Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal Skills These are related to communication skills, but are more specific about individual behaviors. They also include respecting others. Interpersonal skills enable people to work well with others to get a job done.

Interpersonal Skills Working with other people Supportive Encouraging Giving and Receiving Constructive Criticism Negotiation Effective Listening Valuing Others Opinions Being able to Smile Be Appreciative Pay Attention to Others Bring People together Resolve Conflicts Communicate Clearly Humour Empathy Be Positive Interpersonal skills are all about working with other people. No matter how hard you work or how brilliant your ideas are if you lack good interpersonal skills your working life will suffer.

Behaviours There are four main types of behaviour; Passive (submissive) Aggressive Assertive Manipulative

(Gael Lindenfield, Assert yourself, Thornsons,1986) Being Assertive ‘Being able to communicate clearly our needs, wants and feelings to other people, without abusing their rights as human beings’ (Gael Lindenfield, Assert yourself, Thornsons,1986) Principle all people are equal, all humans have rights. Not all will agree what they want from a situation, or think what should happen hence negotiation is a key concept in assertiveness – where 2 or more people attempt to reach an agreement that acknowledges and respects rights and wishes of both themselves and others

Assertive Behaviours Verbal Non verbal Making statements that are brief, clear and to the point Distinguishing between fact and opinion Making suggestions that are not weighted with advice Finding out the thoughts, opinions and wants of others Suggesting ways of compromising or getting around problems Non verbal Steady direct eye contact Listening to the other person Staying calm and in control Relaxed posture Upright posture Involves you standing up for your own rights whilst not violating others. It involves expressing needs, wants, views feelings in a direct honest appropriate way. Based on the belief that you have needs to be met and so do other people. You have rights and so do other people. You have something to contribute and so do other people. Assertive behaviour does not necessarily mean getting what you want. The aim is to work towards satisfying the needs and wants of all parties involved in the situation.

Transactional Analysis Transactional Analysis (or TA as it is often called) is a model of people and relationships that was developed during the 1960s by Dr. Eric Berne. It is based on two notions: first that we have three parts or 'ego-states' to our 'personality. The other assumption is that these converse with one another in 'transactions

Transactional Analysis We each have internal models of parents, children and also adults, and we play these roles with one another in our relationships. We even do it with ourselves, in our internal conversations Helps us to negotiate from an equal position!

Transactional Analysis