Human beings have evolved to be social creatures. As such, our relationships are fundamentally important
to all aspects of our lives. Who we
relate to and how we relate to them define and support us at every turn. Therefore, given that we human beings spend
so much of our time in workplace settings, the relationships we form at work
are of especially critical importance, both to us as individuals and to our
employers.
Wharton business professor Adam Grant recently wrote a thought provoking op-ed exploring the importance of our workplace relationships. In his piece entitled “Friend’s at Work? Not So Much”, Grant explores the role of
friendships at work, and comes to the conclusion that we may be shortchanging both
our happiness and productivity by neglecting to focus on and foster workplace
relationships. Grant writes:
“BUT we may be underestimating the impact
of workplace friendships on our happiness — and our effectiveness.
Jobs are more satisfying when they provide opportunities to form friendships. Research shows
that groups of friends outperform groups of acquaintances in both
decision making and effort tasks.”
Even though it may not be as obvious to us as our familial
or social relationships, our relationships at work play a huge role in our
lives. These relationships have the
potential to dramatically affect our performance and satisfaction on the
job. Therefore, tools that support the
health of these workplace relationships should be regularly prioritized and utilized, and mediation is a
perfect example.
As a method of resolving conflicts between individuals and
groups, mediation is the perfect tool for addressing problems in
relationships. In the workplace,
mediation can be used to help coworkers better understand each other, as well
as better understand and define how their relationship can help them perform
their job duties more successfully. Mediation
creates a space for productive conversation, bringing people together to
address concerns and come up with solutions to any problems. Mediation can also be used to help address
longstanding issues or concerns in a workplace to help strengthen relationships
going forward.
In my own work with potentially inflammatory discrimination
and EEO claims, I have seen how mediation can repair rifts in relationships by
bringing people together to openly deal with their concerns. By giving parties in conflict ownership over
their issues, mediation honors relationships by allowing parties to take
responsibility for the problems at hand and empowering them to come with
solutions that best suit their circumstances.
And those mediated solutions can actually bring people together and
improve relationships moving forward, improving the workplace for everyone.
If Grant’s research shows us anything, it is that
relationships are an important part of every workplace. As such, mediation should be a key tool
workplaces rely upon to keep their relationships strong and their workplaces flourishing.
No comments:
Post a Comment