The importance of interpersonal skills training
One of the defining factors of the human mind is how diversely it thinks. The ideas, opinions, and perspectives are so unique that there is a constant need to express yourself freely.
When you are in a group, how will you ensure that there is a holistic sharing of ideas, whether verbal or non-verbal, between people? This factor becomes increasingly important in a professional environment. The interpersonal skills required to communicate with a group for productive discussions can be developed through interpersonal skills training. In this article, we discuss interpersonal skills and their significance in the workplace.
Understanding interpersonal skills
Have you ever come across the term soft skills? Soft skills or interpersonal skills are the skills you use when communicating with people. When you indulge in a conversation, there is a need to convey your message accurately and understand what others are trying to say. Multi-directional communication needs to be done effectively with the help of interpersonal skills. If you are wondering what comes under the category of soft skills, here are a few elements:
- Teamwork
- Responsibility
- Leadership
- Patience
- Empathy
- Conflict resolution
- Negotiation
As you can see from the examples above, most interpersonal skills involve communication, which is why it is also known as people skills. Now, let us discuss why interpersonal skills are given so much importance.
Significance of interpersonal skills
Communication is something we cannot avoid as a human living in a society. We often find ourselves working and interacting with groups of people at home, at work, and even on the road.
To have a prospering professional life, communication must be your strong suit. People skills must be developed in order to avoid misunderstandings and convey messages correctly. It will also help to build healthy relationships with your friends, family, colleagues, and customers. You will be automatically drawn to someone with good people skills as they will be very attentive when you speak and respond with interest.
The importance of interpersonal skills does not end there. In an interview, recruiters evaluate a candidate based on their soft skills since it is important in the corporate world. Dealing with new clients and partners is a huge responsibility. A company would prefer employees with good interpersonal skills to maintain positive relationships with clients.
If you wish to improve your interpersonal skills, you can join an interpersonal skills training course. Many institutes provide such training to educate people in dealing with people and communicating effectively. Here are some of the benefits of joining a training course to develop your interpersonal skills.
- Verbal communication
The ability to speak confidently and convey the right message to the listener is not an insignificant skill. Many people nowadays lack such an ability due to various internal and external factors. So, there is a conscious need to develop verbal communication skills to converse with people at work.
The workplace is a formal environment where you will have to interact with your co-workers, bosses, and junior associates. No matter what level of job the person is at, respect is the primary requirement. Every conversation you have must be respectful, without the use of indecent language or abusive tone.
Speaking formally when required and adjusting your tones are necessary. To develop positive verbal communication, interpersonal skills training would be really useful.
- Non-verbal communication
If you think language is the only matter to be careful about in communication, then you are wrong. The gestures you use, hand expressions, and your overall body posture – all of them have a significant impact on your interpersonal skills.
When you are in a meeting, keeping a straight face is not a good choice. You respond by nodding, or some form of movement to substantiate that you are actively listening. Just like using words, expressions and other aspects of non-verbal communication also can have a huge role in determining how the conversation would flow.
Using decent gestures, nods of approval and a smiling face are all considered acceptable forms of non-verbal communication. A person would benefit by avoiding the usage of gestures like crossed arms, eye-rolling, etc. To know more about the dos and don’ts in non-verbal communication, an interpersonal skills training class would be quite useful.
- Active listening
How long can you listen to a person speak or present a topic? The attention span of people varies based on their level of interest, among other factors. Active listening is described as the capability of an individual to stay fully attentive to someone when they speak. It also includes a complete understanding of the subject matter being discussed.
When you are talking to someone in person, zoning out is not an option. Even if the topic being discussed least interests you, it is respectful to listen and give non-verbal responses. There is no rule that you should respond with words. A simple nod, eye contact, or other non-verbal cues would do the job.
Active listening also involves asking questions. This acts as evidence that you listened to the topic being discussed. In a workplace, different types of communication are initiated at a time. Conveying all of them without mistakes will ensure that there are no misunderstandings anywhere. For this, active listening is a crucial skill to have.
- Conflict resolution
Disagreements and conflicts are common in workplaces. But when such a situation comes, handling it well requires effective soft skills. The people involved in the conflict will be your colleagues. Raising your arguments with respect, in a way to show them your point of view is significant.
Skills of negotiation, conflict resolution, and persuasion help to understand the conflicts better. Resolving the issue takes patience and a positive mindset. Good skills for conflict resolution are hence sought-after by many companies. Also, someone who keeps their cool during arguments and does not try to shout or disrespect the people involved is desirable on every occasion.
- Teamwork
No matter what kind of work you do, being in a team and working together will be a part of your job profile at least once. But if you do not have people skills, how will you get along with the team? This is where you need to develop your skills by joining interpersonal skills training classes.
When you learn to communicate well with a group of people, you will be able to discuss and decide important matters more easily. With minimum conflicts, there will be more productive work. A team would have to work towards completing the task at hand on time, in the best way possible. They need to divide the roles and handle feedback constructively. These skills need to be mastered for a smooth functioning of the team.
Even team meetings for project briefs need to be handled with a lot of care to include everyone and provide an environment for open discussions. Such an environment would guarantee better productivity.
Final Overview
Orator academy is focused on developing the much-needed interpersonal skills for interested candidates through their holistic interpersonal skills training classes. They aim to develop a lot of people skills in an individual to ensure maximum benefit through healthy verbal and non-verbal communication.
If you wish to improve your people skills, now is as good a time as any. Do not hesitate to get the right coaching you need to improve your skills at the workplace.
