The fact is that influence comes with countless benefits. The modern business world considers it as an asset. Influence is power. Irrespective of your professional goals, where you work, or who you are, effective communication and more influence is vital at the workplace. It enables you to achieve success. If you are in a supervisory role, you should gain influence over your team members. It will enable you to be more appreciated and respected. In a meeting, gaining influence, will enable your voice to be heard as well as acknowledged by everyone present.
Cultivate this feature
Gaining influence is crucial. However, it takes effort and time to achieve this task. Fortunately, you may devise and adopt several strategies to encourage this feature.
Six ways to build strong relationships at the workplace
1. Consistency helps cultivate reliability:
Your reputation will be ruined quickly if you are not consistent in your efforts. However, consistency, although slow will provide you with the desired rewards. To ensure consistency, you should execute all tasks on time and effectively. People will rely on you. The same holds true when providing consistent rewards for excellent work, establishing consistent expectations, and executing leadership style. Consistency and creative solutions are crucial to develop influence. People will trust you and your ideas if you are motivated consistently. You can easily get people to be on your side. If you are a beginner at the workplace, consistency is important as it demonstrates dedication.
2. Develop trust with co-workers:
Problem solving skills exhibited can help develop trust among co-workers. They will get influenced only if they trust you. You should first understand your hierarchy level in your company. Accordingly, devise strategies that can be useful to win trust of your colleagues, seniors, or juniors. Cultivate trust to ensure influential, healthy working relationship. Be honest and open in your communication and efforts. Avoid keeping secrets, disclose your apprehensions, and state your opinions.
3. Be flexible in your approach:
Flexibility is crucial to achieving success. You have to come up with creative solutions to overcome challenges and hurdles. Being excessively adamant, too stringent in your beliefs is likely to work against you. People will view as an immovable, stubborn monolith who believes only in self and not in others. It reduces the respect that people have for you, thus compromising your influence. Hold on to your beliefs firmly while displaying flexibility.
4. Don’t be aggressive. Rather be assertive:
Your ideas will get noticed only if you are assertive, especially when competing for visibility. Present your ideas with great confidence to indicate your convictions. However, excessive confidence will be viewed as aggressiveness and arrogance. It will only compromise your authority. Hence, tread carefully when addressing or dealing with unfamiliar audience. Display effective communication, whether you are speaking to your employees, seniors, or clients.
5. Listen to others:
People will believe in your ideas and cultivate them as habits only if you are confident only if they believe you. Listen to what others have to say if you desire to develop such relationship with your employees and co-workers. Encourage others to speak up and listen to their opinion. Respect others, acknowledge their views and value them. It helps develop an atmosphere of mutual teamwork, mutual respect, and mutual trust. You will be viewed as a leader. Your problem solving skills can come handy.
6. Be personal:
Develop a strong personality as it can help develop influence at the workplace. It is crucial if you hold a senior position, like a supervisor or a boss. Don’t distance yourself as you will only be alienating yourself, cause resentment or distrust in others. Have personal exchanges whenever possible to develop trust.
Remember, influence is an asset that can help build strong relationships at the workplace. Your goal should be to get more respect from your co-workers.
