Employers usually try to hire staff that have strong interpersonal skills. This means that they want people who tend to work better in a team and be able to communicate properly with the people that they are working with.
Having interpersonal skills doesn’t just benefit you at work, it’s something that can help you be a better person in general as well as assist with your social interactions. This will help you not only be a better employee but a better friend and it will make you more calm, confident and charismatic when dealing with people in any kind of setting.
In order to make sure these skills help you in your professional and social life, you have to actually learn them. A great way to learn how to integrate these skills into your personality is by getting a communications degree or an English degree. Communication studies will help you to learn how to interact using effective communication.
Here are a just a few types of interpersonal skills that can help you through life or work or a relationship.
Verbal communication
This is the words that we speak. The way you say things is very important. In order to properly be understood for what you mean, you have to use the correct verbiage. Being able to effectively communicate what you were thinking depends on a number of different factors and has to be combined with other interpersonal skills. At times clarification and listening is also part of verbal communication. Being able to stay focused and be polite and follow the basic rules of etiquette all help with this part of the skill.
Nonverbal communication
This type of communication doesn’t involve speaking. It’s the body language and facial expressions. Any kind of nonverbal behavior even including the pitch and tone of voice is included. All of these things give clues and information which we tend to pay more attention to the actual verbal communication at times.
Negotiation skills
This is basically how to people settle a difference. This can be done a number of different ways but the main goal is to reach a compromise in order to avoid arguing. Being able to maintain a relationship and remain fair is the result of a successful negotiation.
Listening skills
This goes hand in hand with verbal communication. In order to have an effective conversation there needs to be give and take which means talking and listening. This is probably the most important. Being able to be a good listener can make the other person feel important and understood which can help the other skills come easier. Being able to listen, while being the most important skill, is also the hardest skill to obtain. It’s difficult to be able to stop yourself from speaking when someone else is, if you have thought of something that you deem to be important.
Problem solving ability
This can be something done alone or in a group setting. We all go through problems every day and we have to be able to sort through them in a timely manner without getting frustrated. Being able to problem solve will help you through a difficult career, relationship and life in general.
Decision making ability
People often have a problem making decisions or being decisive. In order to be a confident person you have to be able to make all kinds of decisions from trivial issues to life changing matters.
Being assertive
When someone is assertive, it means that they are able to stand up for what they believe or their own right or other’s rights. However, this is not about being belligerent and confrontational. It’s actually the opposite; being able to stay calm and positive while still be in essence, stubborn is a real talent. People who are assertive are able to effectively get across a point without getting upset or making anyone else mad either.
The only way that a person would be able to figure out how to have all of the interpersonal skills is to practice them. You can be taught them and you can even learn them but you can’t really incorporate them unless you practice them in situations where it isn’t crucial to use them. If you wait until you are in a really important situation to implement these, you might find yourself unable to use them.
