Best Practices for Better Business Relationships

It's the middle of 2011, and we've seen some spikes of (selective) optimism in the economy. This has led us to believe that the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry could be improving in certain sectors. Our perception partially relies upon which indicators we are reviewing: stock market, gas prices, corporate office rental rates, national health care policy, housing market, government infrastructure initiatives, the list goes on.

Yet, even as some of us are becoming more optimistic regarding the health of our AEC businesses, there's still an overarching layer of stress that has not yet evaporated. It has led to business relationship tensions—not just between co-workers, but also between prospects/clients and their service providers.

As business development professionals, what can we do to alleviate some of this overall negative mood that lingers? Well, in addition to numerous strategies and tactics—hustling aggressively, expanding our reach through social media, sharpening our pencils at proposal time, and so forth—we can adopt a behavioral shift: generously giving credit where credit is due. It's simple, it's straightforward, and it's effective.

Let me explain.