Working relationships

One of the keys to an effective workplace is strong working relationships. This area also has the potential for being one of the most complex as well.

Typically aspects of any working relationship will fall into one of four areas:

• Highly functional
• Functional
• Dysfuctional
• Highly dysfuctional

Which area that they fall into will depend on the individuals involved and the situations that they find themselves in. Giving the right environment some people typically will work really well together, others will have to make a bit of an effort, some relationships will be very challenging. In each situation individuals that are most skilled in working relationships will be able to improve the relationship.

In terms of being most skilled, working relationships are so complex that there is no one single answer, no set of rules that define what will happen, instead this area of knowledge and experience is built up over time.

We can help the process of building up this knowledge and experience through the use of some well established relationship and communication tools including:

MBTI - Myers Briggs Type Indicator - This looks at different types of styles that people have for example some indvidual may have a preference for making decisions based on people's feeling whilst others may have a preference for making decisions based on logic. That difference will have an impact on the relationship between those people, in some situations and circumstances that impact will be positive and in other situations it will be negative.

NLP - Neuro Linguistic Programming - NLP brings a set of tools and assumptions that can focus on how individuals interact for example there are ways of speaking that will lead some individuals to feel very postive, whilst other language patterns will lead to less positive approach.

TA - Transactional Analysis - This communication tool raises awareness of certain styles and patterms of communication and how they interact with one another. For example one style is Parent/Child. If you used this style of communication with a person who was expecting you to use and Adult/Adult style, they are likely to react in a way other than that which you were hoping for.

Belbin - Team Roles - Belbin established descriptions of 9 different behavioural styles that are particularly relevant to team situations. These include amongst others, The Shaper, someone who drives for results, and The Completer Finisher, someone who naturally checks out the fine detail. An understanding of these behavioural types can have a impact upon how people work together, typically drawing upon the strengths of their colleagues and making allowance for their weaknesses.

To learn more about Working Relationships and how you, your team and your organisation can develop through coaching and training: