Chapter 7

While communication, in general, is considered a vital interpersonal skill due to its function in building relationships, we’ll look at understanding and developing other specific interpersonal skills in this chapter and the remaining chapters within this unit. Specifically, we’ll discuss listening, giving and receiving feedback, conflict management, communicating bad news (or news in a crisis), teamwork, and leadership.

Interpersonal skills are useful in the workplace because they help you work to achieve organizational goals alongside others. These skills, often termed “soft skills” (aka organizational skills, critical social skills, essential skills), help individuals function as part of an organizational unit on many levels: peer-to-peer, leader-to-subordinate, etc. Don’t let the term “soft skills” dissuade you from realizing their importance, as the origin of this term is derived from US Army training manuals in 1972 regarding anything that did not involve machinery, a “hard skill” or technical skill (Parlamis & Monnot, 2019).

Active listening involves fully engaging and understanding someone when they speak. We listen every day, or so we think, but there are many ways to listen in different contexts. Here we’ll discuss the ways we naturally go about listening.

Conflict management skills are also critical in the workplace since people don’t think or act in the same ways, and it’s a good thing they don’t. Some of the best ideas can come out of conflict, and respectful conflict can help teams avoid groupthink. Before discussing conflict, though, we’ll dive into giving and receiving feedback. Feedback can help us see our blind spots, address unknown inadequacies or missteps, and help prevent unnecessary conflict. Feedback is often needed to keep people and processes performing optimally. Understanding best practices for giving and receiving feedback can prevent resentment and save valuable time and resources.

But what if something goes wrong and you have to deliver bad news? Understanding how to deliver this news can help the audience best receive the news and build/save relationships with both internal and external audiences (stakeholders).

In a recent Forbes article, Brower (2023) discusses how interpersonal skills can help set you apart from other job candidates. Specifically, self-awareness, communication, collaboration, conflict management, leadership, and attitude can help you get a job and also build a strong career. As you learn about each of the topics in this text, consider how you are building self-awareness and developing attitudes about various aspects of the workplace. Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes (KSAs) are often what Human Resources (HR) and hiring managers look for (Werner & DeSimone, 2011).

References:

Brower, T. (2023, August 22). Interpersonal skills: What they are and why they’re important to get hired. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2023/08/22/interpersonal-skills-what-they-are-and-why-theyre-important-to-getting-hired/?sh=ac463de4995c 

Indeed Editorial Team. (2023, September 28). Interpersonal communication and its importance at work. Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/importance-of-interpersonal-communication 

Parlamis, J., & Monnot, M. J. (2019). Getting to the CORE: Putting an end to the term “Soft Skills”. Journal of Management Inquiry, 28(2), 225-227. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492618818023 

Werner, J. M., & DeSimone, R. L. (2011). Human resource development (6th ed.). Cengage Learning.