Six Reasons to Support Your Colleagues at Work
With an estimated 99,117 hours of our lives spent at work, it’s important that we have a working environment in which we can grow and develop.
Many of us support our colleagues and develop friendly working relationships, but do you know how this benefits your workplace?
The benefits of positive relationships at work
Discover the importance of creating a supportive professional culture...
1. Confidence boost
Have you ever had a piece of work praised by a co-worker and it’s made your day? Perhaps even a client has given positive praise that’s re-affirmed your belief that you do a good job? The smallest of comments can have an overwhelming effect on your self-confidence, but when the pressure is on, remembering to give others that same confidence boost is easy to overlook.
If you do go out of your way to speak your mind when you think a co-worker has done a good job, not only will it have a have a marked effect on their confidence and give them a sense of pride in their work, but it’s likely to heighten their engagement and eagerness to maintain a high standard too.
2. Improved communication
If you’re supportive and friendly, people are naturally going to feel more inclined to share things with you. Being an approachable person comes with its own benefits: people are more likely to feel more at ease around you, be honest with you and speak up when they have a query – three aspects that can go a long way in increasing productivity.
3. Team spirit
A supportive environment undoubtedly makes for a better working atmosphere. It helps to create a sense of community and team spirit, which works as a reminder that everyone is striving towards one unified goal. This is a concept that can get lost over time when people are focusing solely on their own respective workloads.
4. What goes around comes around
It’s no secret that, in any given workplace, people have different sets of expertise - and even life experience - that helps to inform their work. Offering your support, help and expertise doesn’t go unnoticed, and it makes people more likely to want to offer you the same in return. Being able to draw on your co-workers' expertise can only be beneficial, both in your current position and in a networking capacity, should you wish to move on.
5. Develop leadership skills
Facilitating the development of others and bringing out the best in them, is one of the most important roles for a leader. Not only that, but it makes you more respected and influential. That means that by investing time in supporting your colleagues, you’re unwittingly developing your own skills as a leader.
6. Physical and mental health benefits
With so much time spent with co-workers, their social support can be of significant value to your mental wellbeing, often reducing stress and helping to maintain a balanced emotional state. Positive relationships even have a welcome impact on physical health.
According to one study, adults with strong social support have a reduced risk of many significant health problems, including depression, high blood pressure and an unhealthy body mass index (BMI).” As an employer, healthier employees (and less sick days) can only be a good thing.
Is there anything you feel you could do to be more supportive of your co-workers? Remember: a little bit of support can go a long way!
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