Building strong relationships

Relationship building is core to working cross-functionally. Strong relationships in your cross-functional network help you get more done because you have trust, buy-in, and support from your partners. These things do not happen magically over time; they are the result of effort, attention, and investment in relationships.

Sometimes we may think relationships aren’t as important as being good at our functional jobs and conducting ourselves fairly. After all, we’re here to do work, not make friends, right? It is true that great work is the ultimate goal, but when we fail to invest in relationships, we miss opportunities to do our best work. This is because we are human and we cannot avoid our own social and psychological underpinnings. If we don’t take the time to connect and understand each other better, we don’t feel as comfortable or trusting, and we are less likely to take risks and share our true opinions. We make safer...