COLLABORATION
Relationship Building
The behaviours in the table below show how you can demonstrate the skill of Relationship Building at each of the competency levels in which it appears. Click on the plus sign to show the behaviours at that level.
Level 1
- Involves people appropriately, builds and maintains co-operative relationships with them, sharing ideas, and keeping them up to date with information that affects them.
Level 2
- Proactively builds and maintains co-operative relationships with other teams and groups and contributes to a good network.
Level 4
- Creates opportunities to work with partners, creating collaborative, win-win goals, encourages joint projects or sharing of resources when appropriate, and creates systems or processes for sharing information across the organisation.
- Builds a network of strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders across the organisation and with partners.
Resources
Below you will find learning resources to help you develop the skill of Relationship Building. Click on the links to access the resources.
Assert Yourself
The Chimp Brain
Dr Steve Peters’ model of the Chimp brain explains simply the primitive drivers behind some of our more problematic behaviours and what we can do to manage them. These drivers can be, and often are, challenged at work, leading to outbursts, arguments, and sometimes physical confrontations. Every person has a Chimp and is susceptible to these problems, but if we learn to recognise what is happening and how to manage the results, we can reduce the negative outcomes.
The Human Brain
Following on from Dr Steve Peters’ model of the Chimp brain, as outlined in the PDF ‘The Chimp Brain’, this PDF looks at how the Human brain works i.e. how we are when we have logical and regulated emotional thinking, and how we stay in that state as much as possible.
Managing the Chimp
Following on from Steve Peters’ model of the Chimp brain, as outlined in the PDF ‘The Chimp Brain’, this PDF looks in more depth at how to manage your Chimp and control unwanted emotional responses. It describes several ways in which you can do this. These techniques also help regulate and manage other people’s strong emotional reactions.
How Do Values Work?
This PDF explains what values are and why they are important, as well as how they impact behaviour and relationships. Values underpin a lot of beliefs and attitudes, and can often be a source of conflict. Understanding how they work will enable you to tap into a person’s motivation and lead them more effectively.
Making Values Work
In this PDF you will discover techniques and suggested phrases to help you use values in various situations. This builds on the information covered in ‘How Do Values Work?’, in which the nature of values is explained.
The Power of Empathy
Empathy is one of the most powerful tools you can use to build productive relationships. It is fundamental to building collaboration. This PDF explains what empathy is, how to demonstrate it, and the impact it will have if you choose (or not) to use it. It will help you to defuse conflict, connect with and motivate others, and improve efficiency.
Working Out Your Preferences
This PDF covers the four sets of preferences covered in the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a personality profiling tool that provides a useful basis for understanding how different people’s preferences impact how they work. Differences in these preferences not only affect how people work, they impact what people value, what they will devote energy to, how they judge other people, and how they are motivated. Understanding these differences in an excellent step towards fostering collaboration and effective communication.
Tips for Meeting with Myers Briggs Opposites
N.B. We recommend reading ‘Working Out Your Preferences’ before reading these adapting tips, as it will provide an explanation of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality profiling tool.
This PDF covers tips on how opposing MBTI preferences can adapt to each other. It is particularly useful if there are certain behaviours you find particularly difficult to deal with (e.g. low reactions, criticism).
VIDEOS
Assert Yourself
This video provides an explanation of a fundamentally important approach and mindset, being assertive, and how you or others might adopt a less helpful one of being non-assertive, aggressive, or avoiding. You will learn how to recognise the different approaches, if you need to adjust how you behave and what you say to project a more assertive/collaborative stance towards others, especially if they are using an unhelpful approach towards you.
The Chimp Series #1
The Chimp Brain part 1
The Chimp Brain part 2
This video explains Dr Steve Peters’ model of the Chimp brain, the primitive drivers behind some of our more problematic behaviours, and what we can do to manage them. These drives can be, and often are, challenged at work, leading to outbursts, arguments, and sometimes physical confrontations. Every person has a Chimp and is susceptible to these problems, but this video will help you to learn to recognise what is happening and how it is possible to reduce the unhelpful triggers and behaviours.
The Chimp Series #2
The Human Brain
Following on from Dr Steve Peters’ model of the Chimp brain, as outlined in the video ‘The Chimp Brain’, this video looks at how the Human brain works, i.e. how we are when we have logical and regulated emotional thinking. You will learn why and how regulated thinking and behaviour is so helpful and also how to do it.
