Sheet 45
HUMAN RELATIONS IN THE OFFICE
Everybody understands the basic principle that human relations in an office affect the productivity of work. A recent study shows that the correlation between the intelligence of a leader and the performance of their organization is low and that between the relationship with their boss and their organization's performance is high. When a leader gets along with their boss, they can put all their full energy into performing their job. If they, on the other hand, are not comfortable with their boss, and spend a lot of energy on trying to improve this relation, they will have little time left with which to lead their employees.
Characteristics of personal relations in the office and how to improve these are outlined below.
1 Characteristics of Human Relations in the Office
The basic characteristics of human relations in the office are outlined as follows.
(1) Good human relations are essential to accomplishing goals.
Good human relationships are important for the functions of an organization to be performed well, but they are not the objective itself. It is unreasonable to put human relations over the performance of the organization. If it is really essential to an organizational objective, supervisors must not hesitate to take action which might have negative impact on human relations in the office.
(2) The position & role of individual employees should be clearly defined.
In any office, the position and role of individual employees should be defined together with a clear line of command. Human relations in the office should be established on the basis of these organizational rules.
(3) Employees have no choice over their boss or colleagues.
Employees have little choice concerning placement. Even if they don't like the people in their office, they can't detach themselves entirely from relations with these people, unless they quit their job.
2 How to Create Good Personal Relations
Points to be considered for the development of good human relations are outlined as follows.
(1) Mutual Understanding
Employees should be well understood by their colleagues and they themselves understand their colleagues in return. Regardless of the circumstances, employees should try to maintain an open-mind and exchange opinions frankly with their colleagues.
