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What are people skills? A set of skills enabling a person to get along with others, to communicate ideas effectively, to resolve conflicts, and to achieve personal or business goals. A great sense of humor. Active listening skills. Awareness of body language. Building Relationships Coaching Communicating Effectively Communicating Feedback Courtesy. Creating Value for Others Cultural Intelligence Effective Listening Effective Talking Empathy. Eye Contact Flexibility. Genuine interest in others. Good judgment. Good manners. Guard Your Happiness Honesty. How To Write Well Influencing People Initiating Relationships Knowing how and when to show empathy. Knowing your audience. Leadership skills. Listening Listening skills. Making Effective Presentations Managing Cultural Differences Negotiation skills. Negotiation skills. Negotiation Tips Open-mindedness. Patience with others. Patience. Persuading People Proactive problem solving. Self-awareness. Stress management. Strong communication skills. The ability to be supportive and motivate others. The ability to keep an open mind. The ability to persuade others. The ability to relate to others. The ability to trust others. Tolerance. Win-Win Mindset Here’s a list of 10 people skills that every government __________ should have: 1.Open-mindedness. When working around so many other fellow employees, it is important to have an open mind. You are bound to hear many opinions and ideas. While you may not want to buy into each of them, even having an open mind to consider them will lead to people respecting you. Being receptive to other people’s opinions does not mean that you necessarily have to agree with them. It just means you can respect the opinion of others and consider it. 2.Listening skills. We live in a world where we tend to talk more than we should, rather than listening to others. If we listen to others, we make them feel valued, and when they feel valued, they are going to be more dedicated to the team and mission. Active listening can be learned with practice, and includes making eye contact, asking meaningful questions, providing feedback, and avoiding being distracted or multi-tasking. 3.Empathy. Having empathy means that you have the ability to understand someone else’s feelings. If you feel empathy for others, you are more likely to try to work out differences diplomatically. Most great leaders share the trait of having empathy. Caring about others, in turn, creates more people who care about you. 4.Tolerance. Having tolerance means you will be able to accept the idea that others engage in other practices and beliefs that may not coincide with your own. We essentially live in a “melting pot,” where there are people from all walks of life. Chances are good that you will work around people who engage in different practices and have different beliefs, or you will work with the public that does. 5.Self-awareness. When you have self-awareness, you know what it is that makes you tick. You know what makes you get worked up and what makes you get frustrated. Having self-awareness will help you to remain being a stronger person who is better able to perform their position. You will be able to identify your strengths and weaknesses and compensate for them where necessary. 6.Patience. As the saying goes, patience is a virtue. In any type of career, government jobs included, having patience is a skill that everyone needs. It’s important to remember that good things come to those who wait, and sometimes there are delays in change and things can move slowly, especially when it comes to the government. 7.Stress management. Any job, and especially those for the federal government, can become stressful. It’s important that employees know how to de-stress so that it doesn’t get the better of them. There are a lot of things that can be done to de-stress, such as doing yoga, Tai Chi, journaling, mediating, and practicing breathing exercises. Find out what works for you and then use it when you feel the stress of the job, or even your home life, growing. 8.Leadership skills. Being a great leader means being able to bring out the best in others. Every good leader knows how to effectively motivate people, bring out their best skills, and have them contribute as a team. This is a skill that is invaluable, especially for those who want to be promoted to higher positions within the government. 9.Negotiation skills. Being able to negotiate with others, whether it is fellow employees, the public, or for business-to-business transactions, can be a skill that can save the government money, as well as help people get along. Being able to negotiate effectively is a skill that takes practice, but can be learned in time. 10.Courtesy. It’s never out of style to be respectful to others, even if many believe it is something we are losing in our society. Being courteous to others will help you gain respect in return. It also makes for a more peaceful and satisfying work environment for employees, as well as anyone in the public or business sector that you may work with. How Good Are Your People Skills? 16 Statements to Answer Not at All Rarely Sometimes Often Very Often 1 I make sure that I display the same standards of behavior that I expect from other people. 2 When providing feedback, I wait until I've observed enough incidents of a behavior to make a generalized statement that is accurate. 