How to Build Good Work Relationships

Say yes to great work relations

Building and maintaining good working relationships will not only make you more engaged and committed to your organization; it can also open doors to key projects, career advancement, and raises.

• Develop your people skill- Good relationships start with good people skills.
• Identify your relationship needs- Look at your own relationship needs. Do you know what you need from others? And do you know what they need from you? Understanding these needs can be instrumental in building better relationships.
• Schedule time to build relationships- Devote a portion of your day toward relationship building, even if it's just 20 minutes, perhaps broken up into five-minute segments. For example, you could pop into someone's office during lunch, reply to people's postings on Twitter or LinkedIn , or ask a colleague out for a quick cup of coffee. These little interactions help build the foundation of a good relationship, especially if they're face-to-face.
• Focus on your emotional intelligence- Also, spend time developing your emotional intelligence (EI). Among other things, this is your ability to recognize your own emotions, and clearly understand what they're telling you. High EI also helps you to understand the emotions and needs of others.
• 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- Focus on being 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- Make sure that you set and manage boundaries properly – all of us want to have friends at work, but, occasionally, a friendship can start to impact our jobs, especially when a friend or colleague begins to monopolize our time. If this happens, it's important that you're assertive about your boundaries, and that you know how much time you can devote during the work day for social interactions.
• Avoid gossiping-  Don't gossip – office politics and "gossip" are major relationship killers at work. If you're experiencing conflict with someone in your group, talk to them directly about the problem. Gossiping about the situation with other colleagues will only exacerbate the situation, and will cause mistrust and animosity between you.
• Listen actively- Practice active listening when you talk to your customers and colleagues. People respond to those who truly listen to what they have to say. Focus on listening more than you talk, and you'll quickly become known as someone who can be trusted.

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