What makes a difference to an organisations success and what makes a difference to a managers effectiveness are the same - internal relations. Strong , positive, supportive internal relationships increases an organisations performance. The opposite is also true but you knew that didn’t you. It doesn’t take a management guru to see the damage done by a dysfunctional team. So why don’t organisations and individuals/ managers work harder at their relationships? I’m not referring to working relations between team members, important as that is , I am referring to the managers relations with others outside the team but within the organisation. In particular their relation with support services, IT, Communications, Policy, Finance and of course HR. The last two in my experience are particularly significant in deterring an individuals effectiveness and an organisations performance. There are a number of reasons why managers don’t work harder at these relationships, it requires time and effort which some feel they don’t have or isn’t worth it. Some managers don’t think they should have to ,” after all these are support services” and some managers simply don’t know where to start. The last point may surprise you but some managers are clear about the relationship they want with their team and know their place in their relationship with their boss but are less clear on how to build and maintain a relationship with colleagues whose status is ,”not their equal”. I admit in the early part of my management career my attitude to support services in particular HR could be summed up as, “the tail should not wag the dog” . This despite the excellent role model I had in my first boss. I mistook her confident and decisive approach to hiring and firing, her not asking permission as taking control. I tried to do this and came unstuck. What I had failed to appreciate was how much time and effort she spent in building up informal relationships with members of HR, which include always popping-in to say hello and finding time for a coffee every time she was in the head office. She was in head office more times than other team managers. Some of her colleagues had never been in the head office all their communications were by e mail and phone. My boss was a great believer in face to face especially if you were asking for help/advice. That was the other element of her relationship building she approached HR as the experts. She didn’t ask permission but how she should go about achieving what she wanted. She gained HR respect by challenging unacceptable behaviour and poor performance where colleagues preferred to take the easy option and she did it without opening up the organisation to accusations of bullying or constructive dismissal. She always took responsibility for her decisions and actions never once saying ,”HR told/advised me to do it”. In this way she gained the trust of HR colleagues and in return trusted them.
Blair Mcpherson former director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
