In today’s economic environment, many businesses are forced to make tough decisions to keep their financials out of the red, such as layoffs or reductions in salary, benefits and hours. It’s important to have effective working relationships in general, but especially now, when tensions and stresses have increased at work due to the changing environment.

As much as we would like it to be, the workplace is not “all business.” It is a social network and, as such, it is a hotbed of emotions, not to mention stress and conflict. Being effective is a constant work in progress and takes a conscious effort on your part to remain successful. Here are few tips on building effective working relationships.

Recognize the importance of sensitivity. One major barrier that blocks effective working relationships is behaving in ways that are insensitive and uncaring concerning the needs of others. To be effective, you must establish relationships based on trust and respect. Be sensitive to the opinions and feelings of others when communicating with them.

Build relationships informally. Use informal interactions with your peers and supervisors as an opportunity to build valuable working relationships. Use common courtesy such as smiling and saying “hello” when you encounter people casually. Treat your coworkers with respect and be non-judgmental in your dealings with them.

Share credit for accomplishments, ideas and contributions. How often do you accomplish a goal or complete a project with no help from others? Take the time, and expend the energy, to thank, reward and recognize the contributions of the people who help you succeed.

Don’t play the blame game. You alienate everyone when you place blame. Yes, you may need to identify who was involved in a problem. But shouting, “not my fault” and publicly identifying and blaming others will earn you a reputation for being a poor team player.

Make efforts to improve poor working relationships. Consider the peers you work with regularly and identify the individuals with whom you have poor working relationships.

• Identify interpersonal barriers. What gets in the way of your working relationships with those individuals? Determine how you can remove these barriers.
• Be willing to adapt. Resolving interpersonal differences requires asking yourself what aspects of the other person’s style can be dealt with by simply acknowledging them and being prepared to face them. Other problems may require an ability to adapt your style when interacting with others.

If you regularly work on these few things, you will develop effective work relationships. Coworkers will value you as a colleague and bosses will believe you play on the right team. You’ll accomplish your work goals, and you may even experience fun, recognition, and personal motivation.

Cori Colvin is the Operations Trainer for Arizona Central Credit Union, where she as worked since 2007. She is an Arizona native, born and raised in Tucson and has resided in Phoenix since 2004.