BEING THE PROFESSIONAL WORKER (4)

Developing Solid Interpersonal Skills

It’s our last post in the series on Becoming a Professional Worker, and we’ve just about covered every basic thing you’d need to know. If you missed any of the posts, you can always go back, and I recommend you start from the beginning and proceed sequentially. Last time, we started on our soft skills series, and we talked about personal soft skills. A lot of people got new insight and we’re delighted about that. In this post, we conclude on what makes you a better team player, on how you can not only improve yourself, but also improve others around you while building meaningful relationships.

We’d cover just five of such skills, if you need more info, you let us know:

1. Communication

Communication is the active exchange of information between two parties. This could be direct or indirect. Your talking, writing, listening, and reading are all ways of communication. Communication isn’t just about words; there is also a lot of communication in your body language and facial expressions. This includes eye contact, gesture, voice tone, pitch, and posture. In fact, your words could be undone by your nonverbal stance. 

An effective communicator speaks and writes clearly, conveys approachability in their body language, pays attention to what others are saying, and respects differing perspectives.

There are 7 C’s that make up effective communication. They are:

Clear - main ideas are easy to identify and understand. 
Concise - to the point without using unneeded words or images.
Concrete - includes specific examples or explanations.
Correct - in information, word choice and grammar.
Coherent - information presented in a logical sequence.
Complete - provides enough information so the audience can understand.
Courteous - polite and professional.

If you can apply these, be sure that in no time, you would be the default choice for engaging conversations.

2. Empathy

Empathy is your ability to understand, be aware of, be able to relate with, and be sensitive to, the feelings, thoughts, and experience of someone else without going through the experience or having the thoughts yourself.

Empathy requires that you see life from the perspective of your team member at that point in time and that you are able to relate with what the person thinks or is passing through. A person with a poor sense of empathy would be a horrible team player, and would impede team growth and productivity. They are usually people of a fixed mind-set who are either focused on themselves or on mundane traditions.

Having empathical listeners on your team would always boost productivity and such listeners turn out to make great leaders.

How to listen empathically

Being a present and caring listener takes practice. Here are some steps you can take to build your empathic listening skills: 

a. Create a comfortable space for sharing

b. Acknowledge the speaker’s feelings

c. Pay attention to body language 

d. Let them guide the conversation

e. Wait to speak 

f. Be encouraging

3. Teamwork

Teamwork is working with a group of people to achieve success in a common goal. Individuals bring together their resources, ideas, and connections to work towards achieving collective success.

Teamwork is crucial in accomplishing tasks that may not be achievable otherwise and it is essential for the growth of any business. It brings out the best in team members and reduces obstacles. It also helps foster relationships among members which could be mutually beneficial in the future.

A healthy team is more motivated, has more fun, improves skill sharing, saves time, reduces fear and stress, increases creativity and communication.

4. Open-mindedness

Open-mindedness is the ability to be less judgmental and more inquisitive, introspective and considerate. Open-minded people may be viewed as more honest and reliable since they tend to consider multiple perspectives before reaching a decision.

An open-minded person is open to criticism, to new opinions, and is focused more on doing things right than on being right. A person like this is a good listener and is keen to see value in the suggestions of others. Working with an open-minded person would always leave you feeling valued and better about yourself.

To be more open-minded, you should try the following:

a. Be a good listener

b. Ask questions

c. Identify your biases

d. Think positively

e. Develop your sense of empathy

f. Be open to learning always

g. Make new connections

h. Join new groups and interact

For more on being open-minded, visit Indeed for this awesome post.

5. Willingness to Learn

A willingness to learn is the desire to gain knowledge and develop skills to improve your work performance. Employees who demonstrate a willingness to learn are typically always searching for new opportunities to stay ahead of modern trends, achieve professional goals and complete more challenging tasks. Showing that you're willing to learn tells employers that you're a hardworking, driven and motivated team member.

A person who is willing to learn is one who has a growth mind-set, focused on acquiring new knowledge and skills. Willingness to learn is beneficial to the individual and the team; as such a person easily becomes the go-to person for new ideas, methods, and innovations and is more likely to be an active team member or a leader.

The following are ways to show willingness to learn:

a. Ask a lot of questions

b. Look for opportunities to learn new skills

c. Be open to research

d. Stay updated on emerging trends in your sector

e. Be curious about happenings outside of your field

For more on willingness to learn, check out this post on Indeed.

 

So, that’s about that on being a professional worker, for now. We’d come to this some other time, but for now, study and practice what you’ve learnt.

Stay smart!