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5 Elements to Strong Business Relationships - Part 1
by Dena Moscola
When rapport is strong, people tend to:
- Admit to challenges and mistakes
- Ask for help
- Accept questions and input about their areas of responsibility
- Give one another the benefit of the doubt before arriving at a negative conclusion
- Appreciate and tap into one another's skills and experiences
- Focus time and energy on important issues, not politics
- Let go of issues once resolved – No grudges - Offer and accept apologies without hesitations
When any one of the above mentioned conditions are absent, motivation decreases, accountability suffers, risk for conflict increases and performance is down. Employees are less likely to reach their full work potential if they are not comfortable approaching their manager with a challenge or question. A very common complaint among employees is that they do not feel comfortable approaching their manager about missing an approaching deadline. They find it less stressful to be late or do a poor job with an assignment than to risk disapproval of their manager. Building rapport on a regular basis will help strengthen communication and create a greater level of comfort, which, in turn, makes happier employees.
Here are 5 strategies guaranteed to strengthen rapport with your customers, clients and even those in your personal lives:
- Be approachable:
Managers are often viewed as different, unreachable, unapproachable, smarter, more successful and intimidating. These perceptions prohibit rapport and create obstacles to communication. To decrease these barriers, while still maintaining respect share challenges you have experienced and how you overcame them. Share lessons and successes that surprised you, share fears and most importantly, get acquainted personally and remember to stay humble.
- Ask for feedback:
Show that you are willing to receive feedback and improve your performance to build trust. Others will view development more serious if you take it serious. Additionally, it will demonstrate that feedback is not negative, but a positive tool for success for everyone. And as a bonus, you demonstrate your trust in someone when asking for candid opinions.
- Praise:
You all know praise is critical but how you praise makes a difference. Saying thank you and good job is nice but can be viewed as insincere. Strengthen the power of praise by following through and acknowledging specific behaviors or outcomes. For example: Thank you for staying late last week to finish that project. I know you have other responsibilities and you had to juggle to make that happen. It's appreciated. Or Good job during today's meeting. You really got the VP's attention. Looks like we might get the buy in. I'm impressed! Next time when praising, remember to complete the sentence by sharing the whole thought. It will go a lot further.
- Commit to being a better team player.
Leading by example will show your peers, managers, customers, clients and teams the value in developing ones self. It will show others that self-responsibility is priority
- Let others be themselves:
It is imperative for those around you to feel comfortable in making mistakes. Although, there are consequences for all actions, people need to have the confidence to take initiative and risk in order to reach higher potential. It is through our mistakes that we learn the most and then achieve greatness. People need to be confident that they have that opportunity.
These are some examples of how you can boost rapport. After all, it can always be stronger.