10 Simple Phrases to Build Work Relationships

Recently I stumbled upon a LinkedIn post and decided to turn it into a short blog post:

Photo by Windows on Unsplash

1. “Yeah, but …” → “Good point. What if we also…”
2. “You should have …” → “For the next time, what if we tried …”
3. “I already told you …” → “Let me explain this another way …”
4. “You’re wrong.” → “I see this differently. Can we compare our perspectives?”
5. “We’ve always done it this way!” → “I am curious what changes you think would improve our process.”
6. “I don’t have time for this.” → “This deserves proper attention - can we schedule time to discuss?”
7. “Just figure it out.” → “What specific roadblocks are you running into?”
8. “That is not my problem.” → “Help me understand how I can support you with this.”
9. “You are being too sensitive.” → “This seems important to you - can you help me understand why?”
10. “That’s not how it works.” → “Let me share some context that might help …”