When it comes to the professional workplace, the differences that atmosphere creates lends to automatic tensions. This is why it’s important from the beginning to build strong work relationships.
Here are four tips that you can use in order to ensure that your work relationships are solid and thriving.
Initiate Personal Conversations
In a professional working environment, most people feel as though they should not ask personal questions of their colleagues. With the correct amount of foundation and sensitivity, personal conversations can help to increase how connected co-workers feel to each other and also create a better connection between bosses and their workers.
When you begin to initiate personal conversations, the key is to remember to start small. For example, if you know that the person you’re speaking with has children, then ask how that child is doing in school or ask them about a school break that their child was on recently. This builds trust and confidence and can open the door to broader conversations in the future.
Understand the People You Work With
Different ideals in the workplace often lead to questions of differences in personality. It’s a good idea for everyone in the work environment to take a personality test and set aside a day to share their results.
Doing this process as a team will help each person see better ways of communicating with each other and what values each person places significance on in the workplace.
Learn or Practice Emotional Intelligence
Once you understand the personality types for each person, study on and learn more about emotional intelligence.
By combining emotional intelligence and the results of the personality test, you can create a thriving workplace where communication barriers are decreased and productivity, efficiency, and better workplace relationships are increased.
Seeking help from a company that focuses on professional management development can help with learning about how to implement emotional intelligence in the workplace.
Don’t Be Afraid to Try
Creating a strong working relationship can seem very scary at first. The key is to not be afraid to try. People appreciate being thought of and they appreciate communication. Don’t be afraid to try to increase your communication with your coworkers, boss, or workers. If you’re feeling trepidation about the process, communicate that. Everyone in your workplace will appreciate it.
Conclusion
These are just some of the ways that you can build better work relationships. The process won’t be fast, but it will be beneficial in the long run.
Emma is a freelance writer based out of Boston, MA. She writes most often on health and education. When not writing, she enjoys reading and watching film noir. Say hi on Twitter @EmmaSturgis2