Winning Together: The secrets of better working relationships

Patricia Hind is a Chartered Business Psychologist, a researcher, author, and Professor of Management Development at Ashridge Executive Education.  A specialist in Leadership and Executive Development she has worked globally with individuals across all sectors to develop the leadership capability needed to ensure sustainable success. She has authored many articles and contributed to many books all aiming to enhance personal and organisational effectiveness.  Fiona Elsa Dent is an independent executive coach, leadership trainer, author and Professor of Practice at Ashridge Executive Education.  She has many years' experience working with people at all levels of organisational life helping them be the best they can be.  Her specialist areas are influencing others, managing people, building working relationships and career management and has contributed to several books in these areas.  Viki Holton is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at Ashridge Executive Education. Her interests include team coaching, women's leadership, career strategies and development. She is the author of a number of articles and books including as co-author, How to Coach Your Team: Release Team Potential and Hit Peak Performance. Viki is also a member of the British Psychological Society with a keen interest in management issues, occupational psychology, equality and diversity.

"Work relationships that don't work make everybody miserable. But for the world-weary post-Covid, it can be hard to find the energy to tackle them. Cue this wonderful book from a seasoned team of experts, which shows you how. In an accessible format with practical advice and exercises, this book takes you by the hand and walks you through next steps.I hope it will be on everyone's desk in the future." Dr Eve Poole, OBE, Author of Leadersmithing "This is such a useful resource for working relationships, particularly in this new hybrid world of work. From navigating relationships in online meetings to building trust with colleagues, I've already put into practice many of the super practical tips and tricks contained in this book."  Jessica Bradford, Digital Communications Manager, BT Global “This excellent book comes along at the perfect moment, when navigating the post pandemic “new normal” requires superb skills in communication to build trust and achieve resilient, lastingly great relationships. The authors have curated this practical handbook on Winning Together, complete with simple and thought provoking exercises to try on your own and with your teams. Whether you read it cover to cover or cherry pick the chapters that speak directly to your current situation, use it to understand and refine your own personal power of communication to turn obstacles into teaching moments of healthy conflict and people problem solving. Highly enjoyable and instantly effective!”  Dina Dommett, Dean of Ashridge, Hult International Business School “I have been impressed by the practical nature of this book. Patricia, Fiona and Viki (academics and practitioners) provide useful tips, exercises and frameworks for working together with others. The book is easy to read and covers key qualities and skills for a post – covid changing workplace including; how to create trust, influencing others, increase emotional intelligence as well as how to become more agile with your relationships with others. The book can be your guide when preparing for a high stakes team meeting, handling messy team dynamics and/or in support for finding a better work/life balance. I strongly recommend this book. It will help you achieve both individual and team goals."  Guy Lubitsh, Professor in Leadership & Psychology "This book takes the well-worn challenges we all find in building and maintaining good working relationships and applies them to the new world of work. Through its useful exercises, checklists and actionable examples it pulls together lessons for us all, whether people manager, colleague, partner or friend. It's refreshing to find a book backed by academic research and insight but written in such a simple and accessible way. I found the FAQs and authors' suggestions on how they would tackle these challenges particularly useful. In today's fast-changing and complex world of work, it's true to say that Winning Together is the only route to success!"  Siân Harrington, Co-founder and editorial director at The People Space and founder director at Reignite HR

• Section 1. Relationships at work, and Why They Matter 1. Relationships at work in the ‘New Normal? 2. Why are relationships so Messy? 3. Building and Developing Your Relationship Agility in the Digital Age Section 2. Working with Others – the things that make a difference 4. Your Relationship Resilience  5. Trusting each other  6. Social & Emotional Intelligence 7. Inclusion and Inclusivity 8. Influencing – Collaboration, Co-operation and Direction 9. Challenging Relationships (The Power of Healthy Conflict) Section 3. Developing a relationship toolkit 13.Building Relationship Awareness 14. Developing Communication Dynamics – (Listening, Questioning, Body Language, etc) 10. Maximising Personal Impact and Impression Management 11. Skilful Dialogue – The Behavioural Element 12. Demonstrating Authenticity and Empathy 13. The power of Mutual Respect 14. From Problems to Solutions – The Appreciative Dimension Section 4. The Blurring Lines Between Work and Home 15. Managing your Home /Work boundaries. 16. Keeping relationships healthy. Section 5. –  The broader perspective 17. Where to seek help in Building Agile Relationships 18. Creating psychological safety for yourself and others. Concluding comments