Reflection 36: The Value of Relationships?

Of late, the team has been revisiting our relationship with relationships!

By this, we are talking about relationships both at work and outside work. Let’s face it: for most of us, work is an essential aspect of life. It gives us a sense of purpose, a wage to pay the rent or mortgage, and the means to provide for our families.

Relationships build trust, community, lasting partnerships and friendships.

We spend the majority of our waking hours at work; for some, this will be more time than they spend with their families. The average person travelling to site may miss the family breakfast and the school run to be on site at 7:00 or 7:30 am. Many may return home and miss the family supper too!

Work can become a surrogate family.

Technical skills can be studied, learned and developed over time, from novice to ninja! Relationships are more nuanced. They have to be lived, nurtured and cared for.

Let’s dive in!

Monday — Site Tour and Office Day

We were back on site at Berewood Pavilion for Birchen Construction, carrying out a compliance tour and having a chat with the site manager and his team.

Lee was back from his working week in Cornwall and adapting to a change of plan and scenery. We also continued our review and further refinement of the workshop safe systems of work for New Forest Fencing & Gates Ltd.

Tuesday — Monthly Team Day

Leon and Lee convened their monthly planning day to discuss business matters and plan for the next few months.

The team works largely remotely from one another, so these team days are invaluable for maintaining relationships through face-to-face discussions, lunch and more. They are a motivator for the next period, allowing matters to be openly discussed and decisions to be made.

Wednesday — Site Tours and New Project

An early start for an electric drive to the UKHSA facility at Porton Down, where we carried out a site compliance tour and discussed the next phase of system development; not only for the site works, but also for the business, enabling it to prepare for the challenges that inevitably lie ahead.

From there, the journey continued to a site progress meeting on a heritage project. There were more discussions with the various teams involved with this complex building, along with more discoveries from the past!

Lee learned of a new word this week: ‘apotropaic’. In Greek, it means ‘to turn away’ or ‘to avert’ and is used to describe something intended to ward off evil.

Any guesses as to what may have been discovered?

We were also busy fact-finding for a new project, in preparation for developing the pre-construction information.

Thursday — Home and Away

The team were out of county, carrying out a compliance inspection on another heritage project. This one is a complex timber frame, some of which dates from the Tudor period!

We were also closer to home, assisting our client, New Forest Fencing & Gates Ltd, with a number of tasks, from site works to workshop processes.

The value of relationships is clearly witnessed when working with the team; not only in their relationships with customers, but also with staff and their supply chain.

Friday — Upskilling

Friday is our new team day, when the remote team members get together over a Teams meeting to discuss whatever is on their minds and to offer or ask for assistance where required.

This is fundamental to sharing ideas and building practical relationships.

One of the team was missing, however. Leon was refreshing his skills on a scaffold inspection course hosted by our partners, MS Associates, and ably led by our good friend Andy Bishop.

That was not all. We also carried out a detailed review of a 70-page planning document relating to the removal of a system roof and scaffold over a newly completed structure.

Closing thought — What does it mean to value relationships?

A relationship at work can easily become transactional. We may contact someone only when we need something, offer help only when there is something to gain, or value people mainly for their knowledge, contacts or output.

But genuine relationships go beyond the transaction.

They are built through consistency, trust, respect and the willingness to support one another when there is no immediate return. In a safety-critical environment, this matters. People are more likely to raise concerns, challenge unsafe decisions and admit mistakes when they feel respected and trusted.

So perhaps the question is not simply, ‘Do we value relationships?’

Perhaps it is:

Are the relationships we are building helping people become safer, healthier and more capable; or are they encouraging them to remain silent, overwork themselves or simply fit in?

To value relationships is to recognise the person behind the role, make time for meaningful conversation, listen when it matters and create an environment where people can be honest.

Technical skills may help us complete the task, but relationships determine how well we work together while doing it.