Why healthy rela­tion­ships are the fuel of suc­cess­ful col­lab­o­ra­tion

Healthy rela­tion­ships strength­en trust, speed up deci­sion-mak­ing and reduce the need for nerve-wrack­ing coor­di­na­tion loops.

How­ev­er, rela­tion­ships in a pro­fes­sion­al con­text are usu­al­ly in the head­lines when they are ques­tion­able and have a neg­a­tive impact on the envi­ron­ment. Espe­cial­ly when it comes to the award­ing of major con­tracts or polit­i­cal posi­tions, a whiff of impro­pri­ety quick­ly res­onates. Espe­cial­ly when process­es are sup­posed to be trans­par­ent to the out­side world, but inter­nal­ly it has long been decid­ed how the hare will run. The mis­trust is great — and often jus­ti­fied.

And yet it is pre­cise­ly well-func­tion­ing, healthy rela­tion­ships that get major projects off the ground and ensure fruit­ful col­lab­o­ra­tion. It has long been recog­nised that speed is gained through trust. It speeds up deci­sion-mak­ing process­es, saves us the cost of exces­sive con­trol mech­a­nisms and reduces the need for micro-man­age­ment. In short, trust makes work eas­i­er and more effi­cient. And trust is built when peo­ple res­onate with each oth­er.

Rela­tion­ships — the under­rat­ed heroes of the work­place

In the busi­ness world, we take great care to ensure that rela­tion­ships with cus­tomers and sup­pli­ers work. Open com­mu­ni­ca­tion, a reg­u­lar exchange of infor­ma­tion and per­son­al con­tacts that have often grown over the years pro­vide sta­bil­i­ty. These rela­tion­ships can lead to real win-win sit­u­a­tions.

But what about inter­nal­ly? Well-func­tion­ing rela­tion­ships with­in teams and depart­ments are at least as impor­tant and form the basis for the exter­nal impact. Trust and mutu­al good­will speed-up deci­sion-mak­ing process­es and make coor­di­na­tion more effi­cient. When peo­ple trust each oth­er, share their knowl­edge and pull togeth­er, a vibrant dynam­ic is cre­at­ed.

We all know the oppo­site: mis­trust and scep­ti­cism slow things down. Col­lab­o­ra­tion becomes com­pli­cat­ed, the coor­di­na­tion effort increas­es and instead of progress, there are end­less coor­di­na­tion loops. These dis­cus­sions are often less about con­tent and more about being heard again — with­out any real added val­ue.

Struc­ture and res­o­nance – get­ting both right

It is often thought that coop­er­a­tion can be improved by hav­ing con­crete, pre­cise job descrip­tions, clear lines of respon­si­bil­i­ty and delin­eat­ed areas of account­abil­i­ty.  Pro­vid­ing clar­i­ty and struc­ture helps every­one involved. How­ev­er, descrip­tions alone will not bring a team per­form at its best. A team only becomes tru­ly suc­cess­ful when the peo­ple in it relate to each oth­er. When they res­onate and work togeth­er towards a com­mon goal.

Employ­ees don’t have to be best friends to achieve this. They don’t have to share the same hob­bies or watch films togeth­er at the week­end. But they do need respect, recog­ni­tion of their achieve­ments, trust in each other’s abil­i­ties and a shared belief that they are mak­ing an active con­tri­bu­tion to the best of their abil­i­ties.

Advent, Advent … fos­ter­ing rela­tion­ships made easy

And isn’t the sea­son of Advent a won­der­ful oppor­tu­ni­ty to active­ly nur­ture rela­tion­ships? We can fur­ther strength­en suc­cess­ful col­lab­o­ra­tion over a shared punch, an open con­ver­sa­tion or sim­ply a sin­cere thank you. Healthy rela­tion­ships can­not be tak­en for grant­ed — they need atten­tion and an active engage­ment — so they can become a gift for every­one.