Interpersonal skill

• Interpersonal skills


  Sometimes referred to as social skills, people skills, soft skills, or life skills. The skills we use every day when we communicate and interact with other people, both individually and in groups. It includes a wide range of skills, but particularly communication skills such as listening and effective speaking. It also includes the ability to control and manage your emotions.
• People with strong interpersonal skills

  • Tend to be able to work well with other people, including in teams or groups, formally and informally
  • Communicate effectively with others, whether family, friends, colleagues, customers or clients
  • Have better relationships at home and at work
• Components of interpersonal skills

  • Communication skills
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Team-working
  • Negotiation, persuasion and influencing skills
  • Conflict resolution and mediation
  • Problem solving and decision-making
• Verbal Communication


  What we say and how we say it
• Non-Verbal Communication


  What we communicate without words, for example through body language, or tone of voice
• Listening Skills


  How we interpret both the verbal and non-verbal messages sent by others
• Emotional intelligence


  Being able to understand and manage your own and others' emotions
• Team-working


  Being able to work with others in groups and teams, both formal and informal
• Negotiation, persuasion and influencing skills


  Working with others to find a mutually agreeable (Win/Win) outcome
• Conflict resolution and mediation


  Working with others to resolve interpersonal conflict and disagreements in a positive way
• Problem solving and decision-making


  Working with others to identify, define and solve problems, which includes making decisions about the best course of action
• Interpersonal Attraction

  • Proximity: the nearness of individuals due to geographical setting
  • Similar characteristics and complementing similar or difference values will attract each other
  • Competent: The good quality such as intelligence, strength, social skills and education attracts people
  • Physical appearance: good physical appearance may reflect the good quality of an individual
  • Like each other: people who like each other tends to be more close
• Self-esteem


  The individual's perception of themselves
• Self-awareness


  A state in which one is aware of oneself as an object, much as one might be aware of a tree or another person. Involves becoming aware of one's personal characteristics such as values, attitudes, prejudices, beliefs, assumptions, feelings, personal motives, competencies, skills and limitations. About finding out about one's self.
• Assertiveness


  Enable an individual to express oneself with confidence, without the inappropriate use of aggressive, passive or manipulative behaviour. Use 'I' statement as opposed to 'you' or 'them'.
• Assertiveness techniques


  • Saying 'no' (Repeat 'no' back to the person, stay calm, keep the same tone of voice and avoid giving in to pressure)
  • Fogging (Coping with criticism from colleagues. Listen closely to what the person is saying and acknowledge that there may be some truth in it)
  • Negative assertion (Accept that you have made a mistake and agree with the criticism)
  • Negative inquiry (Follow-up the perceived criticism with a specific prompt to find out about the criticism)
• Importance of Interpersonal Skills


  • Interpersonal skills matter because none of us lives in a bubble. Good interpersonal skills 'oil the wheels' of these interactions, making them smoother and pleasanter for all those involved. They allow us to build better and longer-lasting relationships, both at home and at work.
• Interpersonal skills at home

  Good interpersonal skills help you to communicate more effectively with family and friends, particularly with your partner/family (e.g. giving and receiving feedback effectively can help resolve small problems before they become big issues)
• Interpersonal skills at work


  You are required to communicate with and interact with a wide range of people, from suppliers and customers through to your immediate colleagues, colleagues further afield, your team and your manager. Your ability to do so effectively can make the difference between a successful working life, and one spent wondering what went wrong. Interpersonal skills are particularly important in healthcare provision (e.g. listening to and talking to patients and their families, giving bad news sensitively).
• How to develop interpersonal skills

  1. Identify areas for improvement (develop self-knowledge, seek feedback)

  2. Focus on basic communication skills (listening, verbal and non-verbal communication)

  3. Improve advanced communication skills (understand communication barriers, handle difficult conversations)

  4. Look inwards (develop positive attitude, manage stress, be assertive, improve emotional intelligence)

  5. Use and practice interpersonal skills in particular situations (group work, negotiation, persuasion, conflict resolution, problem-solving)

  6. Reflect on experience and improve (e.g. keep a reflective journal)
• Communication


  The act of transferring information from one place to another, using vocal, written, visual or non-verbal means, or a combination of these.
• Communication, at its simplest, is the act of transferring information from one place to another.
• Developing and improving interpersonal skills

  1. Develop the habit of self-reflection

  2. Take time to think about conversations and interpersonal interactions

  3. Learn from mistakes and successes

  4. Continue to develop
• Keeping a diary or learning journal


  Writing in it each week
• Gibbs reflective cycle


  Description<|>Feelings<|>Evaluation<|>Analysis<|>Conclusion<|>Action plan
• Communication


  The act of transferring information from one place to another
• Ways of communicating

  • Vocally (using voice)
  • Written (using printed or digital media)
  • Visually (using logos, maps, charts or graphs)
  • Non-verbally (using body language, gestures and the tone and pitch of voice)
• Communication skills


  • Being able to communicate effectively is perhaps the most important of all life skills
  • It enables us to pass information to other people, and to understand what is said to us
• Types of communication

  • One way communication
  • Two-way communication
• One way communication


  Closed-ended<|>Communicator is in control<|>Can take place more easily when doing something else<|>When under pressure to do lots of tasks
• Two-way communication


  Opportunity for the receiver to clarify<|>Open questioning<|>Communication is 55% body language, 38% tone and 7% words
• Types of communication

  • Verbal communication
  • Non-verbal communication
• Verbal communication


  The use of words and sounds to express yourself to another person
• Non-verbal communication


  All behaviours that help us to understand a message, without the use of a verbal language, which is experienced consciously and unconsciously every time people interact
• Factors in non-verbal communication

  • Facial expression
  • Gaze
  • Gesture
  • Body movement
  • Posture
  • Touch
  • Spatial behaviour
  • Clothing
  • Appearance
• Micro-skill of attending and listening


  Squarely face person vs. sitting kitty-corner<|>Use open posture vs. crossed arms and legs<|>Lean a little toward the person vs. settling back in your chair<|>Use eye contact vs. staring off into deep space<|>Relax, keep it natural vs. sitting like a board<|>Look friendly vs. neutral or scowling
• Seating arrangements


  • Different height position
  • Same height position
  • Confrontational seating
  • Cooperative seating
  • Side-by-side seating
  • Communicative seating
  • Mixed seating
• Verbal techniques


  • Paraphrasing
  • Summarising
  • Para-linguistic
  • Speech becoming rapid and highly pitched
  • Speech becoming slow and lower pitch
  • Speech becoming abrupt
• Communication across lifespan

  • Children
  • Adolescent
  • Middle age
  • Older adulthood
• Communication skills for children

  Maintain eye contact<|>Approach the child in a gentle and calm manner<|>Use play therapy, story telling and other strategies to understand the child's experience<|>Encourage expression of feeling and fears<|>Listen attentively<|>Use words understandable by the child and parents<|>Use age appropriate dialogue<|>Avoid defensive with parents<|>Validate assumptions about non-verbal communication