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For the vast majority of us, work is where we spend the bulk of our time. This means that the people we spend the most time with in our lives are not our families, but our coworkers.
It can be difficult to navigate relationships with colleagues in the workplace, simply because we spend so much time with them.
Typically, this means we also wear a lot of hats when it comes to relationships with colleagues at work.
At times, we may need to be more of a supportive friend than a productive team member. While at other times, we may have to give ‘tough love’ through constructive criticism. This can make it confusing to know how we should go about building relationships in the workplace.
While not always readily obvious, having positive relationships in the workplace is beneficial in more ways than one. It can provide us with more meaning in our lives to have positive working relationships with colleagues, and can make our jobs more fulfilling.
Consequently, knowing how to build and maintain relationships in a professional capacity is key to our success on the job.
If you’re wondering how you can build better, healthier relationships at work, follow these tips.
5 Tips to Establish Healthy Relationships with Your Coworkers
1. Choose to be supportive over being competitive. For those of us that are naturally competitive, it can be tempting to let that behavior creep into our professional lives and affect our working relationships. While some level of competition is normal in the workplace, strive to be more supportive than you are competitive, especially with your colleagues. Competitiveness can quickly spiral out of control and can lead to a host of negative outcomes, such as the inability to trust your colleagues (and vice versa), and rampant gossip spreading. Choosing to be supportive to your colleagues will create a more trusting environment in which you and your colleagues can establish a stronger, healthier foundation for a working relationship.
2. Give credit where it’s due. Saying a simple “thank-you” here and there, or even just recognizing others for their efforts may seem like an obvious thing to do in the workplace, but it’s often overlooked. Let your coworkers know you appreciate them when they help you out, especially if they’ve helped you to reach one of your goals. There will come a time when you need them to help you out, and when that time does come, the fact that you expressed appreciation for their efforts will go a long ways in helping them to reciprocate.
3. Avoid gossip like the plague. Workplace gossip is inevitable, but that doesn’t mean you have to partake. And while a comment here and there may seem harmless, a vented frustration on your part can quickly escalate and become the hottest gossip in the office. Try your hardest to avoid gossip, especially when it comes to the workplace. Trust is essential when it comes to healthy relationships in the workplace, but it will quickly erode if others find out you’re gossiping about them behind their backs.
Related: How to Plan for a Stress-Free Workday
4. Listen more than you speak. One way to forge strong and healthy relationships in the workplace is to simply listen more than you speak. You’ll be surprised by how much more you can learn about someone when you just let them express themselves. Plus, they’ll feel far more inclined to trust you and help you out when they know that you sincerely care about their thoughts and perspective.
5. Show respect for others’ time and space. When you work closely with your colleagues, it’s easy to forget that you’re still in an office environment where you need to remain professional. For example, you may work in an open work environment where cubicles don’t exist, making it more than easy to just turn and talk to someone. However, not respecting your colleagues’ space and time can create tension in an office, and will negatively affect your working relationships.
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