Schedule Time to Build Relationships
Devote a portion of your day toward relationship building, even if it’s just 20 minutes, perhaps broken up into five-minute segments.For example, you could pop into someone’s office during lunch, reply to people’s postings on Twitter or LinkedIn, or ask a colleague out for a quick cup of coffee.These little interactions help build the foundation of a good relationship, especially if they’re face-to-face.
Focus on Your EI
Also, spend time developing your emotional intelligence (EI). Among other things, this is your ability to recognize your own emotions, and clearly understand what they’re telling you. High EI also helps you to understand the emotions and needs of others.
Be Positive
Focus on being positive. Positivity is attractive and contagious, and it will help strengthen your relationships with your colleagues. No one wants to be around someone who’s negative all the time.
Manage Your Boundaries
Make sure that you set and manage boundaries properly – all of us want to have friends at work, but, occasionally, a friendship can start to impact our jobs, especially when a friend or colleague begins to monopolize our time.
If this happens, it’s important that you’re assertive about your boundaries, and that you know how much time you can devote during the work day for social interactions.
