Develop and sustain working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders
Overview
This standard is about developing and sustaining working relationships with colleagues within your own organisation, employees from other organisations that your organisation works with and other external stakeholders. You use relevant tools and technologies for managing different teams, including office-based, dispersed, remote or hybrid. You establish working relationships and respect the roles and responsibilities of colleagues and stakeholders, actively seeking to understand their perspectives. You identify and resolve conflicts, monitor working relationships and identify aspects that can be improved. You also create a climate of trust providing support to help move difficult situations forward. The standard includes consulting stakeholders, fulfilling agreements with them and resolving conflicts of interest. You monitor wider developments and gather feedback to evaluate the performance of working relationships.
This standard is for all managers and leaders.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- establish working relationships with relevant colleagues within your organisation
- use relevant tools and technologies for managing different teams, including office-based, dispersed, remote or hybrid
- recognise and respect the roles, responsibilities, interests and concerns of colleagues
- create a climate of trust and mutual respect where you have no authority, or shared authority over your colleagues
- explore difficult situations and issues from colleagues' perspectives and provide support to move things forward
- provide colleagues with appropriate information to enable them to perform effectively
- consult colleagues about key decisions and activities, taking account of their views
- fulfil the agreements made with colleagues
- advise colleagues of difficulties, or where it will be impossible to fulfil agreements
- identify and resolve conflicts of interest and disagreements with colleagues in ways that minimise damage to work activities and to the individuals involved
- monitor and review the effectiveness of working relationships with colleagues to identify areas for improvement
- provide feedback to improve your colleagues performance
- analyse the feedback you have received to improve your own performance
- identify external stakeholders and the nature of their interest in the activities and performance of your organisation
- establish working relationships with internal and external stakeholders
- recognise and respect the roles, responsibilities, interests and concerns of stakeholders and, particularly in situations of matrix management, their managers requirements
- evaluate difficult situations and issues from stakeholders' perspectives
- provide support, where necessary, to move difficult situations forward
- provide stakeholders with appropriate information to enable them to perform effectively
- consult stakeholders about key decisions and activities and take account of their views, including their priorities, expectations and attitudes to potential risks
- fulfil agreements made with internal and external stakeholders
- advise stakeholders promptly of any difficulties or where it is not possible to fulfil the agreements made
- identify and resolve conflicts of interest and disagreements with stakeholders in ways that minimise damage to work activities and to the stakeholders involved
- monitor and review the effectiveness of working relationships with stakeholders to identify areas for improvement
- gather feedback to improve your own and stakeholders' performance
- monitor wider developments to identify issues of potential interest or concern to stakeholders in the future
- identify new stakeholders to build working relationships with
- follow the legal, organisational, codes of practice and policies relevant to developing and sustaining productive working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
General knowledge and understanding
1. the importance to recognising and respecting the roles, responsibilities, interests and concerns of colleagues and stakeholders
2. the relevant tools and technologies for managing different teams, including office-based, dispersed, remote or hybrid
3. the importance of creating a climate of trust and mutual respect where you have no authority, or shared authority, over those you are working with
4. the importance of understanding difficult situations and issues from colleagues' perspectives and providing support, where necessary, to move things forward
5. how to identify and meet the information needs of colleagues and stakeholders
6. the information it is appropriate to provide to colleagues and stakeholders and the factors that need to be taken into consideration
7. how to consult with colleagues and stakeholders in relation to key decisions and activities
8. the importance of taking account, and being seen to take account, of the views of colleagues and stakeholders, particularly in relation to their priorities, expectations and attitudes to potential risks
9. why communication with colleagues and stakeholders on fulfilment of agreements or any problems affecting or preventing fulfilment is important
10. how to identify conflicts of interest with colleagues and stakeholders and the techniques that can be used to manage or remove them
11. how to identify disagreements with colleagues and stakeholders and the techniques for resolving them
12. the damage that conflicts of interest and disagreements with colleagues and stakeholders can cause to individuals and organisations
13. how to monitor and review the effectiveness of working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders
14. how to get and make effective use of feedback from colleagues and stakeholders
15. how to provide colleagues and stakeholders with feedback designed to improve their performance
16. the different types of stakeholder and key principles which underpin the 'stakeholder' concept
17. how to identify your organisation's stakeholders, including background information, the nature of their interest in your organisation and their expectations
18. how to recognise and take account of political issues when dealing with stakeholders
19. the importance of monitoring wider developments in relation to stakeholders to manage their expectations
Industry and sector specific knowledge and understanding
20. the standards of behaviour and performance in your industry and sector
21. the legal, organisational, codes of practice and policies relevant to developing and sustaining productive working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders
Context specific knowledge and understanding
22. the existing agreements with colleagues and stakeholders and their identified information needs
23. the mechanisms for consulting and communicating with colleagues and stakeholders on key decisions and activities
24. the power, influence and politics within your organisation and culture
25. the standards of behaviour and performance that are expected in your organisation
26. the mechanisms in place for monitoring and reviewing the effectiveness of working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders
27. the key stakeholders, their background and interests in the activities and performance of your organisation
Scope/range
Scope Performance
Scope Knowledge
Values
Behaviours
Skills
- Communicating
- Empathising
- Information management
- Leading by example
- Managing conflict
- Networking
- Obtaining feedback
- Prioritising
- Providing feedback
- Stress management
- Balancing competing needs and interests
- Communicating
- Consulting
- Empathising
- Information management
- Involving colleagues
- Leadership
- Managing conflict
- Monitoring
- Networking
- Obtaining feedback
- Presenting information
- Prioritising
- Problem solving
- Providing feedback
- Reviewing
- Valuing and supporting members of staff