Understanding the lay of the land and making key connections will help you form beneficial work relationships.

If you’ve ever tried to assemble a bookshelf without first reading the instructions, you’ll know that it’s not an easy endeavor. In spite of your best efforts, you’ll find yourself wasting a lot of time trying to slot the wrong pieces together or searching for the right grommets and screws. Eventually, you’ll give up and defer to the instructions, when, suddenly, everything becomes crystal clear! You know what each piece is and where it needs to go.

Assembling bookshelves might not be an activity we associate with work, but there’s a lesson to be learned here: it helps to get to know how everything, or in this case, everyone, fits together.

The key message here is: Understanding the lay of the land and making key connections will help you form beneficial work relationships.

Every workplace has its own set of personalities and its own unique dynamic. For instance, you might find yourself in an office where the staff eats lunch together, or where playful and fun activities are part of the company culture.

In this setting, eating lunch alone at your desk while everyone sits together won’t help you connect with your colleagues or make friends, and neither will refusing to take part in company activities. To form good relationships with your colleagues you need to pay attention to what the company dynamics and norms are, and adapt accordingly.

These relationships will not only help you fit in and enjoy your time at work, they’re also useful for networking. Networking goes beyond having lunch buddies – it allows you to connect with people you can learn from and share information with. What you pick up from conversations with your colleagues could help you navigate your work or professional challenges better, or even advance your career.

But networking isn’t just about what people can do for you. The key to genuine and successful networking is that it should also benefit the other person. So, offer help and guidance whenever you have the opportunity to. By investing in the relationship, you’ll improve your experience and open the door to opportunities for growth.