Interpersonal skills are the life skills we use everyday to communicate and interact with other people, both individually and in groups. These skills are significant not just in our workplace, but also in our personal and social lives. People with good interpersonal skills are usually perceived as optimistic, calm and confident and are often endearing or appealing to others. Following is a list of interpersonal skills required for an impressive personality.
Verbal Communication: This deals with what we speak and how we speak. Audibility, clarity, politeness, composure, focus, courteousness and sensibility are the major ingredients.
Non-Verbal Communication: It means communication without words. The key aspects include posture, gesture, body language, eye contact and facial expressions. These factors get noticed by others quite easily. Individuals with effective non-verbal communication can almost subliminally reinforce their verbal ideas.
Listening skills: It is the ability to interpret both verbal and non-verbal messages sent by others. Quite different from hearing, listening is the patience quotient which underlies all forms of communication. A patient listener is a good speaker, as listening enables absorption of words, contemplation of thoughts and cognisance of views.
Negotiating skills: It is about working with others to find a mutually agreeable outcome. Initiated with the art of proper, qualitative, open, broad, questioning it displays your smartness and your approach towards problems. This is followed by a mutual negotiable talk to reach a valid sensible conclusion.
Etiquette: Manners define a person, and good manners tend to overpower other interpersonal skills naturally, thus impacting your overall business and career.
Problem solving attitude: The key aspect to a successful problem solving approach is the ability to exactly identify the problem, dissect it to fully understand it, examine all options, followed by setting up a system of strategies and objectives to solve the problem, and finally put this plan into effect and monitor its progress.
Decision-making and self management: The ability to analyse and reach a concrete decision is a significant interpersonal skill, signifying strong and sound personality. Self-management shows emotional intelligence and allows control over emotions like controlling anger, hiding frustration, exuding calmness and remaining composed even in most disturbing situations.
Social Awareness: It exhibits one’s outlook, and testifies to the ability to respond to a social situation, thus elevating the person’s standing in the community.
Responsibility and Accountability: These are indicators of maturity. Keeping commitments and ensuring action is a sign of responsibility, which builds trust between you and those relying on you, thus encouraging them to seek your counsel and assistance. Similarly, holding yourself accountable for your actions professionally and personally automatically establishes your leadership traits and enables you to evade conflicts.
Having a well-balanced repertoire of interpersonal skills allows one to handle any situation gracefully. Nobody is perfect, and honing these skills is forever a work in progress.
Paramita Mishra holds a PhD in Environmental Biology, and has been associated with teaching Communicative English and Personality Development for nine years now. She can be contacted at mishra.paramita@gmail.com