3 I go along with others' decisions rather than inject my ideas into the mix. 4 I say "thank you" to the people I work with. 5 During times of conflict I think about how to preserve the relationship and still get my needs met. 6 While actively talking with someone, I have composed my answer before they have finished speaking. 7 I look out for myself at work and do what is necessary to get ahead. 8 I think about how others perceive a problem or issue. 9 I speak first, and think later. 10 I collaborate with others to solve problems using a variety of problem solving tools and techniques. 11 I cause more harm than good when trying to resolve a conflict. 12 When someone gives me feedback, I ask him or her to provide examples so that I can better understand the issue. 13 I pay attention to other people's body language. 14 Where team agreement is necessary, I figure out the best solution to a problem and then explain why it's the right decision. 15 I study my audiences' needs, decide what I want to say and then figure out the best way to say it. 16 I make sure everyone knows about my contribution to a positive outcome. Score Interpretation Score Comment 16– 36 Your technical skills may have taken precedence over your people skills in your career to date. You aren't making the most of the relationships you have at work, and this may be limiting your career growth. It's time to assess how you can work better with others in the workplace and develop a more collaborative, understanding, and open approach to getting your needs met – while still achieving team and organizational objectives. (Read below to start.) 37– 58 You recognize that working well with others in the workplace is important; and you are trying to work collaboratively while still making sure your needs are met. There is room for improvement, however, as old habits may creep in during times of stress and pressure. Make a plan to work actively on your people skills so that they form the natural basis for how you approach workplace relationships. (Read below to start.) 59– 80 Your people skills are good. You understand the give and take involved in complex issues involving people. You might not always approach situations perfectly, however you have a sufficiently good understanding to know when and where you need to take steps to rectify things. Keep working on your people skills, and set an example for the rest of your team. And take some time to work on the specific areas below where you lost points. The 20 People Skills You Need To Succeed At Work A great sense of humor. Active listening skills. Awareness of body language. Flexibility. Genuine interest in others. Good manners. Honesty. Knowing how and when to show empathy. Knowing your audience. Leadership skills. Patience with others. “ Proactive problem solving. Strong communication skills. The ability to be supportive and motivate others. The ability to relate to others. The ability to trust others. Good manners. “Using ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ goes a long way in the realm of people skills,” People Skills People Skills (or Social skills) are most often thought of as a set of skills that allow us to communicate, relate and socialise with others. People skills include both verbal and nonverbal forms of communication. They often are the way others determine our status, consider us as potential friends or mates, and consider us for employment or promotions in the workplace. The opposite of good People skills is social ineptitude, which is an inability to use the defined set of social skills that would make one integrate and get on well with others. People with good verbal social skills are thought to speak with a clear voice, have inflection, speak appropriately to a situation, and have confidence in their voice. Poor verbal skills might be read as having a monotonal voice, saying the wrong thing, speaking too softly to be heard or too loudly to be tolerated, or simply speaking on boring topics. The person who can only address one topic is thought to have poor social skills. The other aspect of social skills is nonverbal. Body language, standing up straight, making eye contact, making appropriate gestures, leaning toward the person one is speaking to, smiling appropriately, and keeping the body open can all define good nonverbal people skills. It should be noted that these things can be overdone. Gestures can be too dramatic, people who smile too much may not be trusted, and leaning too far forward into someone else’s personal space may be considered rude. In addition, the person with good people skills listens well. Nodding of the head, the occasional quick comment, and clearly taking in someone else’s communications is valuable. People don’t simply wish to be talked to; they want to be talked with. A sense that both communicators are taking equal part in a conversation demonstrates advanced social skills. Though People skills can be learned, some people seem to have an innate sense of good social skills. Others may struggle because of communication disabilities. For example, those with autism, nonverbal learning disorders and Asperger’s all have an extremely hard time interpreting voice inflection, sarcasm, and body language. They also may have difficulty using voice inflection or sarcasm, and their body language may poorly communicate with others. Examples of People Skills:
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