5: Managing relationships
Well, now, here’s the thing about trust. There’s nothing to it. Trusting people is simply a matter of ignoring your best instincts and all your experience and suspending belief. The fact is, the only way you can ever be sure if you can rely on someone or not is to go ahead and rely on them. But that doesn’t always work out so well. People usually behave like people and let you down and that’s that. Of course, if you know they’re going to let you down then you won’t be disappointed. (Kerr, 2018)
There is a keen debate as to whether particular organisational structures and frameworks enable or obstruct collaborative working, or whether outcomes are largely dependent upon agency – the commitment and behaviour of like-minded managers and other actors working together to achieve results that could not be realised by them acting independently. Certainly, a strong consensus of views from a wide range of middle managers in my research in Wales comes down on the side of agency, as is suggested by this selection of opinions:
“You can have the best, most effective and streamlined structures, but if people can’t trust each other, any partnership will fail.”
“The thing that makes it work in any type of structure is the commitment of the person – structures can be enabling or difficult.”
“It isn’t about organisations getting on with one another, it’s individuals sitting around a table. It’s about trust between individuals – me knowing who to contact, who is going to be an ally and who I need to work on; each individual has his/her reputation; I’m someone who says it, and does it; I am straight to the point and tell it as it is; people need to be prepared to put the energy into personal relationships – it’s about finding people who want to talk and nurturing that relationship; that’s the way to influence people.”
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