The Chimp Series #3
Managing the Chimp
Following on from Steve Peters’ model of the Chimp brain, as outlined in the video ‘The Chimp Brain’, this video looks in more depth at how to manage your Chimp and control unwanted emotional responses. It describes several ways in which you can do this. These techniques also help you to regulate and manage other people’s strong emotional reactions and bring them back to using their own ‘Human Brain’.
How Do Values Work?
This video explains what values are and why they are important. Values underpin behaviours, beliefs, emotions, motivations, and attitudes. Learn how to recognise and find out your own and others’ values and build them into how you understand yourself, how you understand and approach others, and how they enable you to motivate, lead and manage more effectively.
Making Values Work
This video builds on the information covered in ‘How Do Values Work?’, in which the nature of values is explained. In this video you will discover techniques, questions to ask, and suggested phrases to help you use values in various situations such as influencing and handling conflict.
The Power of Empathy
This video explains why and how empathy is one of the most powerful tools you can use to build productive relationships. It is fundamental to building collaboration. Learn if you are already demonstrating empathy effectively, how easy it is to stop doing it, how to be alerted to using it effectively and realise the benefits it brings.
Understanding Differences Using Myers Briggs #1
Introduction to Understanding Differences
A brief video to explain the structure of the Understanding Differences series.
Understanding Differences Using Myers Briggs #2
Introduction to Myers Briggs
This video covers a bit about the history of Myers Briggs and the ethics of using it, as well as explaining why differences can be significant, not only in the workplace but in personal relationships too. It will provide you with an overview of teh Myers Briggs Type Indicator tool, which will make the following videos easier to digest, and also instructions on how to find out your own and others' types.
Understanding Differences Using Myers Briggs #3
Extravert x Introvert
This video covers the first of the preference pairs, extraversion and introversion. This preference governs what energises and what drains you, how expressive you typically are, and how much you might share.
Understanding Differences Using Myers Briggs #4
Sensing x Intuitive
This video covers the second of the preference pairs, sensing and intuition. This preference affects the level of detail you prefer and/or can process, how you view time, and the type of information you trust.
Understanding Differences Using Myers Briggs #5
Thinking x Feeling
This video covers the third of the preference pairs, thinking and feeling. This preference governs how you view fairness, how you make decisions and the information you trust in order to do it, and how you view expressions of emotion.
Understanding Differences Using Myers Briggs #6
Judging x Perceiving
This video covers the fourth of the preference pairs, judging and perceiving. This preference governs how you view and manage time, what timescales you prefer to work with, and how you organise your day to day.
Understanding Differences Using Myers Briggs #7
Putting MBTI Into Practice
This video helps you to put together all you have learned from the previous videos to determine your best fit type and then discusses how you might use that going forward. It also covers a tool you can use to apply MBTI with other people.
Understanding Difference Using Myers Briggs #8
MBTI Tips
This short video provides some simple tips on adapting to people who have opposite Myers Briggs preferences to you e.g. extraversion and introversion, so that you can appreciate strengths in differences, promote collaboration, and communicate more effectively.
ON THE JOB ACTIONS
Awareness
Read and/or watch 'Assert Yourself' so you understand how important collaboration is to your success. Decide that assertive relationships are the best kind, you won’t regret it!
Access
Build an understanding of others by having regular discussions and meetings with your colleagues and manager. Don’t just rely on email. Try to be cheerful and empathetic in these conversations. (Read and/or watch 'The Power of Empathy').
Organise events that will boost morale and promote co-operation within and between teams.
Strengthen
Identify relationships that are not as strong as you wish; meet with the individuals concerned to discuss ways to work effectively with each other e.g. by working out what is important to each of you about the work relationship and how best to communicate with each other.
Expand
Identify influential people inside and outside the organisation and use influencing skills to develop relationships that enhance the business.
Understanding Others Better
Read and/or watch 'How do Values Work' and 'Making Values Work' for a better understanding of how people have different values, what they might be, how to discover them, and what to do with the information to build better relationships.
Understanding Others Better
Read and/or watch 'The Chimp Brain', 'The Human Brain', and 'Managing the Chimp' for a better understanding of how people function, how they experience threats, how they might irrationally act on what they perceive the threats are, and how to calm them and yourself so that you can build better relationships.