Building Rapport in the Workplace
Companies prosper when staff are genuinely interested in their colleagues and others. This requires mutual respect and, in some cases, developing the confidence to build appropriate relationships within the workplace.
Impressions do count - particularly at work.
- How do staff members come across to one another in your organisation?
- Do your staff interact easily and with openness?
- Any anxieties or insecurities will hinder good communication. Those who feel threatened or undervalued will have the greatest difficulty in buying into the culture of rapport-building, or feeling motivated about their work.
If your perceptions are at variance with happier colleagues, you will find it difficult to adapt to change. You may feel threatened because any movement away from the 'old order' will be seen as yet another unwelcome alteration. If you don't go with the flow, you will be less at ease and feel alienated.
People tend to be one of two types - extrovert or introvert, or those who are people-oriented and those who are highly task-aware.
The latter type often find it difficult to appreciate the value of personal contacts. You may have a colleague like this. They would rather sit at their desk, staring at the computer screen. They email people they sit next to rather than speak to them!
A bit of staff bonding goes a long way to enhance goodwill amongst team members and colleagues.
- How much do staff members really know about each other?
- Who are the key people within your organisation to network with?
- Which ones are the decision-makers, the movers and shakers, the influential persuaders?
- Are there some well-connected people - your former bosses or colleagues who have now moved on?
You may not think about this much, but your colleagues and your boss are just other human beings. They have hopes, fears and insecurities like you. Sometimes they need nurturing.
