In the workplace, you may see people with different personalities, behavior, and different attitudes. To deal with varying types of personalities, one must learn interpersonal skills. In this article, we will cover interpersonal skills, their importance, and how you can improve them. This skill is not only important for personal development or social interaction but also for professional success. Whether handling teams, negotiating conflicts or having daily interactions, strong interpersonal skills create a positive impact on both personal and professional life.
What are interpersonal skills?
Interpersonal skills refer to your words and actions that make others feel. Interpersonal skills are all about how you perceive yourself and how others perceive you.
There are two types of interpersonal skills:
- Internal: Your thoughts, words, and actions fall under internal interpersonal skills. Examples include empathy, patience, active listening, flexibility, and grace.
- External: Actions, words and thoughts of others. Examples include teamwork, responsibility, dependability, leadership, and motivation.
Introduction to Self Awareness Model
In order to develop strong skills, it is imperative to be self aware. The Self Awareness Model implies how you perceive yourself and how others perceive you. According to the self-awareness model, there are four types of people:
- Self-Examiner: They are confident in themselves but avoid getting feedback from others. If we were to describe a self-examiner in one word, they are career-limiting. Think of a person; they may be your colleague, friend, classmate, or any family member. They speak something like this: “I know who I am and I don’t care what others think of me.” What idea did you get from the above statement? Sounds like someone is overconfident and has an obsession with themselves. In reality, these people fear being judged.
- Inquire: They are unaware of themselves or of how others perceive them. Let’s understand it by taking an example:“I don’t know what I am doing wrong and what others think of me.” Inquires generally lack introspection skills.
- Conscious: They are aware of their capabilities and also seek the opinions of others. Let’s understand this by taking an example: “I know who I am and what others think of me.” Conscious people are aware of themselves as well as of others’ thoughts and feedback.
- Delighters: In simple terms, they are people-pleasers. They focus on pleasing others and putting themselves last. Let’s take an example: “Don’t worry about me, I am here to help you.” These types of people are overly focused on external vs. internal.
Improving Interpersonal Skills in the Workspace
Now that we know the importance of interpersonal skills, improving them is beneficial for your personal and professional growth. Here are a few techniques through which you can improve your skills:
- Control your emotions, and smile while talking to others. This approach will make you look like a more positive person.
- Be positive, irrespective of the circumstances, and always look at the positive side.
- Listen first. Always listen to respond not to reply.
- Be more self-aware. Always self-analyze yourself.
- Take feedback from your trusted colleagues, friends, and seniors.
- Indulge in continuous learning and improvement.
Interpersonal skills require continual practice and improvement. Having a positive attitude towards people and their feedback helps us improve ourselves. Not only does it help to succeed on an individual level, but it also helps teams grow and stay together. Strong people skills allow you to connect with people on a deeper level, leading to better professional and personal experiences.
