How Building Rapport Can Help You Build Your Career

Building rapport means making meaningful connections. When you build a good rapport with someone, you establish mutual trust and understanding, and you communicate better. They are more likely to help you, seek you out for new opportunities, and recommend you to others. This process works both ways — to maintain trust, you need to help others. Rapport isn’t just about making short-term gains such as securing a sale, it’s a key tool for building your career in the long term.

Whatever position you currently hold, you can benefit from good rapport with your colleagues and customers. Even if your current job involves little interpersonal interaction, building a rapport now can pay dividends later, when you may want to change position, move up the ladder within your company, or move to a new company altogether.

Managers get better results

If your staff trust you, they will produce better quality work and be honest with you about any difficulties they encounter on the job. You’ll also have much better employee retention and be able to fill vacancies quickly.

Sales representatives make more sales

If you always deliver on the promises you make about product quality, features, and delivery, customers will return to you again and again.

HR professionals work more effectively

If everyone in your company trusts you, you will have more success when mediating disputes or discussing career options with your staff.

Professionals of all types benefit

If you have a good rapport with your manager, colleagues, and external contacts, they’ll help you when you need it and listen to your concerns.

There’s more to building rapport than just being friendly. The foundation of a good working relationship is mutual trust. Here’s how to demonstrate that you can be trusted.

Deliver on your promises

Always do what you’ve promised to do, on time, and in full.

Set realistic goals

To deliver on your promises, you need to ensure those promises are achievable. Set your goals based on a realistic assessment of your capabilities and the time available.

Be open and honest

However well you’ve planned, unexpected things happen. Honest and timely communication can make a huge difference.

Tell the truth – tactfully

If you can establish a reputation for always being truthful, you’re more likely to be trusted. Just make sure you’re tactful. Consider others’ feelings and perspectives and have sensitive discussions in private.

Trust others

It’s not enough to be trustworthy yourself, real rapport needs mutual trust. That means trusting others to tell you the truth. Fortunately, once you’ve established your own credentials as a trustworthy individual, others are more likely to be honest with you.

People are much more likely to trust you if they feel they know you, not just as a colleague but as a person.

Take time to connect

If you have a busy schedule, it can be tempting to rush from one thing to another without pausing. But taking the time now will help you later.

Listen and ask questions

Show you’re interested in people by asking them further questions. Make sure you listen to the answers and take their views on board.

Learn more: Active Listening in the Workplace

Establish a connection

If you discover something in common, great! Tell them that right away. Even if you don’t find an interest in common, you can show empathy with someone’s emotions to establish a connection.

Keep notes if you need to

When you join a new company, you need some time to get to know your colleagues and learn how the business operates. You may have to assimilate a large amount of information —more than you could possibly commit to memory — in a short time. Don’t be afraid to keep a notebook with a few details of all the people you encounter, so you can refer to it before a meeting to refresh your memory. Just make sure you don’t write down anything you wouldn’t want the person to see!

Ask for advice

Once you’ve established who the expert on certain subjects at the office is, you can go to them for advice, both for work-related topics and for outside topics. People love to feel that their opinions are valued. If someone is a keen home cook, for example, you can ask them for advice on how to prepare a meal for a special occasion.

People like to feel that others care about them and remember details of their lives. Just be careful not to let a genuine interest in someone’s life become intrusive. It’s usually better not to ask too many direct personal questions such as ‘are you married?’ or ‘do you have children?’ as these may be sensitive topics — you don’t know if someone has just gotten divorced or has fertility problems.

Ask general questions

Nobody minds being asked ‘how was your weekend?’ or similar, and if they want to keep the details personal, they can always give a non-specific answer.

Volunteer information

People are more prepared to open up if you’re open with them yourself. If you offer information about your life, family, and interests, they can find points you have in common.  Likewise, you can try asking questions like ‘Did you see the game?’ You may get the answer, ‘No, I’m not interested,’ or you may discover a fellow sports fan.

Pick up on prompts

Keep an eye — and ear — out for any clues. What pictures does someone have on their desk? What things have they talked about? If someone mentions their children, for instance, you can ask them more.

Let others set their comfort level

Be prepared to back off a topic of conversation quickly if someone seems uncomfortable. This includes not just things that can be obviously controversial, such as religion or politics, but also things that may seem completely innocuous to you, but which may be difficult for the other person.

Accept that some people want to keep their personal lives separate

If it becomes clear that someone only wants to talk about work-related topics, then respect their preference. You can still build a rapport with them by talking about business-related topics of mutual interest.

Learn more: How to Network

Building a rapport is a process, not a one-off event. Make sure you follow up on your initial conversations and connections.

Pick up conversations later

If someone told you about a competition their kid was entering, next time you see them, ask them how it went.

Send things

If it’s appropriate for your workplace relationship, send a thoughtful gift that shows you’ve remembered what they like. Even very small gestures can really help: forward links to interesting articles, tell them about an upcoming sale at their favorite shop.

Issue invitations

Once you know someone well enough, you can invite them to enjoy something together –  eat lunch, play golf, see your favorite band, to go hiking. Make sure you keep the relationship professional.

Learn more: A Guide to Professionalism in the Workplace 

If you follow the advice in this article, you’ll establish better working relationships, and you’ll find your working day easier and more enjoyable. Now, here’s how you can leverage those relationships to further your career goals.

Ask for feedback

Once you know someone well and trust their opinions, you can ask them for honest feedback and advice on how to work on your weaknesses.

Find a mentor

A mentor will give you not just advice, but long-term career guidance. If you have a good rapport with a senior colleague, you can ask them to be your mentor and be confident they’ll be a good fit for you.

Learn more: How to Ask Someone to Be Your Mentor

Find new opportunities

When you’re ready to move into your next position, you can ask your network of contacts for advice. When people know you well, they may be able to recommend opportunities for you that you might not have otherwise considered.

Building personal rapport with your colleagues, clients, and customers will not just improve your job now – it can unlock opportunities for the future. Start now and you’ll see the benefits straight away.