Technical Schools

Define Interpersonal Skills

How do we define interpersonal skills? It is probably most easily defined as what are the abilities that people have or use to get along with one another. We have all seen people that do not seem to like anyone else, and yet there are other people who seem to feel that no one is a stranger to them and they care deeply for all. What makes the difference? Are these traits inborn? How are they learned? How and when can they be taught? What is the difference between learned and taught?

Many things are learned through experience and environment. They can be taught, but it is difficult. For example, good listening skills are learned through having a good role model. The same is true of problem solving skills. Pre-schoolers have problem-solving incorporated early into their curriculum. The earlier learned, the better. Both skills are harder to personalize as adults.

Learning styles vary as well. Some people are visual learners, others are tactile. The difference is that some people need to see it while others need to touch it. A conceptual mind needs to see the idea presented in some pictorial or practical way that they can understand --  through practical example, through social communication, etc.. The tactile learner needs to have the hands-on experience of analytical work on the computer with spread sheets and graphs. For both, the conceptual idea will eventually get there, but it must arrive through different channels of the brain. It is inherent to the leadership of the team, classroom, facility, whatever, that all learning abilities are clearly understood and implemented. The intelligence of one is no greater than the other, in fact they are quite often equal, just different in mode of operation.

When dealing with how to define interpersonal skills, it is vitally important that we do not stereotype individuals based on first impressions. We may be wasting the skills and talents of a very talented person based on our own misconceptions. Do we need to work on our own communication skills to avoid this problem? Quite possibly. We need to create our leadership style as the bridge-builders between all of the different styles of interpersonal skills, to enhance the task at hand.