Dealing with interpersonal relationships seems to attract the growing attention of managers and executives. Especially in recent years, the competency of handling interpersonal interactions has become the “core” of management. In other words, a manager’s capacity of dealing with relations with the people around him or her might mean the difference between success and failure. (Fandt, 1994) Therefore, clarifying the tight connection between interpersonal relationships and business success, learning tips to maintain relations and finding ways to resolve conflicts are obviously of great significance. This essay will begin by explaining the reason why a competent manager should deal with interpersonal relations, and then go on to describe skills to handle relationships. At the same time, it will discuss solutions to conflicts that occur in the workplace and the great benefits of resolving disputes in positive ways. Its purpose is to show no matter how ingenious a person is or how hard one works; they might suffer from failure if they fail to get on well with the people around them.
2 The connection between interpersonal relationships and business
People’s interpersonal relationships can affect the pattern of their daily life in many aspects. It is the same in the business world.
2.1 The definition of interpersonal relationship at work
Defining interpersonal relationships in business seems to greatly differ depending on various viewpoints. For instance, Billikopf (2006) defines interpersonal relationships in the workplace as crucial elements that can enhance workers’ productivity through developing and maintaining trust and positive feelings within an organization. According to Kozuh and Arzensek (2011), interpersonal relationship at work is the bond among different individuals that facilitates the better functioning of employees in order to achieve the common goals. Although these definitions are concluded from different perspectives,