Colleagueship, Research-Based Soft Skills Learning

Utilize the four benefits of good colleagueship

Course Specifications

Course Number: AOB76–007_rev1.0

Course Length: 3h 10min

What is colleagueship?

Colleagueship is about everyday collaboration and the kind of atmosphere in which people work together. Research shows that strong colleagueship is built on four key pillars:

1. Professionalism: Everyone strives to develop their expertise, acts meaningfully based on it, and aims to work professionally with all colleagues.
2. Shared Direction: When everyone is aligned, responsibility is taken for tasks that must be accomplished together.
3. Work Efficiency: Efforts to clarify roles and ground rules while remaining flexible, offering help, supporting each other, and being open to receiving assistance.
4. Collaboration-Building Attitudes: Positivity, humanity, trust, and courage.

How to develop colleagueship?

Developing strong colleagueship is a complex process. Our brains have limited capacity for maintaining relationships, and colleagueship is constantly evolving, with no universal rules for strengthening connections. However, individuals and work communities can learn to understand colleagueships, their phases, and the strategies needed to maintain and improve them.

A successful development process starts with understanding the fundamentals of colleagueship: what it is, its benefits, how to function as an individual within a work community, and how the community itself influences relationships.

Once these basics are grasped, the focus shifts to interaction in colleagueship. In a constantly changing world, it is impossible to predict how even familiar colleagues will react in new situations. The complexity of modern work also results in short-term colleagueships where quickly establishing rapport is crucial. Key questions to consider include:

• How can you quickly build a connection with a colleague?
• How do you maintain that connection?
• How can teams tackle increasingly complex tasks together, even with limited time to build relationships?
• How do we interact with different individuals?
• How can we listen actively and authentically?
• How do we maintain a positive atmosphere in our interactions?
• How do we address and resolve conflicts that arise in colleagueships?

The next step is learning to understand different colleagues. Misunderstandings are common in colleagueships. People often attribute undesirable or unfamiliar behavior to permanent personality traits, such as intelligence or natural tendencies. This creates a static image of a colleague, leading to assumptions like “I can’t work with them” or “They are too rigid in their thinking.” However, by understanding personality differences, avoiding superficial judgments, and recognizing that others’ experiences differ from our own, we can improve our interactions and collaborations.

Finally, colleagueship skills are deepened by exploring various workplace situations and relationship stages. This involves examining different strategies and challenging scenarios:

• How should we respond to different colleagueship situations?
• Which strategies are suitable for each phase of colleagueship?

Why develop colleagueship?

What is the benefit of good workplace companionship? Some may think, “I just do my job, and others should do theirs—why overcomplicate things?” However, teamwork is at the core of every functioning community. To achieve results, we always depend on each other. Every daily interaction impacts the overall success of the team, making colleagueship a key asset.

Four Key Benefits of Strong Workplace Relationships (Based on Research):

1. The better your work community thrives, the better you thrive.
2. You perform better when you have strong relationships with colleagues.
3. Good colleagueship strengthens the overall atmosphere, especially psychological safety.
4. Strong collaboration builds resilience within the community.

Facilitation brings efficiency to these situations, ensures every voice is heard, and saves time. Most importantly, it ensures that plans and decisions are more likely to translate into actionable outcomes.

Colleagueship Tutorial Package enhances well-being and success

The Colleagueship Tutorial Package is designed to enhance the well-being and success of expert teams. It offers practical training focused on the foundations of strong workplace relationships, effective communication, and understanding and appreciating diverse colleagues.

We develop colleagueship skills using research-based content, microlearning, and reflection:

• Research-based learning content ensures that learning has a real impact.
• Microlearning modules fit even into the busiest schedules.
• Reflection turns learning into action—employees engage in self-reflection and shared reflection to explore what emotions the training evokes, what these skills mean to them, how they can apply them, and how to integrate them into their work.

By investing in colleagueship development, your employees will become more resilient, healthier, and more productive—leading to real, lasting change!

Colleagueship Tutorial package includes the following tutorials

Basics of Good Colleagueship, Smart-Tutorial (1h)

What’s so useful about good colleagueship? Why complicate things, I’m just doing my job? Cooperation lies at the heart of every work community’s performance. It eases work and improves the atmosphere. In this tutorial, you’ll learn about good colleagueship and its’ benefits. We’ll discuss about your and other people’s roles in the community and tell you about some quick fixes for developing good colleagueship.

Good Collaboration in Good Colleagueship, Smart-Tutorial (30 min)

Work relationships are often short, and we have to constantly think about how to build connections with new people. Colleagueship invites us to think about interaction and our social networks. This tutorial tells you how to build and maintain connections with others. You’ll also learn how to ensure those relations survive complex and difficult situations.

Diverse Colleagues Around Me, Smart-Tutorial (30 min)

Do you feel that some colleagues are easier to work with than others? We easily form a static picture of other people and feel like we can’t work with them. By understanding personal differences, you can improve your interaction with others. Diversity is an asset and a strength. In this tutorial, we’ll go through the most common misconceptions, different personality types, situational differences, and various ways of thinking. By understanding these, you’ll become a better colleague and help your team succeed!

Developing Colleagueship, Smart-Tutorial (45 min)

Do you feel that some colleagues are easier to work with than others? We easily form a static picture of other people and feel like we can’t work with them. By understanding personal differences, you can improve your interaction with others. Diversity is an asset and a strength. In this tutorial, we’ll go through the most common misconceptions, different personality types, situational differences, and various ways of thinking. By understanding these, you’ll become a better colleague and help your team succeed!

Listening Skills, Quick-Tutorial (2 min)

This short video teaches you open up to each other's experiences and accept them as they are. Talking conveys three levels: words, emotions, and needs. You should accept other people's emotions, but you can question the way the emotions are expressed.

Show the Person Behind the Actions, Quick-Tutorial (4 min)

Do you totally dare to be yourself? Watch this short video to hear why it´s equally important that you are able to be yourself both at work and during your free time. Sharing your inner world, your emotions, thought processes, and even insecurities builds mutual appreciation, trust, and psychological safety.

See the Person Behind the Actions, Quick-Tutorial (3 min)

Do you want to hear why it is important to see another person as a whole package? We often forget when speaking to other people that their behavior is guided by their experiences. Added value comes from interaction, and interaction is always a human activity that comes from experience. The first person you need to see is yourself. Watch this short video to hear more!

Bringing up Difficult Topics – How to Start the Conversation?, Quick-Tutorial (4 min)

Got a tricky situation at work you're unsure how to handle? Our latest video breaks down how to approach difficult conversations in the workplace –whether it's about a colleague, the work environment, or team dynamics. Learn practical tips and build a culture of open communication. Watch now and empower yourself for those tough talks.

Empathy in Everyday Interactions, Part 1, Quick-Tutorial (6 min)

Empathy isn’t about fixing other people’s problems — it’s about connecting with them. In this video, we take a closer look at what happens when we jump too quickly to problem-solving instead of truly listening. Through a relatable story and common real-life examples, you'll learn how to avoid the traps of deflecting, diminishing, or unwanted advice — and begin to understand what empathy truly means. Watch this if you want to deepen your relationships and become a more supportive presence in others’ lives.

Empathy in Everyday Interactions, Part 2, Quick-Tutorial (6 min)

Want to take your empathy skills to the next level? In this second part of our video series, we move from theory to practice — offering tangible ways to respond with empathy in real conversations. From listening with intention to choosing words that validate and connect, this episode helps you become the kind of person others trust and open up to. Empathy isn’t just something you feel — it’s something you do. Let's start practicing it.