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What’s the secret sauce to success in the workplace? You might think it’s a fancy Ivy League degree or having years of experience on your resume. But it’s actually much simpler than that: The secret sauce lies in creating and maintaining relationships at work.
It isn’t easy! You want to keep people happy and not ruffle any feathers. You want to be firm but also be respected and understood by family, friends and colleagues. And you want to be open to others’ ideas, thoughts and actions.
It’s particularly important to have a good equation with your colleagues. Mutual trust and respect among team members always lead to effective teamwork. And this is where developing and improving your interpersonal skills becomes crucial.
Once you know where you stand in terms of your communication, you should focus on developing interpersonal skills. Monitoring your body language will ensure you’re not displaying aggression and are not distracted.
How you can develop communication skills:
- Practice active listening
- Be friendly with colleagues
- Practice leading presentations or meetings
- Be enthusiastic and engaged during conversations
- Be confident and approachable
Ways to Improve Interpersonal Skills with Examples
You must have seen your manager, team leader or even yourself display some skills from this list of top interpersonal skills:
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Self-confidence:
The right amount of self-confidence always opens the door to your dream career. Confidence helps you gain recognition and handle issues effectively.
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Listening skills:
Active listening is a skill that helps you understand and respond correctly to others’ ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Along with verbal communication, non-verbal signs can also help build trust among team members.
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Collaboration:
Being a team player always helps to work productively and achieve goals. And successful partnership often develops from communication, cooperation, and respect among team members. Wondered why a few of your colleagues are popular with the management or within the team? The answer is that they are exceptional team players who are always ready to help to meet organizational goals.
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Positive Attitude:
Being positive, even in difficult situations, is essential. Be mindful of what you say about your current or past employer, even though you feel strongly about it. Employees with an optimistic approach tend to treat others positively, which creates a more harmonious and encouraging work environment.
How to improve interpersonal skills
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Cultivate a positive work environment:
Everyone wants to be around a friendly person who remains positive, even in a difficult situation. You don’t always have to be incredibly social, but you must focus on developing a rapport with your team to keep the work environment positive.
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Recognize others’ expertise:
Letting your colleagues know that you value their skills is an excellent way to make them trust you. Show your interest by asking for their help on certain projects and tasks. Also, appreciate your peers when they’ve done a good job. (https://www.top5.com/)
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Become self-aware:
Being self-aware lets you understand more about your strengths, limitations, emotions, and actions. Once you understand how your words and actions affect people, you will be able to act more thoughtfully towards others.
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Be assertive:
Express your opinions firmly and confidently without disrespecting others’ views and needs. You earn people’s respect and trust if you’re assertive whilst communicating.
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Be mindful of your body language:
While your words send out a positive message, your body language might contradict your words. Your negative gestures and postures such as hunched shoulders and avoiding eye contact may suggest that you don’t have much confidence or trust in what you’re saying. Showing such negative gestures whilst listening to others might show your disinterest or passive behavior.
Strong and dependable personal and professional relationships are assets for a lifetime and you invest in them through your interpersonal skills. Harappa, with its meticulously designed courses, is here to help you. Develop and hone these life skills to build a strong foundation for professional as well as personal relationships. And you will reach new highs in your career.
Explore topics such as Interpersonal Skills, Interpersonal Communication and Interpersonal Skills in the Workplace from our Harappa Diaries blog section to ace your soft skills.
