Research has shown that having good relationships at work makes employees happier and makes them stay longer. While that’s nice, I think being able to create and sustain healthy professional relationships actually helps companies meet their revenue goals.
Years ago I was involved with an organization where internal dysfunction ran rampant:
- Arguments and defensiveness across different teams and departments with competing priorities
- Struggle and personal drama among individuals within the same team
- Miscommunication and power struggles among the leaders of the organization
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Some days the tension was so high that you could feel it as you walked through the open floor plan where hundreds sat in front of their computers seething or complaining to one another about one another. It was a painful existence, but it was also many missed opportunities to meet the needs of the client or solve real problems in the marketplace. There was virtually no way that with all that drama and defeat, the company could meet its revenue goals or become a market leader; there was simply too much noise to overcome, and the distractions diverted the focus off the actual task at hand of growing a profitable business.
That’s an extreme example, but not isolated one. I’ve seen similar levels of dysfunction in both small organizations with less than 100 people and enormous companies with tens of thousands of employees. I’ve seen it among women and between men. I’ve seen it in subtle whispers behind closed doors and loud, screaming matches across the board table.
There is a culture within an organization that creates that level of dysfunction:
When there’s a scarcity mentality, we get competitive with one another; that’s a distraction.
When we’re rewarded for being “right,” we have to prove everyone else “wrong;” that’s unnecessary.
When the goals aren’t communicated clearly to each person, so they understand their contribution towards those goals, we waste a lot of time and energy, equating to missed opportunities.
But the converse is also true:
When individuals know their value, they’re not feeling insecure or the need to be competitive with anyone else. They spend most of their time in their personal zone of genius and maintain focus on the objectives that will lead to their success, and ultimately the success of the business.
When teams are clear on their contribution and trust one another, the drama and distraction dissipate.
When leaders are confident communicators, able to present ideas and create a vision, they create internal momentum, as well as a more engaged, productive and focused workforce that thrives.
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We’ve talked about leadership for decades. We’ve talked strategy, technology, and even execution. The conversation that no one seems to be having is that almost every business would not exist without its people. It is people delivering the service and support. It is people interacting with clients and prospects. It is people thinking through solutions to problems and identifying market opportunities.
So we have to start paying more attention to the human element, and we have to begin equipping people to create and sustain healthy working relationships at every level within the organization. That’s when we can be our most productive, most engaged and most creative.
We can improve the way we listen and communicate with one another. We can be willing to both share and consider new ideas freely.
We can give one another the benefit of the doubt and realize we’re all doing the very best we can at any given moment, even when we fall short. We can treat each other with kindness and respect.
We can each manage our minds in order to remain focused on the broader goals, leaving the fear and insecurity that keep us from creating productive working relationships at the door.
There’s a tangible benefit to the organization when the work environment fosters productive, healthy relationships. When we elevate the performance of the individuals and the teams, we’re more engaged and more focused on goals. It fosters more creative problem-solving, as well as the desire to deliver and produce results. Plus, when we enjoy the people we work alongside all day, every day, job satisfaction increases, improving retention and reducing turnover and hiring costs.
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This post is republished on Medium.
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