Dr. Engr. Md. Sakawat Ali

E-mail: sakawat_ali@yahoo.com

The ability to deal with, influence, and communicate with other people. People skills are the tools you use to communicate and interact effectively with others. People skills also are known as soft skills, interpersonal skills, social skills, emotional intelligence and interpersonal Intelligence. People skills are patterns of behavior and behavioral interactions. Among people, it is an umbrella term for skills under three related set of abilities: personal effectiveness, interaction skills, and intercession skills.

Good people skills are defined as the ability to listen, to communicate and to relate to others on a personal or professional level. It can also include problem-solving abilities, empathy for others and a willingness to work together toward the common good.

Why People Skills are important in an Organization?

People Skills add value to the organization. They are those sets of ideas that enable a person to effectively communicate with others and decrease the possibility of miscommunication. It helps in resolving issues or conflicts at workplace. To co-exist with a set of individuals, with individual thoughts, aspirations, pressure, frustrations, perceptions and most of all, the way they speak would define people skills. People Skills add value to the organization. Understanding your co-workers psychologically so that your social life with them can exist in harmony with your daily duties and responsibilities would define people skills. Hence, It is the ability to communicate with each other in a friendly way, especially at workplace.

They are those sets of ideas that enable a person to effectively communicate with others and decrease the possibility of miscommunication. It helps in resolving issues or conflicts at workplace. It becomes essentially important for an employee to have a prospective or an opinion these days if they are willing to succeed at work. Thus, mutual understanding and effective communication skills is must.

No matter what role you play in your organization, your ability to work effectively with others can have a positive impact on your workplace. People skills not only help others to express in a better way but it also encourages listening carefully and then reacting to a problem or a situation. It discourages impulsiveness. This quality is very essential at senior management level because it focuses on the theory of understanding others and providing a feedback post observing the behavior of an individual. An individual with good people skills will always prove to be the most effective leader as well, since that person will be on the path of taking all the employees together as a team and would work on the overall development, welfare and growth of an organization.

Thinking positively is also one of the major aspects when it comes to people skills. A person with a balanced set of interpersonal skills will always have a positive approach to a problem rather than being aggressive or defensive about it. It pushes an individual to be more analytic and collaborate with others to solve problems using a variety of problem solving tools and techniques. This ultimately helps in everyone’s contribution to a positive outcome. 

Talking to people and maintaining good interpersonal relationship helps in building harmony, trust and mutual respect in the organization. An employee will be more transparent and open to the management when the employee expresses himself. Such individual will make sure that they are maintaining the same standards of behavior that they are expecting from others.

What Are People Skills?

The soft skills that are most sought-after in the business world are self-awareness, the ability to listen, empathy, communication (both written and oral), trust and emotional regulation. Many of these skills are interrelated.

• Self-awareness. This may be the most critical skill, since if you aren’t aware of your own weaknesses and deficits; you can’t even begin to try to improve.
• Listening. This is a rare ability enabling you “to be effective, to form bonds with other humans. People don’t want to be talked at, they want to know that they’ve been heard. Some of us are so enamored of our own ideas that it’s hard for us to stop and truly hear what the other person is saying.
• Empathy. Awareness of other people is key­—knowing how they are different from you and how they may see an event. You have to know what the other person’s experience is.
• Communication. The ability to both speak and write clearly­—so you are understood, so you get your point across­—is a critical skill, both in business and in life. Talk of messaging and storytelling is everywhere these days, and to be sure, both are vitally important, but if you can really capture someone’s imagination, you have taken communication to the next level
• Trust. A fundamental feeling of trust between two people is often based on respect. It is what allows a relationship to supersede any awkwardness’s or disagreements. Trust allows you to function. There’s decreased anxiety.”
• Emotional regulation. Another name for this is self-control. Some people are just innately even-keeled, but many of us are not. What gets you riled up? What throws you? Learning how to identify what causes you to come undone and how to regulate your own emotions are key skills.

Here are 20 “people skills” and attributes need to succeed at work:

1. The ability to relate to others
2. Strong communication skills 
3. Patience with others 
4. The ability to trust others 
5. Knowing how and when to show empathy
6. Active listening skills 
7. Genuine interest in others 
8. Flexibility 
9. Good judgment 
10. The ability to persuade others
11. Negotiation skills
12. The ability to keep an open mind
13. A great sense of humor
14. Knowing your audience
15. Honesty 
16. Awareness of body language
17. Proactive problem solving
18. Leadership skills
19. Good manners
20. The ability to be supportive and motivate others.

Key Words: People Skills