Relational Health
Good working relationships are an essential ingredient in the success of any organisation. Relationships with suppliers and customers, and internally between teams and departments, affect the way we do things and the outcomes we achieve.Developed by the Relationships Foundation, the Relational Health Audit (RHA) is a diagnostic tool that can help you build stronger working relationships and deal with questions such as:
- What are the best actions to address difficult relationships with customers, suppliers or financial backers?
- How can you invest in your teams to improve working relationships?
- What factors mean you have better relationships with some stakeholders than others?
- What are the key criteria for assessing the success of a new business alliance?
The RHA has been used successfully in both public and private sector organisations by providing a non-threatening way of looking at how they are working with others. It can be used at the individual, team and organisational level to deal with personnel, operations or strategic issues.
Participants complete a short questionnaire, which can be completed using a secure internet-based system or specially developed booklets. Each questionnaire should take less than ten minutes to complete. The tool assesses the strength of relationships by looking at five dimensions:
- Directness - the quality of the communication process
- Continuity - the amount of shared time over time
- Multiplexity - the breadth of knowledge of each other
- Parity - the use and abuse of power
- Commonality - working with similarity and difference
In addition, an importance rating exercise can identify how critical any differences in perceptions are likely to be. The exercise can be repeated at intervals to monitor how an organisation or particular relationship is evolving. From these building blocks, support can be tailored to your requirements.
If you’re interested in improving the performance of your organisation or team, contact me or call 07814 009762 to find out more.