Interpersonal Skills

Discussion of Interpersonal Skills and its relevance to case studies

Interpersonal skills are the skills that we use every day to communicate and interact with other people, individually and in groups. People with strong interpersonal skills are usually more successful in both their professional and personal lives. They are seemingly more calm, confident and charismatic; all qualities which are very tempting to others. Interpersonal skills are not only about how we communicate with others, but also our confidence and ability to listen and understand. Interpersonal skills include problem solving, decision making and personal stress management. Being more aware of your interpersonal skills can help you improve and develop them. Healthy interpersonal skills reduce stress, resolve conflict, improve communication, enhance intimacy, increase understanding, and promote joy.

Whenever two people meet, there is a communication climate between them. It is more behavioral oriented than attitudinal because it is caused by what people do. Sometimes it’s positive and other times negative. Some scientists use the term communication climate to describe the quality of personal relationships in an organization. Positive climates result when people believe they are valued, and negative climates occur when people don’t believe they are appreciated. Communicators need to understand how to create positive climates as it is key factor in job satisfaction and commitment to the organization. An open, clear communication climate tends to increase productivity. When employees know what exactly is expected out of them and recognize the responsibilities of meeting the required needs, job performance improvement would be seen.

In the case Pointing Fingers VS Working as a Team, interpersonal skills were lacking from the vice-president of the firm, Leland Smyth when he had the phone conversations with an employee, Roy. Initially when Leland Smyth phoned Roy, the phone conversation more or less...