In short
- Social connection is protective rather than just pleasant: it improves stress resilience and reduces loneliness and depression.
- Making relationships and keeping them are two different skills. Most advice covers the first and skips the second, which is where most friendships are lost.
- Active listening is the highest-leverage skill in both: no interrupting, no judging, then paraphrase what you heard and ask an open question.
- Vulnerability can be practised in small increments. Sharing one light personal memory is a legitimate starting point.
- Conflict is not a sign a relationship is failing. Repairing well after it, including apologising, is what distinguishes durable relationships from fragile ones.
Interpersonal relationships, like friends and teams, are great for you. Connection offers lots of personal and social benefits.
If you want to learn the importance of interpersonal relationships, and how to make and maintain them, we have 12 tips to help you build your support system.
Building relationships can feel challenging.
Some people are easily social and make friends with no problem. Others may struggle to connect in the same way, and that’s normal.
Forming and maintaining relationships can feel confusing without the proper advice. Luckily, we’ve compiled the top tips for creating and keeping long-term connections.
Interpersonal Relationships
You can form interpersonal relationships at work or school, in your family, and your community. You can make connections anywhere.
Building those connections with others increases your social support, which benefits your mental and physical health.
Strong relationships encourage better teamwork and productivity, allowing you to achieve group goals.
Connections also offer lots of personal positives.
Interpersonal relationships are important because they improve your stress resilience, fight loneliness and depression, and help you have a better outlook on life.
The happiness that you get from forming and maintaining strong friendships is unmatched.
You deserve to feel the happiness of connection and the benefits of a strong social support system. The first step to attaining that happiness is building your relations.
Six Ways to Make Interpersonal Relationships
Here are six main tips for meeting people and forming relationships with them.
1. Go out: Attend events, clubs, meetings, and more
The first step to making new relationships is to go out.
Going out to community events, clubs, and workshops lets you meet new people. As you frequently see the same people, it may be easier to start a conversation.
It may be harder to find new connections without attending these local events. So, go to what you’re interested in to find those with similar likes!
2. Be positive, and be yourself
When you’re talking to someone new, be yourself and be positive.
Being yourself lets people know that you’re genuine and allows others to appreciate you for who you are.
Don’t put on a charade or try to be someone else.
Embracing your own qualities will help you make connections with those who genuinely like you as a person.
Likewise, being positive encourages more people to spend their time with you.
Negativity can be draining, so others may stay away from someone negative. Having a positive outlook can make you easier to approach and connect with.
3. Treat people with compassion and kindness
This tip seems obvious. But treating people with kindness can improve your relationships.
Treating everyone, even people you don’t want to connect with, with compassion lets you build bonds you wouldn’t have before.
Being kind also lets others trust you.
You may not become friends with everyone you meet, but treating everyone kindly can still ensure that people are friendly with you.
4. Ask questions
When you’re talking to someone new, ask questions about them.
Ask them about their work, hobbies, interests, and more.
People love to talk about themselves and their interests, so asking questions goes a long way! 5. Actively listen
Passive listening is different than active listening.
When forming new connections, practice active listening, as it shows genuine interest. To listen actively, do not interrupt the other person, and do not judge what they’re saying. Look them in the eyes when they answer your questions, it shows you’re listening.
When the other person has finished talking, paraphrase what they said and ask more open-ended questions.
These two techniques show that you heard what they said and want to know more, which others enjoy!
By active listening, you show that you appreciate their time, thoughts, and company, and they will likely do the same.
6. Speak to them regularly
Once you’ve formed a relationship, continue speaking to them!
Call, text, or offer to meet up in person to catch up.
It is important to check in with the other person to see how they are doing and to keep your connection.
Five Tips to Maintain Interpersonal Relationships
After building your friendships, you need to put in effort to keep them.
Maintaining relationships can feel just as challenging as building them. These six steps can make things a little easier.
1. Express gratitude for your friends
Make sure your friends know that you appreciate them.
It can be as simple as giving them a gift they’ve been wanting or being supportive of them. Showing others you value and appreciate them and their friendship goes a long way.
When they do something kind for you or make you smile, be grateful. Return the kindness, and thank them.
2. Be vulnerable and open
Being open with your emotions can be intimidating.
However, to maintain strong relationships, that openness is needed.
Sharing how you feel or think proves that you are authentic.
It also lets people know they can trust you because you’ve trusted them with your emotions. Vulnerability can be hard to learn, so do not feel discouraged if you aren’t comfortable opening up.
Taking baby steps to open up, like sharing a light personal memory, can encourage you to become more open.
3. Set and respect healthy boundaries
Having boundaries in relationships is necessary.
Unhealthy behaviours have to be avoided to maintain a healthy friendship.
So, discuss what boundaries you both have and how to support one another during your relationship.
Once they’ve told you what you can do, support them as best you can and respect the boundaries they set.
4. Commit to plans
When you make plans to meet up or go out, follow through!
Of course, unexpected things happen that cause you to miss your plans. But don’t let this be a habit! Others may hesitate to continue making plans with you if you routinely cancel.
Committing to plans shows you are reliable and lets you two make memories during those plans!
5. Healthy communication and conflict resolution
Conflict is inevitable. How you deal with that conflict will change your relationships. Speak to others how you would want to be spoken to, communicate kindly and with understanding. When a conflict does arise, recognize that you are not fighting each other.
You must look for a way for you both to win or calmly settle the conversation.
6. Accept disagreements and apologize
This tip is a follow-up to the tip above.
If you two cannot settle the conversation with an agreement, accept the disagreement. It’s not bad to have disagreements in relationships as long as you handle them maturely and respectfully. And if you realize you’re wrong or have said something you regret, apologize.
There is no shame in saying sorry. It takes strength and is needed to maintain healthy interpersonal relationships.
Meeting new people and forming new relationships can feel daunting. With the right skills and tools, it can feel more approachable.
The service behind this article
Couples therapySee how we work with this, who on the team does it, and what it costsClinically reviewed. Written by Mila Arsenijevic, MSW, RSW · Founder and Clinical Director, and reviewed by the clinical team on 12 October 2026. This article is general information, not a substitute for individual care. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
