Trust Starts with "Hello"
Can you get work done and have fun? Yes, it is possible.
Building high-quality relationships with your coworkers gets to the heart of what makes work meaningful and enjoyable. Quality connections are the foundation for great internal stakeholder relationships and cross-functional teams. At Excelerate, it is what makes our high-touch facilitative consulting stand out.
Get to know your coworkers
When you see someone at the coffee maker or microwave and wonder what their role is within the company? Ask them! Start to learn who your coworkers are, what they do, what they care about, who they work with, what their pain points are and what makes them tick. (Not all at once, of course!) If you want more guidance on how to get started, check out Harvard Business Review’s article How to Build Social Ties You Need at Work. Over time, each interaction provides insights and familiarity that go a long way towards establishing connection, care and trust.
Valuable Internal Relationships
Your colleagues are valuable internal stakeholders and resources. Lean on them when you need support or have a question. They may understand an issue you are facing better than you do and see solutions faster. Connecting with coworkers not only helps you learn about your organization’s internal structures, processes and sub-cultures, it also helps you get more done with better results.
Connection Builds Trust
High-quality connections build trust between individuals, teams and organizations. The stronger the relationship, the greater sense of trust and the more resilient it is. Trust and connection make people feel safe to take risks, engage in honest conversations, and ask questions. Research has shown high-quality connections at work increase individual agency and relational resilience. In other words, people are willing to stick-their-necks out and bravely ask “what can be done” to find solutions to big challenges.
Trust Moves the Needle
Relationships are the networks of trust and underlying structure that holds organizations together. Think of the difference between a friend asking for a favor versus someone you barely know making the same request. Which are you more likely to say yes to? Sincere, intentional relationships are good for you, others and the organization. We all get satisfaction from helping each other and feeling a greater sense of belonging and connection. This all starts with genuine interest, listening, connection and trust.Relationships at work matter. High quality connections with your coworkers create strong bonds of trust, encourage candid conversations, forge resilient teams and make getting work done more enjoyable.
LINKS TO SOURCES:
Journal article on High-Quality Connections http://webuser.bus.umich.edu/janedut/High%20Quality%20Connections/HighQuality_Connections.pdf HBR Article, How to Build Social Ties You Need at Work https://hbr.org/2015/09/how-to-build-the-social-ties-you-need-at-work
Written by:
KRISTIN WASHBURN
Kristin is a manager at Excelerate with over 10 years' experience helping individuals and teams achieve great results together. In her spare time, she is an advocate for beautiful spaces and tasty food.