Whether you are a supervisor of a group of employees, a mentor, or a coworker, knowing the type of interactions and behaviors expected in your position is paramount. Learning positive ways to navigate work relationships can assist in boosting your reputation and building your network as a professional. The following are details on everything you need to know about work relationships:
Definition of Work Relationship
Work relationships refer to specific interactions and expectations between individuals in various organisational or company positions. They can either be personal, professional, or a combination of both. Based on the title or position of each individual, these relationships play a vital role in the overall workplace culture and job satisfaction. Learning how to balance these distinct relationships can help someone to improve their connections and make significant advancements in their career.
Characteristics of Good Work Relationships
Positive working relationships have long been linked with improved performance, job satisfaction, and employee retention. Such dynamics can assist new employees to gain knowledge and learn quickly from other experienced colleagues. Here are characteristics that you can use to evaluate the strengths of your professional relationships:
Communication: A good work relationship relies on the willingness of everyone to communicate frequently, openly, and honestly with one another. It's about everyone having the space and freedom to express their concerns, thoughts, and ideas while others listen actively and respond thoughtfully.
Respect: Respect is something everyone should show from the start without any questions. A good working relationship entails treating everyone with the same consideration, courtesy, and dignity you wish for them.
Trust: Trust is something that is built over time. It involves people demonstrating qualities like integrity and reliability, which, over time, help build the trust of the other individual.
Authenticity: Authenticity refers to someone's willingness to be transparent, sincere, and genuine about their decisions, intentions, and actions.
Clear boundaries and expectations: These are a must-have as they remind everyone what's needed for a good working relationship.
Empathy: Empathy helps to create a healthy and strong professional relationship. It entails acknowledging and understanding each person's perspectives and feelings to create it's support for each other.
Types of Work Relationships
Relationships are dynamic and fluid because everyone is unique, meaning the interactions will also be unique. Professional relationships are also no different. For instance, a work friend can also be a team member, and a manager can also be a mentor. With this in mind, here are the two main types of work relationships:
- Reporting Relationships
Reporting relationships are hierarchical and formal as they involve one person reporting to another person. There is a chain of command where one person has more authority than the other, such as a boss or employee. While there might be a power imbalance in such a work relationship, the intention is to ensure work gets completed, goals are met, tasks get delegated, and problems get solved.
- Organizational Relationships
These relationships are formal and aim to support the functions and operations of a company. The focus is on your connections to individuals in other divisions, teams, or departments. These relationships are designed depending on the structure of the company. A good example would be between individuals in purchasing and human resources. They may fail to work together, but if they happen to do so, they do so while sharing a common goal. Organizational relationships revolve around communication, coordination and collaboration between different functions or teams for success.
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