當準備新進入一家企業時，企業常常這樣要求，必須懂得團隊合作。這是每個人在職場都會面臨的至關重要的人際關系問題，即使是生活在孤島上的魯濱遜也要和仆人“星期五”打交道。對于如何建立良好的人際關系，我們應該怎樣做呢？請看下文……

By Art Schneider

Louis Gerstner, the man who turned IBM around in the Nineties, described a company as “Great teams coming together to build great products and services for customers.” Any company you work for, whether it delivers pizzas, builds bridges, makes cookies or develops software, all of these companies require PEOPLE to get the job done. Unless you are a sole-proprietor working alone, your are part of team. Teams work with other teams. Teams work with teams of internal clients and teams are supported by teams of support teams (facilities, phone services, even cafeteria workers). Your success in your career depends on how you interact with your teams and other teams. Respect, integrity and equality are some of the virtues of this teamwork.

Your Team

Ok, after all of this talk about working with teams, I am first going to talk about the relationship with your manager (if you are a manager, the same applies in reverse). Your manager sets the tone for the team. She needs to make sure the people in the group are working together. Make sure you understand the tone, raise any major issues with your manager regarding interpersonal relationships. Jamie Dimon, of JP Morgan Chase, was quoted as saying “Personality issues don’t age well”.

Whenever people are working together inevitably conflicts arise; be it tactical differences or personal conflicts. Immediate escalation represents a certain immaturity, alienates the manager and makes it more difficult to actually resolve problems. Better to sit with your colleague and work out your differences rather than escalate first. At a very minimum, sit down with your colleague discuss your differences, try to come up with potential solutions and then bring it to your manager. Don’t force your manager into a King Solomon Split the baby in half dilemma. Try to successfully negotiate.

If, and only if your colleague refuse to negotiate and come up with a series of alternatives for the manager will you maintain positive relations. If your colleague is totally stubborn and adamant then this is a severe performance issue and may reflect performance problems on their end. This requires an immediate escalation on your part.

Your Support Teams

Support teams get the short end of the stick. In Information Technology organizations, these are the teams that maintain hardware, support and general network support. While project teams get all of the glory for a successful delivery, support teams rarely get these accolades as they are un-seen. However, should a problem arise, they get the blame. They then develop, a “bunker mentality”. This is an analogy when they get defensive, hostile, untrusting, etc. It is very important to develop courteous relationships with these people. One, because they can help you achieve your goals quicker and two if you are in crises mode, they will be more motivated to help you because of your working relationships. A strong positiverapport with these teams is essential for your success and the success of your team.

Vocabulary

sole-proprietor 全權所有人，獨立經營者

integrity 正直，誠實

in reverse 相反地

interpersonal 人際關系的

tactical 策略性的

escalation （戰斗或不好的情況）升級或惡化

alienate 離間，使疏遠（不和）

King Solomon Split the baby in half 圣經故事中“所羅門王的判決”，講的是兩個女人都聲稱自己是孩子的母親，所羅門王用智慧做出了正確的判決。文中是一種幽默的用法。

stubborn 頑固的，執拗的

adamant 固執的

accolade 贊揚，嘉獎

bunker mentality 文中指一種沒有出頭之日的不好的心態

analogy 類比，比擬

courteous 有禮貌的

rapport 意見一致，關系和睦

（來源：英語學習雜志）