In a job interview, your ability to prove your soft skills or interpersonal skills gives you an upper hand when professional documents are equal. The specific skill set demonstrates your ability to communicate and collaborate with your co-workers in a team or high-pressure work environment.
What are the interpersonal skills?
In simple terms, it’s the capacity to communicate, interact, network, and engage with people at a personal and group level. How do you ensure you maintain or gain excellent interpersonal skills for your professional toolbox?
- Accept your weakness and develop your strength.
- Practice the power of a positive attitude
- Accommodate your workmates despite their flaws
- Nurture the virtue of active listening as you nod in acceptance
- Always be confident
- Regularly connect with friends and colleagues
The specific interpersonal skills valuable for your work environment
- Communication proficiency
Practical jobs require an extrovert kind of speech while the keyboard (white-collar) jobs need introvert work relationships. In reality, dynamism in communication comes in handy.
You must know how to pass information in a friendly and professional manner. What your family and friends say about your level interaction bears the truth in your communication skills.
Moreover, how you interact with your colleagues and bosses says a lot about your personality. A manager in an IT firm uses online communication tools to pass information while a welder uses verbal speech to communicate to customers and fellow workmates.
Whether oral or written expression, your choice of words and tone speak volumes, for example, the IT manager must use polite language in the dissemination of information. Don’t shout in terms- CAPITAL LETTERS.
Conversely, a welder must apply an extremely user-friendly tone to explain the work of a MIG welder to a new worker. Imagine if he opts for a harsh sound in the onboarding process for a new employee. Are you sure this worker dreads to go to such a workplace?
- Conflict management
Conflict resolution is a day to day activity in any professional environment. It can be between staff members or between a boss and a junior officer or a client and a customer service assistant.
Either way, what is your choice of words to express a point? Are you able to control your emotions whether you are on the right or wrong? Can you afford a smile after the argument or the affected colleague is your permanent enemy?
How do you handle a case where the new colleague spoils the MIG welder in the process of working?
- Active listening
In a corporate environment, learn to listen to all manner of communication actively. Active listening involves nodding your head in agreement, repeating some sentiments as a way to seek assurance, and finally summarizing the whole conversation.
It’s reckless to interrupt in a conversation, and worse of it is talking about something else before completing the initial discussion. It doesn’t sound polite. In a job interview, human resource personnel keenly check on this virtue.
Take note, everyone attending the meeting is qualified. What then makes you fit for the job than other candidates? Active listening is a sign of compassion for the communicator.
- Negotiation
You aren’t in agreement with a specific decision either from your senior or junior colleague. How do you handle yourself at that point? Do you say yes, because it’s your boss for fear of contradiction? Or you agree in protest.
The latter proves viable negotiation skills. Allow your colleague to express their opinion. Table out yours too; because of the conflict of opinion, you practice proper negotiation skills for equal leverage in advice and ideas.
- Team spirit
Team spirit is a broad virtue that extends not only in dealing with colleagues but also with a vendor, customers, and suppliers. It’s a soft skill that dictates how managers look at junior colleagues and vice versa.
Why do corporate agencies go for team building activities? It provides a platform to understand each other. Accept one’s weakness and manage each other’s strengths to move the enterprise to another business level.
- Emotional intelligence
How do you carry out yourself at work when you have a rough time at home? Workmates must not have a glimpse of your negative emotions. That’s the power of emotional intelligence.
The ability to manage your emotions and bring out a bright face at work is one interpersonal skill that stirs your professional growth. If all colleagues decide to bring out their negative emotions at workplace; how will people embrace a team spirit?
Technically, it’s the end of the business. Seek better ways to calm down your feelings to maintain a good team spirit at work.
The six crucial interpersonal skills discussed above act as an armor of professional growth. Often practice them; once you notice a weakness in any of them, take time and meditate.
Look at the triggers for the benefit of your career development. A man is not an island; you must live in harmony with everybody.
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