Want To Build Better Relationships? Get Organised.

Reading time: 3-4 minutes

When it comes to building relationships at work, one of the biggest struggles (excuses) I hear from leaders when I first start working with them is:

“I know building relationships is important, but I just don’t have the time”.

Well, of course you don’t. You haven’t made the time.

Look at your calendar. You likely have events, meetings, to-do lists, timelines with objectives and actionables laid out for months ahead. With exactly what to do and when to do it.

What do you have in your calendar around nurturing your important relationships at work?

I’m willing to bet a large sum of money that you’ve got nothing.

Today’s edition is a short one, with a quick and simple message:

If you would like to build closer and more effective relationships at work, get organised.

Get Organised

Imagine if we worked the same way we approached building workplace relationships:

No plan, no goals, no specific action steps, hoping that it will happen ‘organically’.

Nothing would get done, nothing would be built - nothing of great quality, anyway. Other “real” and more pressing tasks will always get in the way.

So unless we add some rigour, planning, and organisation to our relationship building efforts, we’ll never consistently grow exceptional relationships.

So if you are ready to start taking your relationships at work seriously, you are going to need to treat it like how you treat your projects at work. With organisation, planning, and consistent effort.

That may sound a little intimidating, but don’t worry, here’s a simple way to start.

Your Relationship Building Checklist

One small action each day dedicated to nurturing each important relationship. That’s all it takes.

1. How Many Important Relationships Do You Have?

How many vital relationships do you have at work?

There are 3 places to look. People working Below, Above, or Beside you. Write down the names of the people who are vital to your success in your role.

Let’s keep it to 4 to 5 people for now.

2. One Action Every Day for Each Relationship

Each day, you are going to check off one relationship building action for each person on that list.

It might sound like a lot, but don’t worry, it’s going to be really simple.

An action should be either:
1. A check-in
2. An invitation
3. An offer of help

Here’s what each of them are:

1. A Check-In:

A simple question to find out more about what they may currently be experiencing (in or out of work).

“How have you been going?”
“What have you been up to?”
“How was your weekend?”
“Everything okay?”


2. An invitation:

A request, inviting them to do something together.

“I’m going to get a coffee from the pantry, would you like one?”
“I’m going to have a chat with the boss about the project, did you have any questions? Would you like to come along?”


3. An offer of help:

Offer to help or support them in some way.

“I’ve got some time on my hands, did you need a hand with anything?
“I know you’ve got to run some errands, why don’t you go ahead and I’ll finish up here.”

Conclusion

That’s it.

One small action each day for 5 people.

Some of these actions will take as quick as 30 seconds, but none of them any longer than 5 minutes. What’s better is that you’ll have the opportunity to integrate anyone of these actions into your work pretty seamlessly.

So for 4 or 5 people, it shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes out of your day. Don’t have 20 minutes? Then you might need to get better organised in some other aspects of work too.

You can physically write a list or make one mentally.

You can plan ahead on what action you’re going to take each day or you can just improvise as it comes.

You can even make recurring calendar events and get really organised around it.

Whatever works best for you, and whatever gets it done.

One check-in, invitation, or offer of help/support, each day and I promise you working together will start to get a lot easier.

All the best everyone!

Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help you:

Explore My Relationship Accelerator program for leaders:

→ If you’re still struggling to unlock the potential of your people and would like to make some meaningful change - our relationship accelerator program helps your leaders learn all they need to know about building effective relationships to drive success - in one day. Check it out here.

Or reach out at [email protected]