20 Tips to Improve Your Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills are invaluable professionally and personally. How coworkers see you can have a big impact on both, long term and daily life, for career or general happiness respectively.

You may be brilliant and talented, but if you can’t get along with your co-workers, it will not get you very far. Fortunately, there are several actions that you can take to make friends at work. These 20 things will both help create better relationships at the office as well as improve how others perceive you.

1. Take responsibility for your actions:

Taking responsibility for our actions is a good habit to inculcate into ourselves. This can keep us from blaming others and getting defensive. People tend to take more responsibility when they have developed strong interpersonal skills as they pay more attention to what they are saying and how it might be affecting other people.

2. Be open to others:

Be receptive to other people’s opinions and recognize that you can always use the help of others to take on a difficult task. Being open-minded will make you more empathetic towards others. As a result, your interpersonal skills will be much appreciated at work. Openness allows us to listen to others and combine both positions to find a solution that best fits us all. It allows for more creative solutions than if we were self-centered.

3. Be mindful of your words:

When you are working with other people, it is important to be careful about the way in which you use language because tone and emphasis can be critical. For example, the phrase “We lost 7 pounds of meat” can sound different depending on how you say it. If you say it with a smile on your face and positive intonation, then people will know that this is good news for all involved. However, if you say it in a neutral tone so that no emotion can be detected, then it can come across as bad news.

4. Be flexible:

In order to work well with others, you have to be aware of the fact that not all things are fixed and permanent in life. Therefore, you should learn to adjust so that you can find mutually beneficial solutions with other people when facing a problem. You should also be able to recognize that not all problems have one right answer and you may need to experiment with different solutions in order to find the right one.

5. Work on your social skills:

One way to improve your interpersonal skills is to work on your social skills. This means learning how to communicate effectively, as well finding ways to enjoy yourself and be comfortable around others. This will make you a more active person, interested in your work, other people and the world around you. People with good social skills are also considered to be more attractive than those who lack these qualities.

6. Be empathetic:

Empathy is one of the most important qualities that you can have in order to be a good leader and have great interpersonal skills. Empathy is the ability to recognize how others feel based on their behavior, body language, and words. Being able to understand why other people are feeling the way they do will allow you to find solutions which appeal to both sides. In addition, being empathetic is an indication of emotional intelligence and a characteristic that will help you in your professional life.

7. Practice self-control:

Learning how to control your emotions will allow you to better express yourself, which improves your interpersonal skills and allows you to take charge of difficult situations at work. Furthermore, it can help you avoid making rash decisions and bad impressions on others. In short, it will help you to be more professional in the workplace.

8. Take time to listen:

Taking time to listen helps us understand other people’s positions and makes them feel respected which improves our interpersonal skills at work. When we are good listeners, we demonstrate our respect to people, who will feel comfortable with us and are more willing to be open. A good listening skill also gives us the time we need to formulate our own response, allowing for more constructive conversations. In addition, taking the time to listen shows that you care about what others say which helps build trust in the workplace.

9. Be aware of your body language and tone:

It is important to be aware of how others perceive you. This means that you should consider which words, tone and gestures are best suited for the situation at hand. For example, if you are speaking at a meeting where people will not have the possibility to respond, then it makes sense to choose more neutral words. If you are speaking to a group of people, then it is best to use an energetic tone so that they will be more engaged and interested in what you have to say.

10. Be proactive:

One way to practice good interpersonal skills is to be proactive in the workplace. This means being flexible as well as willing to take on new tasks and tackle problems. Being proactive also shows your willingness to put the needs of others first which is an important quality for anyone who wishes to succeed in a leadership position.

11. Be aware of cultural differences:

In order to be effective at interpersonal skills, it is necessary to understand that people from diverse backgrounds have different customs and beliefs. By being aware of these differences, we can take time to learn about them, which makes it easier for us to work with people who are different from ourselves. Being careful not to offend anyone is also an important part in building good interpersonal skills at work

12. Build rapport:

Rapport is the ability have a good relationship with other people and is a very important part of your personal and professional life. One way to build rapport is to understand what motivates the other person, which will help you identify the best ways to interact with them. Another important aspect in building rapport is being open to others and sharing information about yourself, making it easier for others do the same.

13. Stay focused:

Being able to control our attention and concentrate on the important aspects is a very important skill for anyone who wishes to be successful in their careers as well as an aspect of good interpersonal skills at work. For example, if you are having a conversation with someone then you will want to make sure that you focus your attention on the conversation and ignore any other distractions. By being able to stay focused, you will improve your concentration which means that you will be better able to listen as well as communicate with others.

14. Build trust:

Being trustworthy is something that builds when doing things over time, but it is still important to work on this part of your interpersonal skills. One way to do so is by being honest and direct, which helps you be more trustworthy. Another important aspect in building trust is helping others to achieve their goals. By doing so, you show that you are willing to help them instead of using them for your own ends.

15. Work well with others:

An important part of interpersonal skills is building positive relationships with others. This means that you should be willing to reach out to others and help them when they need it, which will make them more likely to return the favor. It is also helpful if you learn how to work well with people who have different personality types or even people who have entirely different skills and experience from you.

16. Speak with confidence:

Being able to aptly speak in public is a very important skill that many employers look for when hiring new employees. By speaking with confidence, it means that you will be better able to communicate your thoughts and ideas clearly which helps keep the audience engaged and interested in what you have to say.

17. Be honest:

Being honest is another very important part in good interpersonal skills at work and can be considered a keystone of trustworthiness which is a highly valuable trait. Being honest means that you will always be up front with what you think regardless of what it might be, making it simpler for others to trust you. Honesty also means that we are not deceiving other people for our own benefit, which is important because it builds genuine relationships instead of ones where people feel they cannot trust one another.

18. Be reliable:

Being reliable includes the importance of being on time and completing what you have committed to do. This part of your interpersonal skills is important because it shows others that you are an equally valuable member of the team who can be counted on to get their work done.

19. Don’t interrupt:

One important aspect in good interpersonal skills at work and one that many people struggle with is properly listening and not interrupting other people when they are speaking. By doing so, it will allow others to clearly put their point across without feeling like they have been cut off and you will also be able to understand them much more easily which is the original purpose in listening to other people speak in the first place.

20. Be tactful:

Being tactful is a very important part of good interpersonal skills at work and life in general. This is because tactful people are better able to get their point across without offending other people or causing unnecessary conflict. Being tactless is a big problem that many people have even when well-meaning, the ability to use tact means that you can say what needs to be said but do so in a manner that does not cause offense.

Conclusion:

In order to have good interpersonal skills at work, it is important to take responsibility for your own actions, listen well and communicate clearly. It is also important to be tactful and not interrupt others when they are speaking. These interpersonal skills will help you to work much better with both your colleagues and your superiors, making it simpler for you to reach the goals that you have set for yourself at work and in life.