Every employee’s dream is to have a great relationship with their superior officer at their workplace. According to a study made by CareerJunction, 69% of workers considered quitting their jobs due to stress caused by their work environment. This stress can be linked to the toxicity and strained relationship between bosses and employees.
Developing a strong relationship with your boss can improve your workplace mental health, increase your productivity level, keep you proactive at work, and improve your chances of showcasing your strengths, leading to increased promotions and raises for you. A good rapport with bosses at work has been linked to improved job satisfaction, motivation to work, and, in summary, help in career success.
Knowing how to relate with your boss can make your job more enjoyable. If you don’t have a positive relationship with your boss, you are going to find it challenging to work with them daily. But how can you keep your boss on your side in the first place?
Continue reading this article to learn some tips on effectively building a strong relationship with your new Boss and thus make your work environment more comfortable.
1. Understand Their Personality
Personality encompasses a person’s behaviour, traits, interests, values, abilities, drives, and emotional patterns. It suggests a person’s approach to life, work, and every other commitment. Your boss surely has a personality, and understanding how theirs works will help you better understand their leadership style and equip you with strategies you can effectively use to build a strong relationship with them.
You can begin by reviewing their track record, asking thoughtful questions to understand their personality, and practicing empathy with them. According to Adora Ikwuemesi, try being an employer in a toxic business environment; depression becomes part of your normal life! As a result, many employers detach emotionally, but I can tell you this is a survival instinct to manage the constant emotional bashing received over time.
2. Match Their Priorities
According to the Indeed Career Guide, there are 16 different types of bosses, and each has different expectations from an employee. Your new boss has certain objectives, and these objectives are dependent on their role. If you are going to build a strong relationship with your new boss, then you must understand what their objectives are and how your role affects their objectives.
You should try to align your priorities with theirs, as this will help them see you as supportive of their vision. As you know, every boss likes to know that they are really in charge, and what better way to communicate this than this?
3. Be a Proactive Employee
Every boss likes an active and productive team player. You should not hesitate to share ideas that would benefit the organization, but most importantly, you should ensure that the ideas address your bosses’ needs. This means you will have to identify their needs.
Bosses love employees who take the initiative to understand and prioritize the boss’s main concerns. Going extra to be efficient in your skills and acumen to make the workplace easier can help project you as indispensable to your boss. This is a sure way you can build a strong relationship with your new boss.
Jobberman shares that every boss has a different management style. Still, when it comes down to it, all managers want you to take responsibility for your actions, show initiative, and contribute to the growth of the company.
4. Maintain Effective Communication
Your new boss would like to know that he is the head player, and keeping them on track with every milestone achieved on a job can help them build trust in you.
Actively asking for their contributions to a project, listening to their feedback, and implementing them will make them feel respected. It also shows that you value their judgment and expertise. This further builds trust and understanding between you both; thus, a strong relationship with your new boss can be built.
“When there is mutual trust in your manager’s leadership and intentions, you are more secure and it sets the stage for less stress, seamless teamwork, better ideation, and a stronger sense of belonging and camaraderie”, says Animesh Kumar, President- HR and Transformation at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited.
5. Build Credibility with Your Boss
All a boss wants to know is that you can deliver high-quality and timely work. If you must build a strong relationship with your new boss and get them on your side, you must show your boss that you are reliable and can satisfy your responsibilities.
Being timely on project results can also demonstrate your commitment to the job, build your professional reputation so that you can be trusted by your boss, and increase your chances of getting promotions and raises.
6. Celebrate Your Boss’s Successes and Show Gratitude for Their Input
Now, who wouldn’t love someone they know is happy with their successes? Recognizing and celebrating your boss’s professional strides and achievements, as well as their guidance to your work life when a milestone has been attained, will show that you are invested in their wins, and they will more likely want to invest in your success, too.
The first step is ensuring that you have a comfortable work environment. Of course, this can only mean you have successfully built a strong relationship with them.
7. Handle Difficult Situations Professionally
As you know, a workplace comprises several personalities working together. Surely, conflicts and disagreements will often occur, but how you react to them will shape how your new boss sees you because he will be watching. If conflicts indeed occur, you should be invested in resolving the issue and finding common ground.
Acting maturely and maintaining a positive attitude to work even in challenging situations will positively impress on your boss and imply to him that you are focused on the needs of the organization, which, to your boss, is what he believes should come first in a workplace.
The Bottom Line
A good rapport with bosses at work has been linked to improved job satisfaction, motivation to work, and, in summary, help in career success.
There are several ways to build a strong relationship with a new boss, but generally, being yourself and accepting the changes a new boss brings without complaint is a good first step in building a strong rapport with your boss. Supporting your new boss’s objectives and celebrating their wins can further build a positive impression.