You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family, and unfortunately your coworkers too. Although we all strive to be cordial with our colleagues, or maybe have even friendly relationships, this is not something that is likely to happen all the time. Many times, your work may be made way more miserable because of the people you see five days a week in the office. Therefore, here are some tips you can use to improve your relationships and get along with your coworkers!
1. Respect Your Coworkers
Even if your colleagues are nowhere near being your favourite people in the world, they still deserve respect from you. One simple rule of thumb is to avoid doing things that might offend others. For example, when they are sharing an idea that you don’t necessarily agree with, let them finish first and list out the pros and cons of their suggestion. By speaking to them logically instead of shooting their ideas down immediately, your coworkers will feel respected and be more willing to return the favour to you as well. This also applies to common everyday situations such as talking over the phone! If you would not like your colleagues to disturb your work by chattering loudly over the phone, you should practise the same etiquette too.
2. Steer Clear of Gossip
Engaging in gossip, or worse, starting it, can make you an unwelcome presence in the office. It does not matter if the information you talk about is true or false, as even the people you gossip with will fear that they will become your next target for juicy news. When your coworkers try to engage you in their gossip, one easy way to clearly convey the message that you are uninterested in contributing to it is to just nod and smile. However, although you should steer clear of gossip, you can listen to grapevine to make things easier for yourself in the office.
3. Bond With Your Coworkers
This is the fastest way to leave a positive impression on all of your coworkers. Instead of going to them one by one, make things simpler by arranging a team building session that will allow all employees to bond together. Fun and innovative team building games such as bubble soccer and combat archery tag can foster teamwork and coordination among team members! Furthermore, you’ll get a chance to interact with your coworkers outside of the office! Perhaps after these games, you will find that your coworkers may not be as bad as you make them out to be, and you might even enjoy their company in the office a little more.
4. Show Sincere Interest
You may not want to engage in any conversation or small talk with your coworker, but it doesn’t hurt to casually ask them about their plans for the night or weekend. Who knows, maybe you will discover a common topic with that particular coworker while chatting! If you really can’t find a topic of interest, try complimenting something that you like about them – be it their new haircut or outfit they’re wearing today. Receiving compliments will definitely make them feel happy, especially if it’s coming from someone that seemingly didn’t give two hoots about them before. The conversation doesn’t even have to be long, just one or two minutes can go a long way!
5. Honour Your Words
There are always people who promise to get something done by a certain date, but it never gets done till others chase them for it. You wouldn’t want to be remembered as someone like that by your coworkers! If you’ve said that you are able to complete a task by a certain date, make sure you honour your commitments. By doing this, your coworkers will not only find you trustworthy and reliable, but you will also influence your team to do the same.
For more exciting games such as bubble soccer and combat archery tag to bond with your colleagues, book your team building session with The Fun Empire now!