Almost couple of years ago when I was offered the job as Relations
Manager I asked myself this question. Before that I had worked as Team Lead for complex, non-standard solutions and enjoyed tremendously the
job. I liked meeting with different
teams from Sales, Marketing, Business Economics, Fields operations and many
others. Each one spoke a different language but all working toward a common goal.
When we won a deal, everyone celebrated, it was team work defined. That is why,
when I was offered the Relations Management job I accepted without any
hesitations.
In that job I would meet with different carrier’s
representatives and others from suppliers and vendors, work on common issues,
resolve conflicts and follow up on operational tasks. When people ask me about
what I do, I go through the above explanation with pleasure.
.
But what does it really take to be good in Relations
Management. Let's try to analyze this and take it step by step.
.
Relations are everywhere from Business, corporate to
personal.
.
Let us start with corporate. In the corporate world, there are
relations you handle with your superiors and executives, another with your own
team at your level, third for people who report to you and last any external
relations.
.
In personal, there are relations you form and handle with
your friends (Same level as you), your spouse (also same level as you), your
children (people who report to you) and strangers (external relations).
.
If you
have your own business, you handle relations with your team/partners (same
level as you), your employees (people who report to you) and superiors (Head office
or franchise).
.
In that quick analysis we can define relations in 4
categories:
- People superior to you or whom you report to
- People same level as you
- People who report to you
- External relations
· .
To know where you are I suggest you go through each one of the
four teams, and ask yourself few questions such as:
- Am I treating this team/person with respect
- Am I listening as much as expressing opinion
- Am I fair
- Am I thriving to help this team/person
If your answer is consistent in all categories, then you know
your weakness and strength. If the answer is different from one category to
another, I suggest you revisit the difference and analyze it further.
.
To sum it up, Relations Management is something we all do
although on different levels.
.
The bottom line, Relations Management is about being good person, willing to help, willing to listen and thriving to be better all the time, it is a life time career and
life is your instructor.
.
Mounir
https://twitter.com/MounirAswad
.
#RelationsManagement
#Carrer
#Corporate
#Teams
#life
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