Why Well Developed Interpersonal Skills Make You an Indispensable Asset for Any Company
Becoming indispensable to your employer has all sorts of benefits. From securing job stability to justifying promotions and raises, there are lots of reasons to make yourself an asset.
There are lots of ways to go about this, such as throughout role-specific training and education. However, building on broader abilities is also advantageous in this context.
This is where having well developed interpersonal skills will stand you in good stead. But what does this actually mean, and why will it matter to your current company or a prospective employer?
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Interpersonal skills explained
The concept of interpersonal skills is a pretty expansive one. It basically encompasses the ways in which you engage with other people.
In a work environment, this includes how you communicate both on a one-to-one basis, as well as in a team scenario.
This idea can even extend to include things like how well you can express yourself from an emotional standpoint. Whether you let your feelings get the better of you, or stay calm and collected, is an interpersonal matter.
It might sound like interpersonal skills are innate; you either have them, or you don’t. This is neither accurate nor helpful, as anyone can acquire well developed interpersonal skills; it just takes time and effort.
Succeeding at work
Whether you are a freelancer or part of a large team, having well developed interpersonal skills matters a lot. This is also applicable across virtually every industry, although there are some in which they have a bigger impact.
Any role that requires you to deal with customers will call upon your interpersonal abilities to thrive. You won’t get far in everything from waiting tables to marketing and sales without excellent communication skills.
Even jobs which aren’t typically seen as being impacted by this are changing rapidly. Software developers are the perfect example. As brands grow, cross-department interactions are important to the success of the whole company.
So developers need to be technically literate and also able to translate what they do so non-technical colleagues can understand.
It’s essentially about a combination of clarity and compassion. Whether you work in finance or healthcare, HR or home improvements, well developed interpersonal skills will endear you to decision-makers. It’s very much a part of shaping the future of belonging in the workplace, as the JobSage team states.
No employee is an island, and if you can’t communicate with others, you’ll become isolated. This will hamper your productivity and make you seem dispensable. Yet if you are the life and soul of the team, your value will go well beyond basic performance measurements.
Exploring interpersonal skills in depth
Hopefully you now have an idea of what interpersonal skills are and why they matter. But you can only improve and develop them if you know more about the specifics. Let’s go over a few of the major attributes that fall under this umbrella to get the ball rolling.
Communication Skills
It might seem like this is an interchangeable term, whereas it really only covers one aspect of the wider gamut of well developed interpersonal skills.
Communication skills cover how we express ourselves to others, including the words we choose, our tone and our body language.
Good communicators aren’t just silver-tongued flatterers; they also have good listening skills. Letting others speak, and more importantly being able to interpret their intended meaning, makes you a good listener.
Emotional intelligence
This ties in with communication capabilities, but focuses on having a solid comprehension of your emotions, and those of others.
If you are emotionally intelligent, you will get on better in teams because you can read emotional cues from colleagues. Likewise you will have a thorough understanding of yourself, and use this to wrangle your mental state proactively.
Again, it might sound as if emotional intelligence is innate and unchangeable. Luckily it is a skill we can work on to make ourselves valuable to employers, and better people overall.
Teamwork
Almost every type of business involves teamwork in some shape or form. This could be within specifically defined groups, or it could be in a loser sense, such as between departments. It might even encompass projects involving third parties, whether they are clients, business partners or contractors.
Being a team player in any of these scenarios is a must. This in itself will combine the other skills mentioned here, along with an appreciation of what makes teams effective. In turn, it will make you a better leader when the time comes.
Applying influence
Interpersonal skills are not all altruistic; they can also mean getting your way in the workplace. Developing the ability to negotiate and persuade others, using your influence as an individual, is key to good communication.
Obviously this should not come at the expense of team cohesion, or the emotions of colleagues. But just because you are empathetic, that doesn’t mean you have to be a walkover.
The correct application of influence can let you steer projects without this becoming a bone of contention. It also means finding outcomes which benefit everyone.
Conflict resolution
In every relationship, whether in the workplace or in your personal life, conflicts will arise. A successful communicator can navigate these points of friction and return teams to calmer waters.
Good conflict resolution is about more than getting the involved parties to apologize. You need to ensure disagreements are dealt with positively, so that they are less likely to flare up in future.
Of course you don’t need to dive into every workplace kerfuffle, especially if this is not expected of your role. But if you can do so as an effective mediator, then decision-makers will take notice.
Problem solving
Overlapping with teamwork skills, your problem solving abilities are a demonstration of interpersonal skills with obvious business benefits.
Part of this is being able to pinpoint problems in the first place, then tackling them with the involvement of teammates.
