Poor working relationships carry significant risk for both individuals and organisations. When trust, communication, and psychological safety are lacking, misunderstandings increase, conflict escalates, and collaboration breaks down. This often contributes to heightened stress, disengagement, and burnout, as employees expend more energy navigating interpersonal tension than doing meaningful work.
Over time, strained professional relationships are linked to increased absenteeism, presenteeism, staff turnover, and reduced productivity. In the Australian context, they can also elevate exposure to psychosocial hazards such as bullying, poor support, and role ambiguity placing organisations at risk of breaching workplace health and safety obligations. Simply put, when relationships deteriorate, performance, wellbeing, and culture tend to follow.
Over the years, I’ve come to see that the quality of my working relationships has had a direct impact on both my effectiveness and my wellbeing. Early in my career, I was very task-focused and independent, often assuming that if I delivered good work, the relationships would naturally take care of themselves.
What I’ve learned is that strong professional relationships require just as much intention as the work itself. Sadly, people aren’t necessarily going to recognise you for your hard work, or like you for being a high performer. I’ve had to consciously build in practices like slowing down to really listen, finding ways to show kindness and compassion, addressing tensions early rather than avoiding them, and being more transparent (and clear) in my communication. As a psychologist, I’ve also become more aware of the role of emotional regulation and psychological safety, both in how I show up and how I create space for others. These shifts haven’t just improved collaboration; they’ve made work feel more sustainable, more connected, and ultimately more meaningful.
Why Building Relationships at Work Matters
Strong work relationships are not just “nice to have”. They are a core driver of performance, engagement, retention, psychological safety, and employee wellbeing.
Research consistently shows that positive professional relationships at work are associated with:
- Higher employee engagement and productivity
- Lower stress and burnout
- Improved collaboration and innovation
- Greater job satisfaction and retention
In the Australian context, fostering a good working relationship is also critical for managing psychosocial hazards under workplace health and safety legislation. If you’re not across this, our guide on managing psychosocial hazards at work provides a practical starting point.
Put simply: when relationships are strong, workplaces function better.
So how do you actually build them?
Prioritise Psychological Safety
At the foundation of all strong relationships at work is psychological safety. This is most simply defined as the belief that you can speak up without fear of embarrassment or punishment.
Leaders play a critical role here. When people feel safe to:
- Ask questions
- Admit mistakes
- Share ideas
- Challenge the status quo
…trust begins to form.
Creating this kind of environment is a key part of building a supportive and positive work culture, not just individual behaviour.
Practical tip: Model openness by acknowledging your own uncertainties or mistakes.
Communicate Clearly and Consistently
Effective communication is central to building relationships in the workplace.
This means:
- Being clear about expectations
- Listening actively
- Checking for understanding
Poor communication is one of the most common breakdown points in a relationship with colleagues. If this is a challenge in your organisation, strengthening communication and conflict resolution strategies can make a measurable difference.
Example of building relationships at work: “Can we check we’re on the same page with this?”
One of the most powerful shifts in workplace communication comes from recognising that clarity is not harsh, it’s respectful. As Brené Brown puts it, “Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.” In practice, many people soften or avoid direct communication in an effort to preserve relationships, but this often has the opposite effect creating confusion, misalignment, and underlying tension.
Clear communication, when delivered with respect and emotional awareness, builds trust, reduces ambiguity, and strengthens professional relationships over time. It allows people to understand expectations, address issues early, and work together more effectively, which is essential for healthy, high-functioning teams.
Show Genuine Interest in Others
Strong professional relationships are built on more than tasks, they’re built on human connection.
Take time to:
- Learn about colleagues’ strengths, interests and preferences
- Acknowledge personal milestones
- Get to know aspects of their personal lives
- Show curiosity and warmth
This becomes even more important when building relationships with employees as a leader.
Connection is also a key driver of engagement. This is something we explore further in our article on boosting employee engagement and productivity.
Build Trust Through Consistency
Trust isn’t built through big gestures but through small, repeated behaviours.
Trust is often talked about as something abstract, but in practice, it’s built through consistent, observable behaviour over time. It grows when people experience reliability, fairness, and follow-through not occasionally, but predictably. Take a moment to reflect: what actually helps you feel trust in a workplace?
For most people, it’s not grand gestures but knowing that colleagues do what they say they will, that leaders are fair and transparent in their decision-making, and that there’s a sense of psychological safety in speaking up. Research supports this, with studies on trust and organisational behaviour consistently showing that consistency, integrity, and benevolence are key drivers of trust, and that higher levels of trust are associated with stronger team performance, engagement, and wellbeing. When trust is present, people are more willing to collaborate, take initiative, and navigate challenges together – making it one of the most powerful foundations of strong work relationships.
To build relationships at work, focus on:
- Following through on commitments
- Being reliable
- Checking in on others’ wellbeing
- Acting with integrity
Inconsistent leadership is one of the fastest ways to erode trust and disengage teams, often contributing to broader workplace stress. You can read more about this in our guide to workload and stress management in the workplace.
Key principle: People trust what they can predict and makes them feel good.
Give and Receive Feedback Effectively
Healthy workplace relationships involve honest, respectful feedback.
Giving and receiving feedback is one of the most defining elements of a good working relationship, yet it’s also where many people feel the most discomfort. In my own experience, I’ve made a point of asking colleagues and clients how they prefer to receive feedback, and the answer is remarkably consistent: direct, and with kindness. It’s a simple but powerful combination.
