An immense amount of time is spent at work. Considering you work at office for 7 hours in a day, 5 times a week and for more than 30 years of your life, approximately 10,500 hours of your life are spent working. In a world where even one moment is crucial, that is a large amount of time spent in a work atmosphere. Therefore making sure that this atmosphere is comfortable, beneficial and nurturing towards growth is extremely important. One of the best ways to make sure, is by building friendly, lasting and meaningful relationships with your co-workers.
Building relationships at work can be quite tricky. It is necessary that you be your professional best at all times and that you say the right things to the right people. You do not want to make co-workers feel like they are inferior to you when they may be at the same level. Neither do you want to seem inferior to them.
Here are 5 tips to help you on your way:
1. Give sincere compliments
Compliments can seem fake and insincere when not done for genuine value addition and at frequent intervals. Make your compliments specific. What did you to learn from that co-worker? How did a particular action benefit you or the company? If someone has done a piece of work really well and submitted it on time, tell them how much you appreciate how the work has been done in such an efficient and detailed manner in such a short amount of time. Tell them how much you have learnt from their best practices. Be genuine about your compliments and only say what you think. If you think that some piece of advice is not agreeable to you, communicate your doubts rather than complimenting the person on how helpful it has been. It will appear insincere and spoil relations.
2. Ask them to accompany you for lunch
Ask co-workers to lunch with you. Starting out as small as lunch will make sure that the co-worker is comfortable with you. This opens the doors to getting to know each other. If you both enjoy your time together, this can become a regular affair and can extend to even dinner and drinks. This helps set a friendly and understanding relationship and you will make sure to help each other at work.
3. Build trust and mutual respect
One of the best ways to build trust and mutual respect is to simply be good at your work. Clear all your doubts before starting out on your project and submit tasks on time. Make sure to ask questions only your co-workers can solve. If there is something that can be easily found on the internet or something that has already been mentioned to you before, don’t waste the time of your co-workers seeking answers for the same. Invite colleagues to help you out with your work and appreciate their suggestions. Have discussions about your projects and respect their opinions on them, while also clearly and assertively communicating yours.
4. Understand the culture
While it may be a great practise to wave a cheery hello to your colleagues every morning, for many it might seem awkward and suspicious. Understand the psyche of your colleagues. Do they like being made friendly chat with during work? Do they like to wish each other good morning? Do they seem frustrated when you waste their time with trivial matters? Understand where your colleagues stand and what the culture of the organization is. It might a serious, high pressure atmosphere or it might be a friendly, easy going one. Each colleague will also have a different style of working and a different culture that they come from. Be open and adaptable to various work styles and cultures.
5. Help your co-workers
If you see a co-worker carrying a heavy box, provide your support and help them out! If you see a co-worker struggling with a particular task, provide your advice and help them out! If you see a co-worker stressed with multiple projects, take up responsibility for some of it and help them out! Helping someone out will not only make them trust and like you more, but will also ensure that they help you out when you face any difficulties.
Networking and maintaining relations is one of the perks of a work sphere. Meaningful relations at your workplace will ensure that not only are you constantly supported, but also that you have an enjoyable time at work.
Maintaining good relationship with your co-workers is crucial, but working in the right working environment and spaces is also important. Search for co-working spaces in South Extention, New Delhi or shared office space in Andheri West, Mumbai.