You’re working with colleagues on different projects. How can you build stronger relationships?

"Trust is what happens between meetings"- Simon Sinek I believe this to be true. Having a genuine interest in our colleagues as people helps build stronger work relationships. Being curious about our colleagues, their work, and how they approach it, helps us to work with them more effectively. Curiosity doesn't stop there, I want to know what drives and inspires the people them, what they're passionate about; at work and outside of work. Being interested and curious about people helps to humanize them.

Show up as yourself and be curious! Even if you don't know that much about a topic, someone can see that you are trying and care by making an effort to invest time and energy into something that they are interested in. If you are more willing to get to know someone, they will be more willing to get to know you too! It's a two-way street.

Be genuinely curious about each of your colleagues and their expertise. No one would be perfect, but it is totally OK. Have free and open communication in simple language with each team member so that everyone is on same page. This improves inclusiveness thereby enhancing relationship.

Communicate effectively: Be clear, listen actively, and express gratitude. Be a team player: Help others, enjoy victories, and handle conflicts in a respectful manner. Connect personally: Find common ground and talk outside of work.

Come at things and people from a perspective of curiosity and openness to learn. Often people think that openness to learn is about getting people to accept something they disagree with but it’s not . It’s about making space for different perspectives in the same room. We learn more when exposed to ideas and concepts that are different to ours, feel strange and uncomfortable. And then a beautiful thing can happen: we know more we have been exposed to the different thing have learned it have debated it so that next we encounter it we no longer feel like it is uncomfortable . It’s familiar, we can of course still disagree and debate it but now we are coming from knowledge, from exposure and learning. And we have grown.

You are all experts on different things and have something to learn from each other. Be open to growing and learning something new from someone else who might be better at it than you. Show someone else that they have value and that you value their perspective.

Each person has a different point of view or approach. Keep this in mind when seeking help from your colleagues. Actively listen to what they offer and make them feel appreciated. You might lean something new. Collaborating with each other is how you build trust.

Working with colleagues on multiple projects as all about good communication and setting clear goals for everyone. Understanding where everyone is at, what they are working to achieve and keeping the team motivated as well as moving forward is key. People need to feel comfortable sharing their ideas and goals for the projects. The more clarity that can be provided for the ultimate outcome the better the results will be.

Be concise in your communication with your colleagues. Consider the channel and tone in your communication. Set expectations and boundaries. Be open to receiving and giving feedback. Transparency is important. You want to avoid conflicts and misunderstandings. Communicate in an authentic way to convey trust.

Take the time to express gratitude to your colleagues. A small gesture goes a long way. Be there to support them when they face obstacles. Supporting your colleagues can help you build a relationship. It fosters an inclusive environment.

It's important to publicly celebrate both group and individual successes. Make sure to give people their flowers. Acknowledge people's hard work and contributions. When people have challenges offer them support, but don't force it. Encourage colleagues to find solutions to the challenges they face, refrain from trying to give them solutions. If necessary take other work off of their plate so that they have more bandwidth available to tackle big challenges. Make a point to provide critical feedback privately. Check in on people to see how they are doing, not just how a project is going. Be human!

It's important to remember that raising constructive feedback to someone - no matter how gracious they are - is often a stressful and awkward experience. Instead of waiting for people to come to you, lead with questions that make it easy to tell you the truth like "What could I do to support your success on this project?" or "What should I stop, start, and keep doing to make sure the project succeeds?" When we ask a super open question like "Any feedback for me?" we will likely hear crickets. Ask a more precise question and you'll get answers you can actually use to improve. When people see you listening and acting on feedback, chances are they'll trust you more.

You are not perfect and that's okay! Hearing feedback from others who know and respect you can help you develop as a person, a listener, a learner, and a team player. If feedback is not offered, ask!

No one is perfect. Be open to feedback. Take the initiative and ask for ideas or suggestions from your colleagues. Actively listen to what they have to say. Be humble in the process. Feedback helps you grow in your career and life.

We can try to understand each other by communicating and sharing interests. Try to accept everyone as they are because everyone is unique. So without judging try to make a rapport with them. This will bring you new insights to see one thing from different point of view. Spending time with them also helps in better understanding and hence good relationship.

Align definitions. When you are asking questions to attempt to seek understanding and assume positive intent, I have found that additional alignment can be found by asking how they define either words, scope, goals, etc. This opens up the conversation to one of curiosity!

I believe everything starts with attitude, including our relationships with colleagues. These relationships require us to be authentic, to genuinely care about our colleagues well being and success. It is important that we approach these relationships with the intention of being the best teammate/ partner/ colleague possible. We need to appreciate that this means always looking for new ways, tools, and resources to help us be better teammate/ partner/ colleague. Even if we are really good at this, we can still be better.