. Discuss Politics, Sports or Movies.
These are subjects in which people may be interested. Get involved in discussions about such topics to have a conversation that breaks the ice. Develop it and later move on to other topics that interest both, or just to get to know them better.
10. Never Judge Them
Judging your peers is a crime that cannot be corrected. Avoid it. It makes other people conscious, and they never show their true selves. They will never trust you if they do not feel comfortable showing the real them.
Your good relationship with your peers improves your brand equity and creates a human-to-human connection which is not common to find in today’s digital world. In the wake of rising Work-From-Home culture, improving peer relationship is the need of the hour. Do not lose your friends who are also your colleagues. Invest time in them.
This post has been written as part of Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa campaign.
This post has also been published on my medium profile.