1. Building Good Relationships at Work
Making Work Enjoyable and Productive

2. Why Have Good Relationships?
Better our relationships are at work, the happier and more productive we're going to be
Good working relationships give us several other benefits: our work is more enjoyable when we have good relationships with those around us. Also, people are more likely to go along with changes that we want to implement, and we're more innovative and creative
Good relationships give us freedom: instead of spending time and energy overcoming the problems associated with negative relationships, we can, instead, focus on opportunities
Good relationships are also often necessary if we hope to develop our careers. After all, if your boss doesn't trust you, it's unlikely that he or she will consider you when a new position opens up. Overall, we all want to work with people we're on good terms with.
We also need good relationships with others in our professional circle. Customers, suppliers, and key stakeholders are all essential to our success. So, it's important to build and maintain good relations with these people

3. Defining a Good Relationship
Trust - This is the foundation of every good relationship. When you trust your team and colleagues, you form a powerful bond that helps you work and communicate more effectively. If you trust the people you work with, you can be open and honest in your thoughts and actions, and you don't have to waste time and energy "watching your back.“
Mutual Respect - When you respect the people that you work with, you value their input and ideas, and they value yours. Working together, you can develop solutions based on your collective insight, wisdom and creativity.
Mindfulness - This means taking responsibility for your words and actions. Those who are mindful are careful and attend to what they say, and they don't let their own negative emotions impact the people around them.
Welcoming Diversity - People with good relationships not only accept diverse people and opinions, but they welcome them. For instance, when your friends and colleagues offer different opinions from yours, you take the time to consider what they have to say, and factor their insights into your decision-making.
Open Communication - We communicate all day, whether we're sending s and IMs, or meeting face-to-face. The better and more effectively you communicate with those around you, the richer your relationships will be. All good relationships depend on open, honest communication

4. What is Listening?
listening: the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages; to hear something with thoughtful attention
Effective communication is 2-way
depends on speaking and listening

5. Listening vs. Hearing
Hearing- physical process; natural; passive
Listening- physical & mental process; active; learned process; a skill
Listening is hard!
You must choose to participate in the process of listening.

6. Fast Facts We listen at 125-250 wpm, think at 1000-3000 wpm
75% of the time we are distracted, preoccupied or forgetful
20% of the time, we remember what we hear
More than 35% of businesses think listening is a top skill for success
Less than 2% of people have had formal education with listening

7. Percentage of Communication
Mode of Communication
Formal Years
of Training
Percentage of Time Used
Writing
12 years 9%
Reading
6-8 years
16 %
Speaking
1-2 years
30%
Listening
0-few hours
45%

8. Qualities of Active Listeners
Desire to be “other-directed”
No desire to protect yourself
Desire to understand, not critique
Desire to imagine the experience of the other

9. Skills for Active Listening
Examples:
Sitting forward
Eye contact
Nodding head
BODY LANGUAGE

10. Skills for Active Listening
OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
Examples:
What happened after that?
Who was there?
What did they do?
How did that work?

11. Skills for Active Listening
Examples:
So what I hear you saying is . . .
REPEAT CONTENT

12. Skills for Active Listening ACKNOWLEDGING FEELINGS
Examples:
You’re feeling ___.
It makes you (feeling) that . . .

13. Skills for Active Listening
Examples:
Bite your tongue!
DON’T JUDGE

14. Skills for Active Listening
Examples:
Count to yourself.
BEING QUIET

15. Listening is the most powerful form of acknowledgment
Listening is the most powerful form of acknowledgment …a way of saying, “You are important.”

16. Listening builds stronger relationships …creates a desire to cooperate among people because they feel accepted and acknowledged.

17. Listening promotes being heard
Listening promotes being heard …”Seek first to understand, then be understood.”
- Stephen Covey

18. Listening creates acceptance and openness
Listening creates acceptance and openness …conveys the message that “I am not judging you.”

19. Listening leads to learning
Listening leads to learning …openness encourages personal growth and learning

20. Listening reduces stress and tension. …minimizes confusion and
Listening reduces stress and tension …minimizes confusion and misunderstanding, eliminating related stress and tension

21. Listening is CRITICAL in conflict resolution
…much conflict comes from the need to be heard. Successful resolution depends on being a non-anxious presence.

22. Barriers to Listening Equate With Hearing Uninteresting Topics
Speaker’s Delivery
External Distractions
Mentally Preparing Response
Listening for Facts
Personal Concerns
Personal Bias
Language/Culture Differences
Faking Attention

23. Summary
Building and maintain good work relationships will not only make you more engaged and committed to your organization; it can also open doors to key projects, career advancement, and raises.

24. QUESTIONS