Build better relationships - Earn the respect and trust of your colleagues with these tips

This post came out from The Straits Times (27 February 2012)
Title - Build better relationships - Earn the respect and trust of your colleagues with these tips

Some pointers that I've got are:

1. Value the relationship
2. Communicate effectively
3. Provide solutions
4. Don't blame people
5. Be reliable
6. Be professional
7. Always give your best
8. Treat everyone equally
9. Resolve any conflicts quickly
10. Have informal meetings
11. Share credit
12. Pick your battle wisely

On Value the relationship

• You need to invest time and effort to understand your colleagues' needs and to deal with obstacles. Even if you try and fail, at least you've given it your best shot.

On Communicate effectively

• This forms the foundation for a positive working relationship. Open lines of communication keep information, opinions and support flowing. Put yourself in your colleagues' shoes and respect their points of view that may be different from your own.

On Provide solutions

• Some employees spend a disproportionate amount of time identifying problems. Thoughtful solutions take more effort and will earn you respect and admiration. 

On Don't blame people

• You alienate your colleagues when you play the blame game. Focus on the process and issues that cause and employee to fail. Publicly identifying and blaming others for failures will only earn you enemies.

On Be reliable

• In an organisation, work is interrelated. If you fail to meet deadlines and commitments, you affect the work of others. Always keep commitments. If you can't, make sure the affected employees are kept up to date. Provide a new deadline and make every possible effort to honour it. 

On Be professional

• Never participate in gossip or discuss your colleagues' business behind their backs. People will trust you and know that what they tell you is safe and in your hands. Relationships thrive only when trust is present.

On Always give your best

• When working on a project together, always be the person who is willing to do extra to strengthen the collaboration and the outcome or product.

On Treat everyone equally

• No matter their position within your organisation, all people are equal. They just have different jobs. 

On Resolve any conflicts quickly

• Unresolved conflicts festers under the surface in organisations. Unresolved conflicts undermines relationships and mutual, purposeful progress towards accomplishing personal and organisational missions.

On Have informal meetings

• When meeting with someone with the specific purpose of developing your relationship with that person, think about holding the meeting in a setting in which he will feel comfortable. When people are relaxed, they tend to share what is important to them more openly.

On Share credit

• Take the time to thank, reward, recognise and specify the contributions of the people who help you succeed. This is a sure-win method to build effective work relationships.

On Pick your battles wisely

• Sometimes letting a colleague's differing opinion prevail to gain support on other more important issues may be the best thing to do. Give in on the little decisions, or those that appear to be more important to the colleague. You'll easily gain support for the decisions that are important to you. 

Yours,
Something Small Thinking Big