Interpersonal Skills Needed

A quick definition of interpersonal skills...it refers to a person's ability to work within an organization effectively through communication and interaction. Of course, it has its own importance. An effective interpersonal skill ensures productivity among employers and eliminates conflict which can possibly destroy employees’ morale. Good interpersonal skills also encourage wider participation.

In this age of titles (MA and Ph.D.), electronic communication (e-mail, SMS etc.), leaders often tend to forget the importance of this skill. They perhaps unknowingly fail to remember that they deal with persons and not machines that operate based on strings of command that can be fed to a computer.

In the school setting and perhaps in any other business, interpersonal skills among administrators are crucial to the success and even perpetuity of the organization. Titles are also important, but people will not look and gauge an administrator with the number of titles he/she has after his/her name nor with the quantity of programs initiated during his/her term. Employees will remember how administrators associated with everybody. We will remember how an administrator dealt with personnel on different occasions. Employees will bear in mind the way an administrator try to understand the feelings, words and gestures of their subordinates and how they react to a given situation.

Like any other skills, interpersonal skills can be developed through:

1. Ask yourself, "Is this the way I like be treated?"- Empathy is the ability to feel with other persons. It is a trait that enables one to be in the place of other persons. There is always a need to see how other persons respond to a given situation. By keeping in touch with their responses as well as feeling, an administrator can deal fairly and efficiently on occasions that require decisions.
2. Practice good communication skills- Communication is a two-way process. It involves a speaker and a listener. Determine what you want to say and how you will say it. This eliminates miscommunication which is oftentimes the source of conflict.
3. Be a good listener- People will appreciate one's decision and recommendations if employees know and are convince that they are not simply lip service.
4. Be appreciative.- learn to acknowledge the innate goodness in all persons whom one works with.
5. Observe other persons- our employees are persons. Thus, they have a life which can be full of sad experiences or happy milestones.

I guess there is a need to include in the curriculum a short or an elective course on the development of interpersonal skills.