If you’re not a good communicator, it can be hard to get the job done. Your boss may never know about your ideas for improving the workplace because they don’t have time to listen.
Interpersonal skills are as important as technical skills to grow steadily in your career.
These skills include communication and relationship-building skills that can improve your career progression.
However, many professionals do not have the desired interpersonal skills and face trouble in their career growth. Considering this, we are here to list some ways to develop interpersonal skills for every professional.
Following these steps will help you improve your personality and will eventually help you a lot in your career growth.
Be a Good Listener
Being a good listener is one of the most important skills you can develop. You’ll want to ask questions, not interrupt, judge, or make assumptions about what someone else has said.
It’s important not to be afraid of asking for clarification if something doesn’t make sense right away.
But above all else: listen carefully! It will help build trust between yourself and others so they feel comfortable telling you their stories, making you a receptive interviewee!
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You must understand what someone’s saying so that you can provide accurate feedback (or even just give them a thumbs up!).
Make eye contact as it shows confidence and sincerity, which are both very attractive qualities in an interviewee.
Build Your Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is the first step to developing your interpersonal skills.
It helps you identify what you’re good at, and what you can improve on and also helps build a strong foundation for building an effective communication style that works for you. Better communication skills will help you to learn how to sell.
The following are some important questions to ask yourself:
- What are my strengths?
- What are my weaknesses?
- Where do I need to improve to become more effective in interactions with others?
- How can I be more likable if this is important for my job role or personal life (e.g., being liked by colleagues)?
Evaluating yourself can be the best way to work on what you think are your weaknesses. Doing so will help you bring about meaningful changes for yourself.
To take it a step further, you can try journaling your thoughts and track the qualities that you want to improve.
You need not do this alone! Take help from friends and family by asking them to evaluate your interpersonal skills and point out improvement opportunities.
Be Confident and Positive
As an applicant, you have to make sure that you deliver your answers smoothly so that you appear confident and ready to take on the role you are applying for.
If a candidate has good knowledge about the job but makes mistakes during their interview because they are nervous or unsure of themselves, then it may not help them get shortlisted in the end.
Applicants need to show enthusiasm when attending interviews because enthusiasm shows confidence, which will help you present yourself better.
In addition to that, being confident takes away the jitters, and even if you are nervous, you will be able to handle the interview much better!
The same goes for disagreeing with other people’s opinions – it shows that you respect your views and value them enough to bring them up with superiors at work.
Keep in mind that you are not rude or dismissive of others’ opinions and that you are respectful while contradicting. Verbiage matters.
The key to being an effective interviewee is having the ability to listen and ask good questions. This will help you get a better understanding of what the company is about and what your role entails.
Along with that, you can find out about company culture and past projects, and maybe even find out where you can contribute.
Asking questions is the easiest way to show that you are interested and keen to join the role.
Keep Stress Under Control
Stress is a normal part of life, but you can also learn how to manage it. Stressful situations are caused by many factors, such as work stress or personal relationships.
You may be under stress because you have too much on your plate, could be anything at all.
Letting this stress get to you can cause you more stress, making it a vicious cycle. Not only will it affect the quality of your work but your interactions with other people.
There are many ways to deal with stress: You can practice relaxation techniques such as meditation and deep breathing exercises, do regular fitness activities, sleep well at night, eat well-balanced meals, spend quality time with loved ones, get enough sunlight during the day, and make time for hobbies!
Work on Your Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. It is a skill that can be learned and developed.
The emotional intelligence of an employee can make or break team dynamics. As grown adults, it is crucial to improve your emotional intelligence and improve your interactions with your workmates!
Learn self-awareness: There will be a million tasks for you to undertake as an employee. It is important to check in with yourself every now and then.
Doing so will help you acknowledge burnout and keep a sustainable work pattern.
While it is important to know your weaknesses, it’s equally crucial that you know your strengths. Don’t stretch yourself too thin trying to get on tasks that you know will drain you.
Instead, learn how to delegate and take things off your plate when it’s weighing you down.
The first step to building emotional intelligence is to become more aware of your own emotions. You’ll have a better idea of what’s going on inside you if you can recognize when you’re feeling angry, sad, or happy.
This will help you understand yourself as well as others better.
Emotional intelligence in work can manifest itself as being compassionate towards coworkers if they are going through rough times.
Helping them out if you see them burnt out or overburdened with work. Lend an ear to them so that they are not overwhelmed by their issues.
Practice Communication
If you’re feeling uncertain about the best way to communicate with others, try out different communication styles until you find one that works for you.
For example, if you tend to be more assertive in your communication style and would like to be more passive, then practice being passive and see how it feels.
If someone gives you an assignment but turns out not to have time for it yourself or doesn’t have enough experience, try being direct so that they know what has to be done without having any doubts about whether they can do it themselves.
It’s about finding a way of communicating that works for both parties and helps to get the job done without creating any unnecessary tension.
Communication is not just important to talk to other people. When it comes to major tasks such as presenting topics or meeting with stakeholders, you must be capable of voicing your opinions with clarity.
Otherwise, it gets difficult for them to understand your point of view.
Speak Clearly
The first step is to become a better communicator by changing how you speak. To do this, try using a variety of tones and inflections in your voice, as well as pauses for effect.
Remember that body language can also be used to emphasize your message.
For example, if someone is talking about deep topics, it may be better for them to use hand gestures rather than just their mouth when talking about these topics because it will make them seem more passionate about what they are saying.
The same goes for facial expressions, they are an important non-verbal communication tool.
There are several tools online to help you improve your tone of voice during interviews. They will grade your performance based on industry standards and will help you improve your speaking skills.
Doing so will help you establish a great first impression on your interviewer.
Use Your Body Language
Body language is one of the most important parts of your communication. It can make or break a conversation, and it’s something that everyone notices.
- Use eye contact to show interest: Look at someone when you are talking to them, especially if there are other people around. This will convey that you are listening to what they have to say and that you care about what they have to say too!
- Sit up straight: Sit up straight in an office chair; this sends a message of confidence and poise, which can help boost your chances of getting shortlisted for jobs or promotions by making employers feel comfortable around you.
- Keep arms uncrossed: If possible, don’t cross your legs while sitting at work; this sends out bad signals because it suggests disrespect towards others (or even yourself!)
- Don’t do other tasks: While talking to someone, it is important to keep your phone aside and stop doing work to give them your undivided attention.
Keep a smile on your face: Smile when you see someone or say hello, even if it’s just a quick hello.
This can be the difference between being seen as friendly and approachable or seeming stuck up or unfriendly.
At the same time, if you want to seem confident and assertive, make sure that you keep your head held high and walk with purpose. Being meek and fidgety will make you seem less confident.
Develop Your Interpersonal Skills
Interpersonal skills are important to have in your life, and it’s possible to develop these skills through practice. You can either do it with friends and family or even use online tools to your aid.
- You can learn how to be a good listener by practicing with the people around you.
- You can also practice being confident with who you are and what you believe in, which will make others more open about talking about themselves or their ideas with you.
- Making routines will help you stick to a pattern and practice discipline
- Practice speaking so that your thoughts flow clearly and you can communicate your ideas without much effort
Conclusion
Interpersonal skills are a great way to improve your life in many ways.
There is no one way to be good at communicating with others, so don’t get stuck on one technique or style of speaking—you can mix and match them as much as you like!
Make sure that you are consistently trying, only then will you be able to reap the benefits of your efforts.
It is important to be confident in yourself and develop your interpersonal skills. You will find yourself unlocking your potential through your interactions with others.
