People Skills

Hey Everyone. So today I am discussing how we relate with people and how knowing the right way to relate with people can be of tremendous help to us. So in my school, we have these sessions where we are divided into groups and we are tasked with carrying out experiments and presenting results. So this activity contributes to our grading at the end of the semester so it's important that we do not fail. We are being lectured on all that's needed to know in carrying out the experiments and we, the groups, are tasked with its execution. So at times, we are placed in the same group with people we don't have or have had any prior rapport with, basically people we are meeting for the first time. There's no prior understanding of the kind of people they are, their strengths, their weaknesses, their attitudes or how useful they can be to the success of the group task. What this does is put me in a position where I have to be very  careful and mindful in my dealings with them, be conscious of how I address them so there's no quarrel or issue over anything because it could lead to dissention which could further lead to setbacks and ultimately,  a failure of the group task and much more ultimately a failure by the end of the semester. So it's imperative that one gets along with everyone. That's why possessing people skills are important.  

What are People skills? The Portland Business Journal would define people skills as an ability to effectively communicate, understand, and empathize or an ability to interact with others respectfully and develop productive working relationship to minimize conflict and maximize rapport. At the core of people skills,  we take note of three things- communication, understanding and empathy. Being able to effectively carry out these actions puts you in a better position to work well with people, thereby reach team goals and complete group tasks faster and more efficiently. More times than I count, exhibiting these qualities has made me enjoy team work and it has made efforts on a team lead us to to the successful completion of the project.

What I would be more concerned about in this article would be on the ability to effectively communicate. Communication implies more than just speaking and trying to listen. According to Business Jargon, Effective Communication is a communication between two or more persons wherein the intended message is successfully delivered, received and understood. In other words for communication to be complete and effective, there has to be delivery of a message and and more importantly an understanding of that message.  So even when you put your message out there to a team member and the person  doesn't understand, then effective communication has not taken place. One has to then try to ensure that whatever is communicated is understood by the listener and one way to ensure is always asking for feedback. The effective accomplishment of a task won't be possible if people in a group don't communicate well with each other.  

Another thing to put in consideration as regards communication is to sound as formal and polite as possible. No one appreciates being spoken to rudely so one has to be very mindful of tone- choice of words,  order of words and how you say them. Saying the magic words as often as possible can help- "Sorry", "Thank you", "Please ", "Excuse me", etc  

Also, being able to understand  and empathize with people can help you get the most out of people in your dealings with them. When you listen to people express their grievances or make complaints,  putting yourself in their shoes gives you an idea of the best response to give them at that point.  You get to reply and communicate the way you would prefer to be spoken to if you were in their shoes.

In conclusion, at some point in our lives, we would be put in a position where in order to get something,  you will need a person or people's help to get that thing. Exhibiting peoples skills would be  greatly instrumental with making your work relationship more interesting and effective and it would help with accomplishing your tasks faster. 

Thanks for reading.