Re-Energizing the Workplace through Relationship Building

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We are well aware of the serious impact the recent terrorist attacks on America have had in our workplace.  From slowdowns to layoffs, from increased caution in spending to confusion in how to move forward – we are all assessing our options given what the circumstances have set into motion in our current business climate.   

OPI has designed tools and methodologies to re-energizing the workplace and moving forward.  We begin by doing what we know how to do best as professional consultants, coaches and staff developers: strengthen the workplace through relationship building.   

Now is the time to reach out to your customers.  Find the “champions” in your organization, who are responsible for rebuilding and re-energizing your external relationships and challenge them to stay focused on their commitments and deliverables.  You need to know your customer’s communication style and how to approach them in the style that works best for them as we all deal with these difficult times.  Let them know you are there for them to help them meet their challenges.  Finding out how things have changed for them by listening to them relate their major business priorities as they see them now.   

It is an important time to further develop your staff’s relationship building capabilities to hold on to existing business and wherever possible build relationships with new customers. We are all in the “relationship” business, and people with strong relationships seldom experience serious conflict, downturns and turnover.  In fact, strong relationships must be called upon to reinforce the fabric of the American workplace today.  In addition, each individual's behavioral style has predictable and observable ways of reacting to stress.  Understanding this can lead to improved ability to handle stress and redirect personal energy toward more positive relationships with customers and fellow staffers.    

Knowing your staff’s relationships capabilities will allow you to customize an intervention in support of your objectives.  You may, for example, get your staff together to strategize on an action plan for moving forward on important projects, such as creating a “world class company.”  An activity such as this can provide a format for individuals to reinforce their working relationships and recognize how they may be reacting to current stressors. It can provide an opportunity for them to express their concerns openly, and then refocus on positive actions to create a strong future together.  With this intervention alone, you can move towards re-energizing their workplace.                

Businesses must move forward in the “New Normal”, and one of the best ways you can contribute is to ask your customers and employees what they need at this pivotal point in time and listen to the answers.   

There is no better time than now to build strong relationships with your customers and help them do the same within their organizations.  So reach out to your customers and other key relationships in your business world to show to them that you are energized to build and maintain productive relationships and surround yourself with winners.

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