When it comes to the workplace, you will find that recruiters often value interpersonal skills above anything else, and with good reason. When it comes to the workspace, interpersonal skills and, by extension, soft skills are not just important but crucial to the organization. You need to read on if you are wondering why interpersonal skills are important.
The query, “Why are interpersonal skills important?” is open-ended. For example, when it comes to the workspace/ office, colleagues need to be able to communicate and interact with each other.
And with the right amount of interpersonal skills, you should be able to do it effectively. With these skills, you should be able to perform better and boost your career. And that’s why it is time to take a closer look at why interpersonal skills are important in the office.
- Verbal communication:
When it comes to interpersonal skills at the office, you will find that verbal communication ranks right at the top and with good reason. Each company can person well only as long as its employees can do likewise.
And that’s only possible with effective communication and the workforce being in sync with each other. Let’s say you have employees who dislike each other to the point of not communicating directly. Now, you have assigned a vast project that requires them to communicate often.
What would happen under such a scenario? The project would falter and fail due to a lack of adequate communication. And that should underscore that verbal and non-verbal communication is crucial to an organization’s performance.
- Active Listening:
When was the last time you listened actively to someone at the office? A while back, right? That’s not good. When it comes to your performance, you would be surprised to learn that it all comes down to active listening and how well you have bothered to listen to others. By paying attention and listening, you learn about their preferences, likes, dislikes, and more.
Moreover, the fact that you bothered to spend time listening to others will endear them to you. And this should make it even easier to communicate in the long run.
- Non-verbal communication:
When it comes to the office, you will learn that non-verbal communication is just as important as verbal communication. For example, it could be something as simple as your facial expression or just nodding, smiling, and showing all indications of relaxation. As you can see, signs of non-verbal communication are just as vital, if not more, than verbal communication.
Think about it; sometimes, you would mutter “congratulations” to the other person, shake their hand, grit and grind your teeth. But if you display all indications of displeasure, a person apt at reading facial expressions should not have much difficulty reading yours.
- Empathy:
Empathy is a handy skill when it comes to reading others’ emotions, facial expressions, and current moods. While empathy enables you to get a read on others ideally, it allows you to analyze verbal and non-verbal expressions.
With empathy, you should get a better read on how others feel, the scope of their current emotions, and more. And this should enable you to make critical decisions after you have obtained a better read on how others feel.
- Conflict resolution:
One of the office’s critical interpersonal skills is conflict resolution. It is but natural for office colleagues to spar with each other. That’s only natural. And when that happens, you can get both parties in a room, sit them down and get them to resolve the issue right away.
The way to go about it would be for both parties to list the problem, seek their opinion, make the right decision and end the conflict. It is essential that you end the conflict rather than let it fester. Doing so should provide your career with a much-needed boost as well.
- Teamwork:
The other critical interpersonal skill is the ability to work together as a single team. Companies often land massive projects; naturally, they would like the workforce to work as a team and wrap up the project in QuickTime.
With the right interpersonal skills on board, you should be able to work cohesively with the rest of your team. Moreover, you should be able to wrap up the project faster and just as you wanted.
This op-ed should clarify that interpersonal skills are crucial to everyone. It is, especially regarding your interpersonal skills at the office. Good luck!
