INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
Social
intercourse is a two way street. Make sure you are driving on the right
side."
- Bryce's Law
INTRODUCTION
Interpersonal skills deal with the interpersonal relationships
and exchanges. People engage in conversation and correspondence, exchanging
information, ideas, and opinions on topics relating to their experience and
interests for example, current study, future plans, leisure-time activities.
People engage in oral and written exchanges related to sharing
experiences and problems, gaining information and knowledge, solving problems,
making arrangements, etc.
Some of
the formal interpersonal skills are Greeting,
Enquiring, Answering, Complementing etc.
1. GREET SOMEONE
Nobody wants to feel unwelcome or unappreciated. If they do,
they will feel like outcasts and less likely to help you with something. The objective of greeting is to make people
feel at home. This can be accomplished with a simple greeting or a firm
handshake while looking at the person directly in the eyes.
Say a Hello, utter a How are you, ask a How do you do?
It is easy to detect when a greeting is sincere or routine. Your
goal is to appear genuinely concerned about the person. This can be achieved by
B-
Complimenting on some personal attribute of the person (e.g., clothes, hair,
car).
-
Inquiring about a person's family (e.g., birthday observed, anniversary,
graduation, pets, health, etc.)
- Asking
about an event the person recently experienced (e.g., attendance at an event,
participation in a volunteer organization/charity, a new job or project
assignment, etc.),
-
Commenting on something newsworthy - community, sports, weather ("What did
you think about...?")
Such greetings are an
expression of your interest in the person. Too often greetings become
routine and, as such, less credible. Try to break it up.
A good, basic greeting can work wonders in building cooperation
between people.
2. ENGAGE IN A CONVERSATION (Enquiring)
People have a natural curiosity as to what you are all about.
The best way to communicate this is to engage in simple conversation. Some
people are naturally shy and tend to withdraw from such discourse. If one
person is not willing to start a conversation, another should take the
initiative simply by asking the other, "How are you?" or "What
do you think?"
A good icebreaker is to
tell a joke. But try to exercise good
judgment and taste in your humor. Avoid slang and offensive remarks unless the
occasion calls for it. Goodhearted kidding and teasing is fine, as long as it
doesn't turn malicious.
If you are not adept at telling jokes, tell a story about some
recent event that happened to you. But don't ramble. Stay focused and be sure
your story has a point to it.
3. VOLUNTEER
Many people prefer to sit back and watch as others perform the
work. Volunteering your time or skills
may add an additional burden but it tells others you believe in them and are
willing to help out. Such an expression also makes it easy for you to
solicit support when you are in need of help.
4. ASK FOR ADVICE
Too often people are too proud (or too stubborn) to ask for
directions in our journey through life. But asking for advice from a colleague
accomplishes two things: first, you might get the answer you seek, and; second,
it says to the person you trust and respect their opinion. By confiding in an
individual, the advisor becomes concerned with your best interests. This leads
to mutual trust and respect between people.
-- continued...
