Productive Relationships Rule

The surest way to a successful workplace and effective teamwork is to build trust. But unfortunately trust is the most endangered sentiment that barely exists in the business world. Processes and systems can easily be programmed and don’t operate on trust. People do! Warren Bennis once said that “trust is the emotional glue that binds leaders and followers together”. We do not build trust by just being “nice”. It is fairly easy to impress people from a distance. Authentic people earn the trust of their colleagues through productive relationships. They practice the power of a consistent professional, as well as personal example. They are not afraid to make themselves vulnerable and to reveal their “human” side to those around them. They have the guts to admit when they are wrong.

Working in an ineffective group or organization can really be frustrating. Very often these organizations expect unreasonable demands from their people. Employees would have no life apart from work or are forced to sacrifice other aspects of their life just to meet ridiculous deadlines. For an organization with this kind of scenario, relationships can be stressed or suffer from breakdown. Not to even mention the impact on spouses and children at home. Solid relationships at work can be something that provide emotional security and a source of sound advice during frustrating times. All of us will get discouraged some or other time at work. At times like these, we seek out the support of a trusted colleague or friend. The ideal is when the other person truly listens and empathizes with you during this challenging time. You appreciate the chance to get the problem off your chest and leave the room, ready to face the rat race again.

Building lasting relationships in the workplace is a necessity for several good reasons. One of the most important being that an organization is dependent on how well the employees work with management. According to Gallup's research, employees don't leave companies, they leave their managers. The positive or negative influences that managers can have at work and the employees who work there are dependant on the quality of relationships. Many managers neglect the importance of relationships of influence and ignorantly rely only on their titles and level in the organization to try to make things happen. There is only one message for these status-driven bosses who shrug off the importance of relationships: “Wake up and smell the coffee.” If employees get things done, only because they are afraid, they will never walk the extra mile. When a healthy and productive relationship is in place, managers focus rather on buy-in than authoritarian commands. This is when people will proverbially walk through the fire for you.

Solid relationships allow people to openly and tactfully express their feelings and positions. Assuming that someone else at work automatically understands our needs is wishful thinking and most definitely not the best starting point. Stephen Covey gives us valuable advice to "seek first to understand, then to be understood." It’s all about standing in someone else’s shoes first. Attempting to understand a colleague’s feelings and viewpoint creates goodwill and trust. One of the easiest ways to understand what is important to other people is to find out what makes them "glad," what makes them "sad" and what makes them "mad."

Mutual respect is the very foundation for great relationships. How about genuinely trying to listen to others? David Schwartz comments that "big people monopolize the listening. Small people monopolize the talking." The opposite of respect is the quick forming of judgments based on unfounded facts and personal prejudice. Frank Tyger dispenses this profound advice: "Be a good listener. Your ears will never get you in trouble."

Successful organizations can be defined as a web of relationships, which requires all parties to work and contribute their share in order to achieve a common goal. Having relationships that are healthy, where cooperation and respect are manifested, can make an organization perform better. In this way, every employee works for the good of the whole and towards achieving the common organizational goals. Ultimately this can only be attained with productive relationships. As the saying goes, "No man is an island."