Good relationships are fundamental to our happiness, and work relationships are no different.
We don’t just check our emotional needs in at the office door every morning, they come in with us, and feeling connected to a close network of colleagues can make a big difference to our happiness at work.
For his book Good to Great, Jim Collins spent five years researching what makes the difference between a ‘good’ or a ‘great’ organisation and found that:
“The people we interviewed from good to great companies, clearly loved what they did largely because they loved who they did it with.”
So it would seem that great people often achieve great things because they are part of a great team. For example:
Thomas Edison may have got the credit for inventing the lightbulb, but he did it with the help of 30 lab assistants.
Neil Armstrong may have been the first person to walk on the moon, but it took a team of 400,000 scientists, engineers and technicians to actually get him there.
The sound of The Beatles would never have been what it was without the combination of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Star playing together.
Now in terms of your work colleagues, you might think you have no control over who you’re surrounded by, but that’s not necessarily true.
What you can do is change the balance of who you spend most time with and how you spend it with them.
For example, you can make some simple changes such as choosing to spend more face to face time with colleagues you like. This could be in the form of in person meetings, or walking over to their desk when you need to speak to them, or arranging to have lunch together.
Whereas with those colleagues who you don’t get on so well with, you could choose to communicate more often by email or by text.
Of course it’s unlikely that you can completely avoid having to work alongside colleagues who you don’t gel with, but you can probably change the balance of time you spend with them face to face, and those small changes could end up having a big effect. Just think about it.
If you’d like to learn more, I'm running an online lunchtime workshop on 28th August all about how to develop more positive relationships at work. You will discover:
How to feel more connected at work
How to build more collaborative teams
The importance of ‘vital friends’
The different roles they play in your life and career
How they can improve your engagement in the workplace.
Click here to learn more and book your spot for just £27 (scroll down to the bottom to find the Paypal button)
