How Do You Build Relationships With Your Peers or Teammates?

/ by Pocketbook Agency

Teamwork becomes easier and more enjoyable when you have positive relationships with your peers or teammates. When a team has strong relationships, productivity increases, and there is an improvement in collaboration. Good working relationships with colleagues reduce work-related stress and improve efficiency, too.

Tips for Building Better Working Relationships

– Become better acquainted

– Be supportive

– Be positive

– Do your best work

– Share

– Be light and fun

– Avoid complaining

– Show appreciation

– Keep your commitments

– Get out of your comfort zone

– Avoid gossiping

Developing excellent relationships with coworkers impacts your job satisfaction. We’ll go over effective strategies to build relationships with your peers or teammates to boost office morale.

1. Become Better Acquainted

Getting to know your coworkers better helps you build closer relationships.

Introducing yourself to new team members or ones you haven’t yet talked to is a great ice-breaker and way to use your communication skills. Look for golden opportunities to get to chat with peers during the workday.

Having conversations about things unrelated to work is a great way to find common interests to bond over. You might spark up a conversation in the break room or ask a coworker to go out for lunch at your favorite spot. As another option, sign up to volunteer for a good cause and ask your peers to join you.

Finding time to chat to learn more about your teammates will build professional relationships that might turn into long-lasting friendships. The best time to get to know someone is in a more relaxed setting, rather than at your desk in the office. If you see a coworker take a walk on their break every day, ask to join sometime and have a stress-free conversation.

You might find you both are obsessed with the same TV show, love dogs, or enjoy riding your bikes on the weekends. Asking open-ended questions helps get people talking more. These open-minded chats often lead to closer relationships and sometimes life-long friendships.

2. Be Supportive

If you want a professional relationship to blossom quickly, support your teammates’ work. Giving acknowledgement and compliments makes people feel good and is an excellent way to build strong bonds. It motivates your peers to get to know you better, as they’ll see you in a positive light.

Try asking your teammates if there’s anything you can do to help them. Providing support to your teammates encourages them to do their best work and be proud of what they do. It also fosters closer relationships.

3. Be Positive

People enjoy being around others who are cheerful with an upbeat vibe. Work can get stressful at times, but remaining optimistic during difficult times encourages others to do the same, and your coworkers will enjoy being around you. They might come to you during difficult times to help lighten the mood and give some insights into handling specific situations.

4. Do Your Best Work

Yes, you work to make a paycheck, but you support the entire team’s success when you do your best work.

Your teammates will appreciate your quality work, which builds trust. Having trust is the start of a healthy relationship. When your coworkers learn they can count on you, it helps build strong professional relationships, which will grow in time.

5. Share

Sharing with your teammates shows you care enough about them to open up, whether that means sharing knowledge, tips for success, or even a failure you learned from. Sharing helpful information with your coworkers is an excellent way to build closer relationships. They will look at you as a positive peer they can rely on.

You don’t only have to share work-related things. Share personal things about yourself, especially facts your coworkers can relate to, that help foster closer bonds. You can even share snacks or a treat, as food is the way to many people’s hearts.

6. Be Light and Fun

The workload gets heavy at times and can dampen the mood for the entire team. However, work doesn’t have to be all serious to be effective.

Being light and fun while working hard to get the job done helps lighten the spirits of your team members. Your peers will enjoy being around you and develop a liking for your vibe, which helps relationships grow.

7. Avoid Complaining

Work can get tough at times, and coworkers come with a variety of personalities. However, no one likes negativity.

If you’re a chronic complainer, you’ll need to make a conscious effort to stop when things get difficult. Instead of complaining about things you don’t like, find something you enjoy about your work to focus on during the more challenging moments.

You might not like the way a teammate asks a lot of questions in meetings, but think about the knowledge they’re getting and the skills they bring to the team. Try your best to find something you like about each team member, and look for ways to get along with even the most difficult peers.

Complaining to management about a teammate is sure to get you on the unliked list, so it’s best to try to handle situations yourself positively.

8. Show Appreciation

Showing appreciation for your team members is a great way to build strong relationships. Look for opportunities to thank your peers. For example, show appreciation when they help you with something or complete part of a project on time. A genuine “Thank You” goes a long way and helps foster closer relationships.

Giving credit when a team member helps contribute to a project you’re working on encourages them and others to pitch in again in the future. It helps build strong teams that work effectively together to complete projects successfully.

Give recognition to peers for a job well done or for a promotion. Celebrating teammates’ wins shows you are a positive team player and helps relationships with coworkers bloom.

9. Keep Your Commitments

If you have committed to getting a task done by a specific time, be sure to honor it. If you’re unable to keep your commitments, tell your team members right away. You never want to leave your team scrambling to get the job done successfully. Being a reliable team player helps build strong relationships with your peers.

10. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

If you are one who usually sits in the back of the room quietly by yourself, you’ll need to branch out and mingle with the crowd. While staying to yourself might make you feel comfortable and safe, it will not build relationships with your peers.

Step out of your comfort zone, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you feel. Ask an icebreaker question to a teammate, and then share one thing about yourself with them. After some time of talking to your team members, it will become more natural, and soon, you will have closer relationships with your peers.

11. Avoid Gossiping

Gossiping about others in your office will push your sincere peers away and often start cliques. Office politics brings negative drama and hinders relationships from growing. Avoid gossiping in the office to bring unity to the team and allow genuine relationships to blossom.

The Benefits of Building Relationships With Your Peers or Teammates

Here are some of the benefits of solid relationships with your colleagues:

 – Career advancement – Building healthy relationships with your teammates will open the door to career advancement, raises, and leading key projects.

 – Increased production – When a team has strong relationships, it motivates everyone to do their best work, not to let their teammates down, and be more committed to the team’s success.

 – Improved collaboration – When team members have strong relationships, they tend to collaborate more effectively. Colleagues with a close bond know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, helping them perform various tasks more effectively.

 – Sharing knowledge – Colleagues with close relationships often share their knowledge to help their team members advance their skills through collaboration and sharing successful actions.

 – Improved company culture – A positive company culture increases productivity and directly adds to the success of an organization. Colleagues who have good relationships and enjoy working together add to the office dynamics.

 – Develop genuine friendships – Many great colleague relationships turn into lifelong friendships outside the office.

Building relationships with your peers or teammates brings many benefits to you, your coworkers, and the company. If you want to love your job, it’s crucial to have positive relationships with your team. Relationship-building takes effort, but the rewards make it worth the work.

The Takeaway

Building relationships with your peers or teammates takes a little effort, but the rewards are worth the work. Step outside your comfort zone and get to know your coworkers better. Ask open-ended questions to find some common interests.

It’s important to be supportive, positive, and hardworking to show you are a valuable team member. Keep your commitments and acknowledge others for a job well done.

Are you ready to join a new team where you can build great relationships with your peers? If so, contact the Pocketbook Agency today, and we’ll help you find your perfect match!

Sources:

Why work friendships are critical for long-term happiness | CNBC

Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive | HBR

Are you a chronic complainer? Here’s how a ‘complaint cleanse’ can help | NBCNEWS

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How Do You Build Relationships With Your Peers or Teammates?
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