Interpersonal Relationship

We often talk about interpersonal relationship whether we are in home, workplace, social events, sports, etc. In general, the question of interpersonal relationship comes whenever any work is required to be carried out by involving two or more persons. Interpersonal relationship is nothing but the relationship between two or more persons. Now-a-days, everywhere whether in Government Departments, Public Sector Undertakings, corporate sectors, educational institutions, social organisations, etc. inter personal relationship is given due importance. Why much importance is given to inter personal relationship? We will discuss in details about interpersonal relationship.

 2. Interpersonal relationship is developed whenever two or more persons are in communication with each other. That communication may be due to family relationship, working relationship, social relationship or any other relationship. Our first interpersonal relationship starts with our mother just after birth through non-verbal cues and gestures. Interpersonal relationship of every individual starts from family. We are all having interpersonal relationship with other individuals in family, school, neighbourhood, place of work, etc.

3. Interpersonal relationship is very important in every sphere of our life. Good interpersonal relationship between family members creates peaceful and healthy atmosphere in home which is required for the overall development of an individual. Good interpersonal relationship between the employees in workplace creates proper working environment by fostering mutual trusts and cooperation. Good interpersonal relationship in workplace develops team spirit which is essential for the achievement of goal of the organisation. Sharing of information fosters collaboration and develop communication within the team which is possible by having good interpersonal relationship between the team members. Good interpersonal relationship in neighbourhood and society creates an atmosphere of peace and harmony.

4. Why importance is given to interpersonal relationship? Is it possible to complete any project without any interpersonal relationship? There cannot be any project without the involvement of human beings. Human beings are social animals and therefore interpersonal relationship is automatically developed whenever they come closer for any purpose. Good interpersonal relationship helps in creating an atmosphere of mutual understanding and trust which is very much essential for the accomplishment of any task or completion of any project. It also breeds cooperation and opens up informal channel of communication which is required for obtaining honest feedback. Through informal channel of communication many information can be gathered which otherwise is very difficult or time consuming through formal communication.

   5. It is important for everyone to improve interpersonal relationship with other persons. But the question is how to improve interpersonal relationship? Good communication skill is required for improving interpersonal relationship. Good communication skill not only includes speaking but also patience listening. Only talking to other person without listening not only makes the communication incomplete but also hurt the feelings of another person. Lack of communication as well as miscommunication spoils interpersonal relationship. For good interpersonal relationship one should bury their egos. Ego is a big barrier to communication and spoils interpersonal relationship. For developing good interpersonal relationship, one should have genuine concern for other persons. Mutual respect for each other improves interpersonal relationship between the persons. If you want to maintain and improve interpersonal relationship then never ever ridicule or put down any person. It has been observed that in workplace may times one ridicule or put down his or her subordinated for not delivering as per his or her expectation. This spoils interpersonal relationship with that person. Interpersonal relationship with subordinates is also essential for the achievement of goal of the organisation. If your subordinate is not delivering as per your expectation then you need to handle it professionally by finding out the reasons for underperformance and accordingly counselling or coaching that person for making improvement in his or her performance. Focus should be on making improvement in the person which can be done by maintaining good interpersonal relationship and not by ridiculing that person. Never treat your team members as subordinates but instead treat them as your partners or colleagues. One should know to respect the other person’s view or opinion in both the cases of agreement as well as disagreement. One cannot develop good interpersonal relationship by disrespecting the view or opinion of another person. But it does not mean that for maintaining good interpersonal relationship one should always be in agreement with other person’s opinion. There are ways of communicating disagreement politely by giving due respect to one’s opinion. Before communicating disagreement, one should express gratitude for giving opinion and also communicate the points of agreement which will not only highlight one’s unbiased view to another person’s opinion but also professionalism in handling disagreement. 

 

6.   Good interpersonal relationship creates an atmosphere of peace and harmony in family, society, workplace, community and everywhere. Good interpersonal relationship reduces stress and acts as a good energy booster. It is having positive impact on our mental and physical health and gives peace of mind. It creates positivity and helps in finding out solution to every problem. Good interpersonal relationship helps in better negotiation with other persons. Good interpersonal relationship encourages the team members to go extra mile for the achievement of organisational goal. Cordial interpersonal relationship creates a win-win situation. A good leader always believes in cooperation rather than competition. Co-operation within the team can be built by maintaining cordial relationship between team members. Good interpersonal relationship develops trusts and co-operation within the team.

  7. We have discussed about the advantages of good interpersonal relationship. Let us see what are the disadvantages of poor interpersonal relationship. Poor interpersonal relationship between persons creates animosity between the persons which led to increase in stress. Any stressful situation adversely affects the mental and physical health of an individual. Poor interpersonal relationship between the persons in any organisation creates an atmosphere of fear, mistrusts, unhealthy competition and non-cooperation which ultimately affects productivity of that organisation. Such an atmosphere in any organisation is not ideal for achieving organisational goal. One cannot be a good negotiator with poor interpersonal skill. Poor interpersonal relationship creates lose-lose situation instead of a win-win situation.

     8. We all understood that there is no alternative to good interpersonal relationship. We need to develop good interpersonal relationship with everyone with whom we are in contact by using our soft skill. This will not only help in the development of an individual but also help in the development of entity, organisation, society, nation and the world. So let us start developing good interpersonal relationship with everyone in our contact starting from our family members.