Many people might agree, life is better when you get along with coworkers.
When looking at the people that come into our lives, some are chosen by us, others are not.
We choose our friends, the people we enter committed relationships with and ultimately marry.
Then, there are those people we do not get to choose.
These include family and coworkers.
We usually meet our coworkers after interviewing and hiring decisions are made. You may choose the company you work for, but not necessarily who you work with.
Sometimes, we’re fortunate to have coworkers we get along with. Sometimes, our coworkers can be toxic.
Nevertheless, forming harmonious and productive relationships with coworkers is key for multiple reasons:
Better for your work output
Imagine going to a workplace everyday where you absolutely dislike the people.
You hustle through your day, complete your work, so you could rush home as quickly as possible.
That sort of lifestyle isn’t viewed as a productive, fulfilling, or happy one.
However, if the people around you are courteous and supportive, you typically would enjoy your job.
The quality of your output would also be high.
Not to mention, you would look forward to going to work everyday and giving your best.
Better for your health
Workplace stress is a real detriment to one’s health.
Having toxic coworkers causes mood swings, discouragement, bitterness and even physical ailments.
Conversely, healthy work relationships is a blessing for your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.
Better for your career
Being less stressed at work and producing a high quality of work benefits your career.
You have a better outlook and attitude about your company and capabilities.
Having a high capability and career outlook sets you up for lucrative promotions in the future.
Additionally, you’re also able to excel at a job you truly enjoy. There’s a very popular saying that, “People don’t leave bad companies; they leave bad bosses”.
Having a harmonious working relationship with your coworkers, makes it easier to dedicate to a particular career.
The flip side would be frequently changing jobs, trying to avoid toxic colleagues.
This harms your career as you’re always in transition and there is no focus or stability.
Better for your network
Being at the workplace shouldn’t be just about getting work tasks done.
It should be a golden opportunity to cultivate beneficial relationships and a strong network.
This network can propel you further in your career, either through work favours, promotions or recommendations.
The more relationships you build, the more resources you have at your disposal.
You can leverage coworker relationships later in your career to help secure lucrative opportunities.
How to develop harmonious coworker relationships?
Getting along with coworkers is ideal requires commitment and investment of your time and energy.
When cultivating harmonious, and rewarding work relationships, some key considerations are:
Demonstrating Courtesy
So many great things start with courtesy.
If you’re new to a company, courtesy is a foundation for warming your coworkers up to you.
Simple phrases such as ‘Please’, ‘Thank you’ and ‘Good morning or evening’ are simple, yet highly effective.
Being courteous and polite to your coworkers lays the foundation for a good rapport.
Learn to read people
This is fundamental skill that is innate to few, but can be developed.
Learn the art of reading people. It helps you to evaluate their personality, behaviour, and perspective.
Not everyone you meet in the workplace is going to be as talkative or empathic as you’d like.
Some coworkers, may simply be people of few words. Others may have no issue striking up a random conversation anytime.
Look for specific cues in your coworkers such as:
- How does a coworker communicate – soft tone or boisterous?
- Do they each lunch alone, or are they usually in the centre of the conversation?
- Do they share personal details or just stick to work-related topics?
- Do they work while engaged in light-hearted banter or do they prefer to be quiet with their headphones on?
Observe the different personalities around you in the workplace.
From there, you can begin to see behaviour patterns.
Read these patterns to identify coworkers with a similar or opposing personality, values, and temperament to you.
The ones with similar personalities to you are likely the ones you’d get along the most with.
Be helpful
One of the most detrimental mindsets to adopt is, “that’s not in my job description”.
Sure, you aren’t there to burden yourself with anyone’s responsibilities. Yes, you do have your own job to do and responsibilities to take care of.
But you cannot expect to function as a team, if you don’t see yourself as one.
One of the most effective ways to build trust and support at work is by being helpful. Offer assistance to your coworkers by contributing ideas, lending a hand for a project, doing them a favour or helping to solve a problem.
Helpfulness is always appreciated and fosters a trustworthy working relationship.
Be positive
Negative people turn others away.
Draw people in by offering positivity and optimism. Someone asking you, “How are you” in not an invitation to unload your problems on them.
We all go through challenging times, but your coworkers are not there to counsel you through your daily problems.
Unless they directly offer to do so, leave your problems at the door, and enter the workplace with a fresh and positive attitude.
Avoid negative behaviours
A lot of times, people respond to us not by the things we do, but the things we avoid.
To develop good coworker relationships, avoid toxic behaviours such as gossiping, office politics or sabotaging others.
If the environment already is a toxic one, don’t contribute to it.
Refrain from those type of negative behaviours to preserve your reputation and gain your coworkers; confidence.
Spend time outside of work
There’s much debate about whether coworkers should be friends, outside the workplace.
This would largely depend on the people involved and the values you hold.
However, if you find a group of people you get along with, spending time outside of work is a great way to build good rapport.
Go for a walk after work, grab a cup of coffee or lunch. You may not be able to do this with every coworker you have.
Such is where the skill of reading people is essential.
But socialising and spending time will help build harmonious coworker relationships you can treasure throughout your professional life.
