Importance of having a healthy relationship and how to build it in an organization

Good work relationships are not limited to customers, stakeholders and the society at large. It is essential for an individual or a business to survive and grow which makes it equally important to build and maintain a working relationship with everyone.

Trust: This is the foundation of every good relationship. When you trust your team and colleagues, you form a powerful bond that helps you to work and communicate more effectively. This will prevent you from wasting time and energy "watching your back."

Mutual Respect: When you respect the people you work with, you will value their input and ideas, and they value yours? this will help you develop solutions based on your collective insight, wisdom and creativity which will always lead to the productivity and success of your organization.

Mindfulness: Mindful people are always careful and attentive to what they say, they take responsibility for their words and actions. They control their negative emotions not to impact the people around them.

Welcoming Diversity: When you have good relationships with your team, you don't only accept them but also accept their ideas and opinions.

Effective Communication: We communicate all day, through emails, phones calls or meeting face to face. The better and more effectively you communicate with those around you, the richer your relationships will be. Remember all good relationships depend on honesty and good communication.

Develop Your People Skills: Good relationships start with good people skills. For instance, how well you collaborate, communicate and deal with conflict? This self-test will point you to tools that will help you to deal with any weaknesses that you have.

Identify Your Relationship Needs: Look at your own relationship needs. Do you know what you need from others? And do you know what they need from you? Understanding these needs can be instrumental in building better relationships.

Schedule Time to Build Relationships: Devote a portion of your day towards relationship building, even if it's just 30 minutes. For example, you could pop into someone's office during lunch, reply to people's postings or ask a colleague out for a quick cup of coffee. These little interactions help build the foundation of a good relationship, especially if they're face-to-face.

Appreciate Others: Show your appreciation whenever someone helps you. Everyone from leadership team to ordinary members wants to feel that their work is appreciated. So, genuinely compliment the people around you when they do something well. This will open the door to great work relationships.

Be Positive: Focus on being positive. Positivity is attractive and it will help strengthen your relationships with your colleagues. No one wants to be around someone who's negative all the time.

Manage Your Boundaries: Make sure that you set and manage boundaries properly. All of us want to have friends at work, but occasionally, if this happens, it's important that you're assertive about your boundaries, and that you know when or how much time you can devote for social interactions.

Avoid Gossiping: Work politics and "gossip" are major relationship killers. It’s advisable to talk to people directly whenever you are experiencing conflict with them. Gossiping about the situation with other colleagues will only worsen the situation, and will cause mistrust between you.

Active listening: Listen more when you talk to your colleagues and customers. People respond to those who truly listen to what they say. When you focus on listening than talking, your team will look at you as someone who is trustworthy.

Although we should try to build and maintain good working relationships with everyone, there are certain relationships that deserve extra needs and extra attention. Your relationship with stakeholders, these are the people who determine your success or failure. Forming a bond with these people will help you to ensure that your projects and career, stay on track.