Complex Relationships

Work relationships come in all shapes and sizes;
direct – indirect, formal – informal, face to face – remote, long established – new, ongoing – temporary, static – fluid, close – at arm’s length etc.

The variations are almost endless. What holds true for all of them however, is that they must be effective i.e. built and maintained so that they deliver what’s needed and expected by everyone involved. When this happens, they form the cornerstone for success and satisfaction with your job and your career.

Generally work relationships form easily and take no more than the usual amount of effort to maintain. Sometimes though a relationship is “difficult” or complex and as a result drains significant amounts of time and energy from the task at hand.

‘ Difficult relationships’ often cause friction within the office and affect team morale. This makes the achievement of goals and objectives more difficult and impacts on performance. It is often hard to understand what the cause for the poor relationship is and to know how best to improve matters; and often easy to place the blame and responsibility for change on the other person.

There is a very straightforward piece of coaching that will straight away allow you to understand why this happens and create new strategies for dealing with ‘those people’… If you would like to immediately benefit from this then call and speak to one of our coaches. Alternatively fill in the contact form and we can send you some more information.

Whether you are a manager of others or an individual contributor, knowing how to build work relationships based on trust, teamwork, communication and respect is crucial. Understanding how you relate to others and how best to build rapport is a good starting point, as is knowing how to handle difficult conversations with respect and empathy and how to handle conflict. By appreciating how someone views the world and how this may differ from your own view, you improve your understanding of their approach, ways of operating and thinking and can find new ways of relating better.