Human relations are an extremely broad concept. Before thinking about what patterns of development or problems they are characterized by, it is necessary to determine what exactly is being discussed.
This expression itself is commonplace. In psychology, it is customary to use another term - "interpersonal relationships." And despite the extreme vastness of this concept, it has very clear, albeit generalizing characteristics.
What it is? Definition and examples
Interpersonal, or human relationships are nothing more than a combination, a combination of various variations of interactions between people. Mutual actions themselves can be any and unite a different number of people.
This means that the concept includes both the types of building relationships between a couple of people, and the confrontation of the individual and the collective, the merging of individuals into social groups, and much more. For example, if a person enters a large elevator, where there are already a lot of people, and he is asked about which floor you need to get to, or they ask him to skip to the exit, then this is nothing more than one example of interaction, that is, interpersonal relationships .
If a young man comes on a date with a bouquet of flowers - this is also an example of a way to build human relationships. A morning meeting at the office or a kind of “exercise”, performed by the whole team under the watchful supervision of a manager, is also a model of interaction between people.
What are interpersonal relationships based on?
Human relations are based on the communication of people and the mutual exchange of information, relations between individuals. Accordingly, for their development and maintenance of immediate importance are direct means of communication.
What is included in this concept? Of course, first of all, speech. It is the verbal way of transmitting information that is the basis of all relations that develop between people. In this case, information should not be understood as a “dry” chronicle of any events or a statement of knowledge accumulated by previous generations. In the context of interpersonal relationships, this concept includes the exchange of thoughts, conclusions about something. In other words, every conversation is nothing more than an exchange of information. Even if two elderly neighbors discuss the behavior of young people, they still exchange information with each other.
The nature of human relations is based not only on speech. The second component of the foundation of this concept is all means of non-verbal communication. They allow us to establish the primary relationship between people. Such funds traditionally include:
- gesticulation;
- facial expressions;
- appearance;
- gait and posture.
That is, everything that contributes to the compilation of a certain opinion about a person disposes to him or, on the contrary, repels him, can be attributed to non-verbal means of communication.
What is the essence of interpersonal relationships? Why are they important?
The essence of human relations lies in the fact that thanks to them it is possible both the personal development of an individual individual, and the advancement of the entire civilization as a whole. In other words, the progress and evolutionary development of society is nothing more than a direct consequence of interpersonal interactions. If people did not enter into a relationship, then there would be no modern world.
What is the importance of human relations, in addition to their role in the construction and development of civilization? Interpersonal interactions are the foundation of the entire social organization of human communities - from the smallest, such as the family, to global ones.
What does this mean in practice for an ordinary person who does not think about his role in the social structure of a metropolis or the development of civilization? What exactly comes from interaction with other people every day of his life, starting from birth. Only after being born, a person begins to interact with his parents - give them signals and pick up the response.
Later, people begin to talk, communicate, read books, watch films, discuss them and share their impressions - this is nothing more than the world of human relations. Every morning, waking up and going to work, a person inevitably comes into contact with others, interacts with them. Even if we are talking about a freelancer who lives alone and, in principle, does not leave the apartment, he still participates in interaction with other people. Watching news, communicating on social networks are also varieties of interpersonal relationships.
How are relationships between people classified?
Since this concept is very extensive, it simply cannot exist without classification. And of course, she is. To divide the interpersonal relationships that are established between people, it is customary:
These large groups, in turn, are divided into smaller ones.
Classification of Relationships “by Purpose”: Examples
The classification of human interactions by purpose includes the following relationships:
Primary relationships are understood as a combination of interactions and the presence of connections between people that arise naturally, due to the necessity and outside of the conscious desire of individuals for them. For example, transferring money for travel in a crowded bus is nothing more than the primary type of relationship and the interaction of people united by a common goal.
Secondary relationships are the conscious actions of an individual directed at another person. Of course, we can talk not only about the act of one person in relation to another, but also about groups of people. For example, a person causes an ambulance to a patient. This is an example of a secondary relationship between people who share a common goal. In the context of an emergency example, the goal is recovery. The arrived doctors are already a group of people. They provide assistance to the patient. That is, they also enter into secondary relationships, while pursuing the same final goal as the patient.
Classification of relationships "by nature": examples
By their nature, relationships between people are divided into two types. The first is formal interaction. The second type is, of course, informal relationships.
What are formal relationships? This is a kind of official, business way of building interactions. This type of interpersonal relationship is characterized by the following:
- the presence of norms, rules, requirements that are mandatory for compliance;
- lack of opportunity to choose a circle of friends, partners;
- extremely low level of emotionality;
- specific appearance and behavior.
An example of this type of building relationships can be any business cooperation, political negotiations and even discussion of everyday business issues. That is, if the boss calls the employee into the office and explains to him the current goals and objectives - this is formal, or official communication. But if a person talks with his boss during lunch about the weather, this is an informal interaction. Accordingly, one of the defining moments of a formal type of relationship is the topic of communication.
Informal relationships are diametrically opposed to formal interactions. They are characterized by freedom in the choice of partners, subjects, appearance and everything else. Accordingly, the casual chatter with a girlfriend over a cup of coffee is nothing more than an example of an informal type of interaction.
One nuance is curious enough. If a person in the boss’s office drinks tea with the boss and discusses family problems, this is no longer formal communication, although it happens in the service and during working hours. Likewise, a conversation with the boss that concerns only working moments, but taking place in the evening in a restaurant, cannot be attributed to informal communication.
Is it possible to manage relationships between people?
Human Relationship Management is one of the disciplines that future managers master. That is, it is nothing more than personnel management.
The main functional concepts that make up the key to successful relationship management are the “three pillars of management”:
- motivation;
- communication
- motivation.
Many beginning specialists often confuse concepts such as “motivation” and “motivation”. The meaning of these functions is not the same.
Motivation is nothing but the ability of a leader to arouse interest in the necessary action in an employee. Motivation, on the other hand, is finding ways and means of influence, thanks to which the employee brings the work he has started to the final as quickly and efficiently as possible. Communication in this case is a combination of various ways and mechanisms of transferring information to employees and its receipt from them.
Accordingly, managing relations between people in the professional sphere is not only possible, but also necessary. Thanks to the combination of “three pillars of management”, not only an effective result is achieved, but also coherence in the team, a clear understanding by employees of their role, and awareness of goals and objectives appear.
If people try to manage relationships outside the formal type of interaction, this is already called manipulation and rarely leads to anything good.
What is understood by the development and problem of interpersonal relationships?
The development of human relations is one of the scientific directions in psychosociology. As a rule, it deals with issues that are directly related to the art of personnel management, the work team, or the student audience.
It is based on the theory of "human relations" developed at Harvard University by Elton Mayo at the beginning of the last century. This scientist led the School of Business. It was something like modern courses for managers. The school was opened at Harvard University, but, of course, its graduation was not accompanied by the issuance of a diploma of this institution.
The problem of human relations, according to this theory, is that the fundamental influence on labor productivity and the employee’s return to the workflow is not at all material, but social and psychological factors. However, if we exclude the material component, then social and psychological motivators will not have any effect at all. However, with the exclusion of the psychosocial components of the material incentive is enough to complete the task, but the work will be done very poorly. It was in this paradox that the author of the theory saw the problem that science should deal with as part of the study of interpersonal relationships and their management.