“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” – Theodore Roosevelt
The skills of collaboration, partnering and relationship management are all critical for success in today’s workplace. Whether we work in-person or virtually, being able to build solid relationships with other members of our team, others inside the organization, and potentially external partners and customers/clients is critical for success.
It’s important to be able to build relationships:
- Upwards with our boss and other leaders in the organization.
- Across with peers in the organization – in other teams and departments.
- Downwards with anyone we manage or lead.
Whether we have a formal title of leadership or not, partnering, collaboration and relationship management are all critical skill sets.
One of the biggest adjustments remote team leaders and members face is how to build relationships, and work through others in the virtual space.
Consider your work and what it may look like as a professional in today’s context. Who do you relate with on a regular basis? What value are you providing in the interactions you have? What type of support do they need from you?
We often use the term “collaboration” around in today’s workplace thinking that all tasks and projects need collaboration. As I have written several times, collaboration may be overused at times, employed when individual effort may be best, and under-utilized when a collaborative approach would be best.
Questions to consider when you collaborate or partner with others:
- What are the outcomes we are looking for? How will we know we’ve been successful?
- Do we need to collaborate, cooperate, collaborate or co-create?
- Each one of these requires different risk, input and levels of relationship. To what level do you need to be involved?
- What’s important to acknowledge about the impact of collaboration?
- When we do collaborate how can I be relied upon? What do others need from me? What do I need from them?
- What check-ins will we have along the way to identify what’s working, what adjustments are needed, and what learning we are having?
I hope that you have found it valuable to return back to this former blog post.
Don’t forget to download a copy of the February Calendar. Many of these posts are ones you will want to explore.
Warm wishes,
Jennifer
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
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