ESTABLISHING RAPPORT IN THE WORKPLACE

ARIEL L. BANAL

Socialization has always been one of the hot plates served in the market. A lot of people eagerly fall in line to get a taste of the block-buster dish. However, not everyone gets to have at least a pinch of it. In that case, those who had the opportunity to taste it could actually describe it and at least make replication of it. Hence, those who haven’t had the chance to experience it would probably wonder how it fully tastes, thus leading them to curiosity. This point-of-view would basically be applicable in our daily interaction with our colleagues, specifically in the workplace. According to GoodTherapy.org, a lot of employees nowadays tend to encounter different problems at work and the first among these is interpersonal conflict. We cannot deny the fact that most people are working, to earn a living. In line with this, one cannot also avoid to deal with different walks of life regardless the interest among the others. This is when the need to establish rapport takes place and should manifest. Establishing rapport is not really difficult to do. When a person is mindful of what he does, says and how others would feel about certain things, apparently it will build a beautiful foundation which will later turn into a harmonious working-relationship. This act will also avoid a person from getting into different kinds of conflicts. In line with this, starting to control oneself in times of an unexpected argument in the workplace will largely make a positive impact not only to the opposing colleague but also to the entire institution. By doing so, it will prevent further fights. Moreover, filtering the information you absorb in the workplace is very essential. In this case, you get to select only the important ones, information that is helpful and beneficial; and reject the unnecessary ones, information that is destructive and bias. Furthermore, avoiding personal interest and personal gain while doing your job will truly help in decreasing the chance to being labelled as a “fair-weathered” employee, “ass-kisser”, “employer’s pet” and the like. It will always be better when you work with pure dedication and sincerest motives because in the end, what will matter most are not the things you have achieved but what you have learned and how many lives you touched and inspired along the way. Additionally, avoiding comparison among your colleagues will highly help in establishing rapport. When you learn how to be content on what you do in the workplace and what position you already have, then you alleviate the chances of getting into troubles and also peer-pressure. It is not healthy to compare yourself to others for when you do, you just insult yourself. Remember that we would always be inferior and superior at some point in our lives. Lastly, being and becoming someone else’s support system in the workplace will also work for the betterment of everybody. When everyone starts to support each other be it in the field of work or personal lives, the relationship will get better.

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The author is Head Teacher III