Building your interpersonal skills at work

Demonstrating strong interpersonal skills in the workplace can boost your performance and improve your experience at work by promoting positive workplace relationships. Interpersonal skills that will help employees thrive amongst each other can include communication skills, negotiation, problem solving, teamwork, decision making, empathy and assertiveness. Here are some ways you can develop your interpersonal skills for the workplace.

Refine your workplace etiquette

Demonstrating appropriate workplace behaviour can show your colleagues that you are a team player and that you care about them and the job. This can include being punctual to work and meetings, being courteous, showing respect, being cooperative, taking initiative, and dressing appropriately.

Strive for conflict resolution

Always talk to your fellow employees with respect, even when a disagreement is at hand. If your words or tone of voice are condescending, rude, or inconsiderate, it can damage workplace relationships and reflect badly upon you. When conflict arises, opt to talk things through by identifying the problem and working with others to come to an agreeable solution instead of acting irrationally or avoiding communication.

Be an active listener

Actively listening to someone doesn’t just mean sitting there and not interrupting them. To be an active listener, avoid only engaging with someone on a passive level. Instead, enter the conversation like you also have something to gain from it and you may find yourself not only learning more, but making others feel understood and heard. Be open minded and empathetic when listening to someone’s perspectives, and demonstrate your engagement with responsive body language.

Be receptive to feedback

Feedback can come in the form of someone telling you that you hurt their feelings, they didn’t like the way you behaved, or asking you to do something differently next time. Don’t brush these comments off, but take the time to think about where they might be coming from or ask them to elaborate. If their feedback makes sense, it gives you a great opportunity to work on a particular area after seeing where you went wrong. You can also ask for feedback on your interpersonal skills from coworkers and managers.