Over time, I’ve learned that avoiding feedback in the name of being “nice” often creates more tension, while overly blunt delivery can damage trust. The balance sits in being clear, specific, and respectful grounded in a genuine intent to support growth. When feedback is approached this way, it stops feeling like criticism and starts becoming a shared process of learning, strengthening both performance and the relationship itself.
To give feedback (both positive or constructive) effectively evidence-based approaches such as the SBI model:
- Situation (be specific)
- Behaviour (again, be specific)
- Impact (to an individual, team, outcome, etc.)
This reduces defensiveness and strengthens the relationship building at work process.
If feedback tends to be avoided or poorly delivered in your team, it often links to gaps in psychological safety and leadership capability – both core elements of mentally healthy workplaces.
Manage Conflict Early and Constructively
Avoiding conflict doesn’t protect relationships, it weakens them.
Strong building workplace relationships requires:
- Addressing issues early
- Staying focused on behaviour, not personality
- Seeking mutual understanding
Many teams fall into patterns of avoidance or escalation. Developing practical conflict resolution strategies is one of the most effective ways to repair and strengthen relationships.
Practical tip: “I’d like to talk about what happened so we can move forward effectively.”
Collaborate, Don’t Compete
Workplaces that emphasise collaboration over competition foster stronger work relationships.
Collaboration is a key ingredient in strong work relationships – it shifts the focus from individual performance to shared outcomes. In our own work at Leading Wellness Solutions, Simone and I are intentionally collaborative in how we design and deliver programs, and it’s been a critical factor in our success. We bring different perspectives, challenge each other constructively, and align around a common goal, which ultimately leads to better outcomes for our clients. When collaboration is done well, it strengthens trust, improves problem-solving, and creates a more cohesive and effective team.
Encourage:
- Shared goals
- Cross-team communication
- Recognition of collective success
A lack of collaboration often shows up as disengagement or siloed teams – both of which are explored in our article on employee wellness programs and their benefits.
Example of building relationships at work: Publicly acknowledge team contributions.
Be Emotionally Intelligent
Emotional intelligence is a cornerstone of building strong relationships at work.
Emotional intelligence, one of my favourite topics, plays a critical role in building and sustaining strong professional relationships at work. At an individual level, it supports greater self-awareness and the ability to regulate reactions under pressure, leading to more thoughtful and effective communication. At a team level, it enhances empathy, reduces unnecessary conflict, and creates a more psychologically safe environment. When emotional intelligence is present, people are better able to navigate challenges, understand different perspectives, and work together in a way that strengthens both relationships and performance.
This includes:
- Awareness of your own emotional responses
- Ability to regulate reactions
- Sensitivity to others’ perspectives
Without this, even well-intentioned leaders can create friction or disconnection. It’s also where we see issues like toxic positivity in the workplace, where emotions are dismissed rather than understood.
Practical tip: Pause before responding in high-stress moments.
Invest in Relationships Over Time
Strong professional relationships don’t happen by accident – they are built intentionally over time.
Investing in relationships means being intentional about connection, not just focusing on tasks. In our work at Leading Wellness Solutions, Simone and I regularly take time for personal check-ins – talking about what’s happening across our other businesses, sharing upcoming events, and aligning on goals. These conversations go beyond operational updates; they help us stay connected, understand each other’s pressures and priorities, and maintain trust. That ongoing investment creates a strong, supportive working relationship that makes collaboration smoother and more sustainable over time.
This means:
- Regular check-ins
- Creating space for connection
- Maintaining relationships
Sustainable relationship building is closely tied to long-term culture and wellbeing. If you’re thinking bigger picture, our guide on how to improve mental health in the workplace expands on this.
Key insight: Relationship building in the workplace is an ongoing practice.
Bringing It All Together
If you’re wondering how to build strong relationships at work, the answer isn’t one single strategy – it’s consistent behaviours over time.
Focus on:
- Psychological safety
- Clear communication
- Trust and reliability
- Constructive feedback
- Emotional intelligence
These are the foundations of a good working relationship and they underpin high-performing, mentally healthy workplaces.
Final Thought
Many workplace challenges (like conflict, disengagement, poor performance) are not purely technical problems. They are relational ones.
When you invest in building relationships at work, you’re not just improving culture, you’re strengthening the entire system.
Looking to Strengthen Workplace Relationships?
Building strong workplace relationships doesn’t happen by chance; it requires intentional leadership, the right skill sets, and a culture that supports connection, trust, and psychological safety.
As this article highlights, the foundations are clear:
- Communication that is direct and delivered with kindness
- Trust built through consistency, reliability, and integrity
- Feedback that supports growth rather than avoidance
- Emotional intelligence in how people lead, respond, and relate
- Ongoing investment in relationships, not just task completion
- A collaborative approach that prioritises shared success over individual wins
These are not just “soft skills” – they are critical drivers of performance, engagement, and wellbeing in modern workplaces.
At Leading Wellness Solutions, we work with organisations to embed these capabilities in practical, sustainable ways. Our programs are grounded in evidence-based psychology and tailored to the realities of today’s workplaces, supporting leaders and teams to:
- Strengthen communication and feedback capability
- Build psychologically safe, high-trust environments
- Navigate conflict with confidence and skill
- Enhance emotional intelligence and leadership effectiveness
- Foster collaboration and team cohesion
Because when relationships improve, everything else follows – performance, culture, retention, and wellbeing.
If you’re ready to strengthen relationships within your team or organisation, contact us and we’d love to support you.
