Building working relationships with colleagues Revision — Ascentis Vocationally-Related Qualification
Understand how people in the workplace depend on one another., Understand how an individual’s behaviour affects other people at work., Be able to demonstrate positive behaviours that promote effective working with others.
Exam Tips
- When writing reflective accounts or answering scenario-based questions, always anchor your points in real or realistic tasks from the animal care workplace—e.g., moving livestock, cleaning enclosures, or assisting with veterinary procedures.
- Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure evidence of demonstrating positive behaviours, ensuring you highlight the impact on team morale and animal outcomes.
- In written assessments, explicitly reference the ‘chain of consequence’: your action → effect on a colleague → effect on their task → potential effect on animal wellbeing.
- Prepare to explain how a specific workplace policy or code of practice (e.g., confidentiality, equal opportunities) directly applies to building trust and respect among colleagues.
Common Mistakes
- Learners often describe interdependence in overly generic terms (e.g., ‘everyone works together’) without linking it to specific animal care tasks, such as feeding rounds or medication administration.
- A common oversight is failing to differentiate between personal and professional behaviour, for instance, assuming friendship permits casual neglect of standard operating procedures.
- Many learners provide examples of positive behaviour that are too vague (e.g., ‘being nice’), rather than detailing actionable strategies like communicating changes in an animal’s condition promptly to the relevant colleague.
- Candidates sometimes overlook the influence of non-verbal communication, such as body language when handling animals in a team setting, which can alarm both animals and colleagues.
Key Marking Points
- Award credit for providing specific examples of workplace interdependence from an animal care context, such as explaining how a kennel assistant’s cleaning schedule affects the work of a dog groomer.
- Award credit for clearly identifying at least two ways an individual’s negative behaviour (e.g., withholding information, lateness) can disrupt team function and compromise animal welfare.
- Award credit for demonstrating, through role-play or a reflective account, consistent application of positive behaviours like active listening, clear handover communication, and constructive feedback.
- Award credit for correctly matching key organisational policies (e.g., codes of conduct, health and safety) to examples of how they govern professional relationships at work.