Believe it or not, the most important factor in gaining influence and achieving success is developing people skills! People skills, also know as interpersonal skills, are the skills we use every day when we communicate and interact with others, both individually and in groups. Evidentially, people with strong interpersonal skills are often more successful in both their professional and personal lives. They are able to communicate more effectively with others, whether family, friends, colleagues, or clients, and therefore achieve their goals more efficiently.
Yet, our contemporary education system is not equipped with interpersonal skills training and relationship-building skills training in its formal curriculum, even though nearly all of us use our people skills every day. As a matter of fact, no matter what technological trends take the lead in our society, the people and how you work with them will always matter the most. Today, we’re going to look at some critical information to help you develop your interpersonal skill!
What Is Interpersonal Skill?
Interpersonal skills are generally considered to include a wide range of skills, such as communication skills, which include verbal communication (what we say and how we say it), non-verbal communication (what we communicate without words, i.e. body language, facial expression, intonation, etc), as well as listening skills (how we interpret both the verbal and non-verbal messages sent by others)
Additionally, you need to have emotional intelligence, which refers to the ability to sense, understand, and empathize with your own and others’ emotions. Teamwork skills, which covers the capability to work with others in groups and teams in both formal and informal settings are also important. Conflict resolution and mediation skills are also very commonly used and highly valued in workplaces. This refers to working with others to resolve interpersonal conflict and disagreements in a positive way.
Develop Your Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence allows us to be aware of and in charge of our emotions. Sharpening your emotional intelligence can help you keep your emotions balanced and boost your confidence. Naturally, there are things you can do to develop your emotional intelligence.
First, you should learn to become more aware of your emotions and responses to certain situations. After all, awareness is the foundational skill along the path to improved interpersonal skills. Next, you should learn to keep your emotions in balance. In order to be in rhythm with others, you have to be in rhythm with yourself. Then, you need to recognize when you or others are stressed. When it comes to dealing with difficult situations, keep in mind that proper timing can lead to a better outcome. If you or the other person is stressed, you will lose common ground.
Learn to Listen, Before You Learn to Speak
Everyone can talk, but the core essence of effective communication lies in good listening. To be a good listener, you need to pay attention to non-verbal cues. Research shows the vast majority of communication occurs at the non-verbal level, pay attention to not only what people are saying, but also how they are saying it.
Take time to listen before you respond. When others are speaking, instead of actually listening to them, many people are concentrating on what they plan to say next. Doing this can cause you to miss key elements of the other person’s point and results in a lack of true communication. Let the other person speak without interrupting. Focusing on what another person is saying and making eye contact helps us truly understand what is meaningful.
Show Appreciation More Often
You can show your appreciation by saying “thank you” on every occasion, for any large or small reason. Try to make a habit of thanking everyone in your world from everything they do, you’ll notice the difference after a while. Thank your co-workers for their help, thank your spouse for their support, and thank your children for anything they do that you appreciate.
Whenever you smile or say thank you to another person, not only does that person feel needed and appreciated, you will also feel happy to see a smile on others’ faces. The satisfaction you’ll get from appreciating others will affect you just as much as feeling appreciated by others. The more often you show appreciation, the more you will genuinely like and care about other, which makes you a pleasant person to be around.
Pay Attention to Others
Attention is probably the most important quality in human interaction. It is the most powerful behaviour for building rapport and is the key to instant charm. When you pay close attention to other people, the more valuable and important they will feel they are.
If someone wants to talk to you, disconnect yourself with what you were doing and immerse into the conversation, give that person your full attention. Listen carefully and show that you care and are intrigued by what they are saying. Take a moment to pause before replying, rather than jumping in as soon as they take a breath. This shows that you actually heard the person, not only what they said but what they meant.
Build Trust
Trust is the greatest currency in business and in life. Your clients, employers and your colleagues are looking for a trusted professional. if you earn their trust, loyalty and success follows. Loyalty in the workplace will help you sustain and grow your profession. It takes a high degree of social intelligence to develop trust with individuals and groups. The magic happens when you connect with others the right way. Opposite of that, if you don’t engender trust from your team, as well as customers and clients, your reputation will suffer.
As the largest career college in Canada with 50 campuses across the country, Academy of Learning College attributes the growth in our success to identifying the gap between the formal education available and the realities of the working world. We fulfill the needs of learners by developing customized programs for each student while meeting the requirements for convenient and effective training at an affordable cost. Browse our program list by province and find the best program that suits your needs!