Introduction
It has been acknowledged that positive relationships at work contribute to enhanced employees’ performance and, as a result, the successful development of the organization. Although all people are different, they all need communication and social ties. It is especially important at the workplace where employees are often overloaded with projects, they are often stressed, and burnout is common. The proper working atmosphere can diminish the impact of these negative trends.
To develop a friendly and operational atmosphere at work, there should be a number of criteria. Researchers identify different criteria that have the most effect on relationships at work. This paper dwells upon major criteria that should be in place to develop proper relationships in the working place. Personal experience is also applied to analyze the effectiveness of the criteria outlined by researchers.
Literature Review
As has been mentioned above, researchers tend to prioritize such criteria differently. For instance, Pravamayee (2014, p. 58) emphasizes that “healthy working relationships” can be developed if there is trust, mutual respect, mindfulness, welcoming diversity, open communication, and cooperation. At that, the researcher states that trust is the most important criterion as it enables employees to develop the necessary social ties. Mutual respect is also very important, as employees should value the ideas of others. As defined by Pravamayee (2014), mindfulness is the ability to take responsibility for one’s behavior and words, which is important for the development of trust and respect.
Manion (2012) also notes that trust is one of the most important criteria that contribute to the development of a friendly atmosphere in the workplace. The researcher also points out such essential criteria as respect, support, and effective communication. Clearly, communication and cooperation are crucial, as these are particular tools to create bonds and reveal respect, support, mindfulness.
Venkataramani, Labianca & Grosser (2013) pay more attention to social ties and notes that the development of positive ties is beneficial while the existence of negative ties can have detrimental effects leading to burnout, lack of motivation, and even increased turnover. It is noteworthy that negative ties that are associated with avoidance and mistrust do not have a significant negative impact if there are many positive ties. In other words, if an employee has a sufficient number of positive ties, he/she will be able to handle certain negative ties. Of course, it could be beneficial for the organization if employees developed proper relationships with each other.
Eschleman, Madsen, Alarcon, and Barelka (2014) identify another important criteria that can contribute to the creation of a friendly atmosphere in the working place. Creative work can help employees develop positive relationships at work. Eschleman et al. (2014) state that creative projects can be regarded as a tool to diminish burnout, increase motivation, improve communication, and the overall atmosphere in the working place.
Summary and Conclusions
It is necessary to note that all the criteria mentioned above are very important for the development of a positive atmosphere at work. According to my personal experience, these criteria are essential. At the same time, some researchers undermine the effects of certain criteria. First, it is necessary to note that trust is the primary criterion that affects the development of positive relationships at work. At my workplace, I have understood that trust makes people more cooperative and positive. When I was a newcomer, it was quite difficult to work on projects with employees who had worked there for a while.
Of course, within a certain period, I managed to become an effective member of the team and develop positive ties with my colleagues. Later, when I started working with newcomers, I understood that certain difficulties at the initial stage could be explained by the lack of trust. It is difficult to work with a person you cannot rely on, and you cannot rely on a person of you barely know him/her. We have always worked on quite serious and important projects in rather limited timespans. There could be no mistakes, and we simply could not give newcomers some crucial tasks that could undermine the success of the entire project.
Mindfulness, which is mentioned by Pravamayee (2014), is also very important for me personally, as it is one of the criteria for the development of trust and mutual respect. There was a person who was not mindful, and she did not take responsibility for her own words or actions. Clearly, it was almost impossible to rely on such a person and I could not trust her. I would say that I developed negative ties with this person and I tried to avoid her. Luckily, I did not need to work on the same projects with her and, hence, my negative ties did not affect my work or the atmosphere in the working place.
However, I still cannot agree with Venkataramani et al. (2013), who state that a significant number of positive ties can ‘neutralize’ effects of negative ties. I had a colleague who was focused on his own goals (rather than the goals of the company). I did not have to work on the same projects with him, but I had to address to him for certain information. Our collaboration was not very close, but we communicated quite often. Each communication session was quite hard and unpleasant. Avoidance and mistrust were characteristic features of our collaboration. During the periods of significant workload, I felt unmotivated, distressed, overwhelmed by fatigue.
There were times when I thought of quitting the job. At the same time, the rest of my social ties were positive and I loved working with my colleagues. It turns out that even if there is only one negative tie and the rest of the employee’s ties are positive, the employee can develop symptoms of burnout. My problem was solved when our communication stopped due to his transfer to another department.
I would also like to note that creative work is very important and Eschleman et al. (2014) provide helpful insights into its use at work. For instance, creative work helped me integrate into the team. We all participated in a charity project and we had to complete certain creative work. We worked in the team and we managed to develop proper communication channels with each other. I was a newcomer and no one knew me to trust or respect me. However, the creative project helped me reveal my mindfulness and professionalism as well as my desire to work in the team effectively.
In conclusion, it is possible to note that such criteria as trust, respect, mindfulness, effective communication and cooperation, as well as positive ties and creative work, are crucial for the development of positive relationships at work. Of course, each individual values these criteria differently, as there can be different settings. However, for me, they are essential though I also think that negative ties can significantly undermine the development of appropriate relationships at work.
Reference List
Eschleman, K.J., Madsen, J., Alarcon, G., & Barelka, A. (2014). Benefiting from creative activity: The positive relationships between creative activity, recovery experiences, and performance-related outcomes. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 87, 579-598. Web.
Manion, J. (2012). Building a healthy workplace? Start with the foundation of positive working relationships. MedSurg Matters, 21(2), 4-5. Web.
Pravamayee, S. (2014). Strategy to develop an effective workplace environment. International Journal of Language & Linguistics, 1(1), 57-61. Web.
Venkataramani, V., Labianca, G.J., & Grosser, T. (2013). Positive and negative workplace relationships, social satisfaction, and organizational attachment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(6), 1028-1039. Web.