Workplace friendships have always been viewed as a natural phenomenon, but research has found that a sense of connection between colleagues helps improve work efficiency, reduces employee turnover, and is critical to teamwork. Cultivating good relationships among employees is a key tool in building high-performing teams.
Employees who establish close interpersonal relationships at work can have higher efficiency, creativity, and collaboration. Their job satisfaction is higher, they are less likely to suffer from professional burnout, and are less likely to choose to leave their jobs. This indicates that such employees have higher stability and contribution to the team. On the other hand, employees who feel lonely or unrelated to the team usually exhibit poorer job performance: their concentration and willingness to collaborate decrease significantly, and they even expend energy to mask their loneliness, which lowers their ability to complete projects.
While it is important to be aware of the importance of close connections, clearly defined methods are needed to actually establish such connections. Leaders can take strategic actions to create these conditions, which are feasible even in remote or hybrid work environments. Here are three strategies for building close interpersonal relationships:
1. Use commonalities as the starting point for friendship: Research indicates that similarity is a major driver of friendship. Employees with common interests or hobbies are more likely to resonate with each other. Managers can not only introduce the professional background of new employees during orientation training, but also inquire about their personal interests, which serves two benefits: on one hand, it allows team members to discover commonalities, and on the other, it makes new employees feel valued.
2. Emphasize common goals: Leaders need to ensure that employees see each other as team members, not just colleagues. By setting common goals and working towards them, employees can form tighter connections.
Research has found that employees who consider their colleagues crucial to their success tend to form closer connections with them, have fewer disagreements, and find their work more meaningful. In many organizations, it is difficult to find common goals, especially when team members are responsible for different projects. When employees feel that their goals are not aligned with their colleagues, factions, isolation, and conflict are likely to arise. Common goals not only create a sense of team among employees but also strengthen team awareness in limited collaboration environments by leaders employing this concept.
Managers can emphasize the importance of teamwork through various means. For instance, simply reminding employees how a project relies on team cooperation, or publicly thanking members whose essential contributions to team success are often overlooked. In addition, leaders can emphasize goals that can only be achieved through united cooperation, such as OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). Beyond work, common goals can also promote team cohesion through company-wide social and recreational activities. Well-designed social activities are not only enjoyable, but they also create opportunities for employees to work together to achieve goals. In other words, instead of hosting parties in the office, it is better to invest in activities like team cooking classes that engage employees.
Actually, workplace disagreements often arise among employees who lack a sense of connection, feeling undervalued, unappreciated, or disrespected. When the sense of connection is reduced, people are more likely to take disagreements as personal disrespect. However, if properly guided, disagreements can become a valuable resource. Workplace disagreements do not always mean office relationships are in chaos; they can be a catalyst for innovative solutions, better decision-making, and higher workplace performance.
Exceptional leaders do not just quell disputes, they also use “relational framing” techniques to turn tense moments into opportunities to deepen interpersonal connections. This includes reaffirming partnership (“I believe we can certainly solve this problem together”), affirming the partner’s efforts (“You have put in so much, I fully understand”), or valuing the partner’s expertise (“I’ve always admired your deep insights into clients”). This technique can quickly make the other person feel that, despite differences of opinion, it does not affect their relationship, and the goal remains to find the best solution together. If used appropriately, relational framing can not only resolve interpersonal crises but serve as an important communication tool to facilitate cooperation, express gratitude, and help contributors feel that their worth is recognized.
For a long time, workplace friendships were thought to form spontaneously, but research shows that forming connections with colleagues can increase work efficiency, reduce employee turnover, and encourage team collaboration. While good relationships among employees are an effective tool for building high-performance teams, this potential is often overlooked. Fortunately, research also indicates that leaders can help employees build friendships through a series of measures. By mastering scientific findings, enhancing a sense of connection and team spirit, and fostering effective collaboration, leaders can meet team members’ needs for connection and thereby improve overall performance.
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