It’s also about seeing the right path forward when faced with an obstacle, and having the awareness to share this.
Connected to this is the giving and receiving of feedback without causing hurt or feeling personally attacked. And of course the more problems you solve for your employer, the more valuable you will be to them.
Ways to develop interpersonal skills
Now that you know which kinds of skills are covered by the banner of ‘interpersonal’, working on them is wise. But how to go about this?
Find your blind spots
You can’t make improvements if you don’t know what you’re doing wrong right now. And when it comes to interpersonal skills, the simplest option is to ask friends, family and colleagues.
It might be daunting to get feedback on how well you communicate from people who are important to you. However, this is better than blundering on without wondering how your behavior impacts others.
Start small
Once you know where there is room to improve your impersonal skills, pick simpler elements to work on.
The most common blind spot that needs addressing in lots of people is the ability to listen. Doing this effectively is not just keeping quiet and letting others have their say, but actually hearing them.
For example, you need to be able to read between the lines. If a colleague says ‘I’m fine with the deadline’ but their body language says otherwise, detecting this is helpful.
Comprehensive studies into human listening habits reveal interesting facts about how we listen, and why some are better than others.
We can get distracted because our brains process information far quicker than our mouths form words. So there’s leftover capacity when you’re listening, and our minds can wander.
An engaged and attentive listener will know how to direct their thoughts towards what’s being said to them. You can do this by anticipating where the speaker is going with their point, or summarizing what they’ve said.
You can also look for the aforementioned non-verbal cues which help when communicating at work or at home.
Straightforward exercises like this will give you tangible benefits to your interpersonal skills in no time. So by starting small, you will have the motivation to dig deeper and sort out other shortcomings.
Learn what inhibits good communication
Being aware of the things that can get in the way of clear, honest, effective communication at work is half the battle. Interpersonal experts know the external and internal factors that weigh on this, and aim to avoid them.
External factors can be simple, such as being unable to read non-verbal cues because the speaker is out of sight. This has become more common in the age of virtual meetings, where bad connections and dodgy webcams are unavoidable.
There are also barriers within us that need to be overcome if we want to communicate well. This might be as a result of a topic of conversation or a direction of discussion that triggers emotional responses. It might be the role our prejudices play in shaping our interpretation of others.
Anger, stress, fear and frustration can derail us, even if we are usually good communicators. So sometimes you need to address the causes of these factors in order to make progress.
Examine your attitude
So far much of what we have talked about has involved looking outwards. It certainly helps to have empathy and awareness of the signals that others are giving off. But you also need to shine a spotlight on how you present yourself.
There is a tricky balance to strike between unearned confidence and assertiveness. It is equally important to avoid being overly passive, or veering to any emotional extreme.
Consider the attributes you find attractive in others. Positivity is probably close to the top of the list, because positive people are better to be around. This goes double for professional settings, so shape your attitude to reflect what you’d want to see in colleagues.
Practice skills and analyze your performance
As you can see, a raft of different skills can be considered as interpersonal. The best way to develop them is to put them into practice, and then reflect on what you achieved.
In scenarios where teamwork is required you will have ample opportunities for this. Just be sure to look carefully at your role and what is expected of you. Tuning into how your behavior and input influences team members will make this experience informative and rewarding.
Whether you scrutinize non-verbal cues, resolve conflicts positively, negotiate mutually agreeable outcomes, solve problems or anything else, it all helps.
Likewise if you make an effort and still make mistakes, this is all a learning opportunity. Nothing is wasted if you analyze each scenario and aim to do better in future.
Investigate opportunities for development outside work
It is worth remembering that you do not need to rely on office interactions to develop your interpersonal skills. Since these skills are applicable to your personal life and relationships, this is a fertile training ground.
Obviously it is good manners to talk to friends and family about your intentions before using them as guinea pigs. With their permission, tackling problems, having debates and overcoming issues can be instructive.
Furthermore if you find your interpersonal skills have made you invaluable to your employer, your home life will benefit too. It really is a win-win for everyone.
Final thoughts
Workplace stress has never been higher, rising by a fifth over the past 30 years. This dizzying statistic is down to many factors, but seeking job stability and satisfaction through interpersonal skills could save us.
The biggest mistake you can make is to assume that you are already on top of this. It’s not just a claim you can make on your resume without being able to back it up.
Modern employers look for people who will fit in with a positive company culture. Good interpersonal skills matter more than ever because of this.
It is a good start to be self-aware enough to know you might need to make improvements. And while some will find it easier than others, this should not stop even the most dedicated introverts from changing.
This is not just about becoming an asset for your employer today, but about forming foundations for your entire career.
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