How can you build relationships with less experienced colleagues?

Find common ground to a certain extent, ask for feedback from staff often, give feedback often both positive and negative, and remind yourself that you were once the junior on he situation.

Getting to know little things about those who are less experienced can be a valuable experience for both parties. When the more experienced person learns and remembers small details about the less experienced person it creates a bond not only between the two colleagues but with the company also. We all wanted to be treated well at work and want to know we matter. Remembering the details helps people feel like they matter.

Remember that we’ve all been a beginner at least once. Show up as the person you needed during your beginner season. Showing empathy and investing genuine effort to get to know your colleagues, irrespective of their experience level, is what the most valuable relationships are built on.

Never talk down on another person, especially if you are in a higher position of power or have more expertise. Expertise does not guarantee that your approach is the best and only approach. I would start out by figuring out where the other person in comfortable starting and then build up the project together in a way that reflect both of our ideas.

Your interactions with colleagues are opportunities to share how things get done or answer questions they may have. Extending invitations, like lunch or introductions to people they should know, create an environment where trust and rapport flourish. You could also arrange for them to shadow meetings, a practical step in nurturing both trust and supporting their professional growth.

Allowing less experienced people the opportunity to contribute is another one of those items that make people feel like they matter and endears them to company, team and leader. Including and allowing is a growth engine for the newer people on the team. When the culture is like that from the beginning then everyone will have some experience with how it feels and are willing to help each other.

If you are the one with more experience, you’ll come into the relationship with more authority and power. As such, it’s extremely important to create psychological safety for the less experienced professional. This means that if you send an email, “Can we have a conversation later?” be sure you include what you’re going to talk about or at least don’t send that type of note in advance of the conversation (especially if that person could have to wait overnight to talk to you). People who’ve worked their way up forget they can be intimidating, and those below would never mention it to them directly.