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Jan 24 - Ideas for Building Stronger Relationships
Ideas for Building Stronger Relationships
January 24, 2006
- "Manage by wandering around.
Tom Peters and Robert Waterman coined this term in their classic book In Search of Excellence. This simply meant that managers should spend more unscheduled time being available. Wandering around the halls, the copy room, conference areas. Don't set an agenda for your walks, just appear. And do it often. The first time you venture out of your cocoon, people will be suspicious. This cynicism will pass if you are persistent. Within a short period of time, people will begin to pull you aside to ask or tell you things. This begins building the relationships you need.
- Go to lunch.
Take people to lunch, either one on one or in small groups. This makes you available for all manner of conversations.
- Give yourself extra time before and after staff meetings for people to pull you aside.
If you are available, people will talk to you. By arriving at the meeting a few minutes early, you invite informal, relaxed conversation. Woody Allen once said that 80 percent of success is just showing up. So increase your percentage and show up early.
- Ask for advice from your staff.
Scott is a senior manager in an insurance company. He said that pulling people together to critique his work did a significant amount to build trust in his office. Soon people were bringing their own projects to the group for critique. He had launched a process that allowed people to let down their guard because he had done so first.
- Use what you've learned.
Most important, use the six principles to begin building the relationships that ultimately will build support for your new ideas (Maurer, 2002, p.172)."
Reference: Maurer, R. (2002). Why don't you want what I want?: how to win support for your ideas without hard sell, manipulation, or power plays. Austin, TX: Bard Press
Why Don't You Want What I Want? is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center. . To borrow this resource or any other resource, please go to the resource search page http://164.107.48.88/winnebago/index.asp?lib=???
Created: 2008-04-01, Updated: 2009-04-30
