Building and Maintaining Relationships
How do you build authentic relationships? What is their long-term value? What are the key elements of a trusting relationship? Building relationships is real work that gets real results. It's important to analyse your existing relationships and then build a wider network. Avoid relationships management traps and adopt key relationship management principles based on trust, conversation and frequency of contact.
Conversations aren't just part of a relationship; they are the relationship. So, building rapport, empathy, and social and emotional intelligence are all part of your relationship management toolbox.
At the end you will:
- have a relationship management plan
- avoid relationship management traps
- recognise key people to build relationships with within your organisation: information brokers, central connectors, boundary spanners
- understand your communication style
- recognise others' communication style
- build trust and rapport
- engage in dialogue
- use non-verbal communication effectively.
Why is this important?
Relationships, rather than hierarchies, make things happen. Excellent relationships mean you have personal support, know who to turn to for help, solve problems, get information and know what’s going on.
