Social
Interaction
How we get along
with others is becoming increasingly important in the workplace and how
well we build and maintain trusting relationships with others that are
happy, healthy and fulfilling is perhaps the most important thing that
we will ever do in life. Only when individuals can identify and understand
their shortcomings is their path to a potent avenue for personal growth
and increased effectiveness made clear. In your weaknesses are the
greatest possibilities for improvement. Even a marginal improvement
in interpersonal communication skills can have a significant effect on
overall performance.
Establishing
effective interpersonal communication skills will become more complex as
we interact more with others internationally. Building relationships
is not easy but is well worth the effort. Today's complex world requires
interdependence on others and how we cooperate and collaborate with our
peers, customers and employees will be a significant factor in our future
success.
CULTURAL
SENSITIVITY
Review your
personality assessment results for clues on how you prefer to interact
in the workplace. Analyze how you will be perceived by others of
different personality preferences. Using the information provided
for all personality styles, determine what you need to do to communicate
more effectively communicate with others given their varied personality
preferences. Note that some people require details while others are
looking for the big picture; some only listen to logic based arguments
while others require values based messages; yet other make quick decisions
with little or no information and others require extensive research and
consultation with others before even thinking about making a decision.
In your communication strategy, think about how you can provide the over
view and details; logical arguments and the values based messages; and
a summary statement backed with foundation documents.
PERSONALITY
ASSESSMENT
It is a fact
that people do more work and perform better work if their workplace is
positive and caring. Also, in a positive, caring environment people
cannot wait to get to work. As leaders, our job is to individually
and collectively create and maintain a positive, caring workplace.
Successful people understand the value of surrounding themselves with other
successful/positive people in an environment conducive to maximum productivity
and quality. When will you know that you have reached that goal?
When employees ask for an opportunity to fail. They will not unless their
workplace is positive. A positive, caring environment allows people
to rise to the level of others around them; inspires people to achieve
more; empowers people naturally; gives people more confidence in that it
builds people up rather than tears them down/apart; helps people overcome
their fears or at the very least, to deal with failure and learn from it;
reinforces our strengths; helps people understand the importance of helping/
mentoring others; builds trust, communication, loyalty, self-esteem and
relationships with others. It is truly amazing what employees can
do if they are treated with respect, encouraged to do their best, are appreciated
and work in a positive, caring workplace. The average person works at between
30% and 50% of their potential, so there is a lot of room for growth.
People are at the heart of productivity.
Learn to lead
by example and practice the 3 R's of management -- reinforcement (encouragement),
recognition, and reward -- daily. The key to developing people and
keeping relationships going is to constantly catch people doing things
right and praising them immediately for their performance. You cannot do
this enough. Do not wait for perfection to happen because you will
be waiting a long, long time. Praise progress and encourage employees
to do better constantly. It helps people move toward desired performance.
Look for the gold in others because when you do, you will always find some
in you. When you accentuate the positive, you make deposits in your
human relationship bank account with that person.
People want
to be healthy; to be recognized; to feel important; to be involved; to
be appreciated and to be respected. Their fears include rejection,
failure, public speaking, change, and confrontation with others.
Leaders help people get what they want and overcome their fears.
Recognition is not the same as compensation, although money will likely
be a part of recognition or reward. The purpose of recognition is
to link recognition to stated values and goals. It has to be valid,
genuine, meaningful and timely for both the recipient and giver.
Receiving well deserved recognition from the boss and upper management
is a personal touch that brings a satisfaction to an employee that money
cannot buy. Hearing a thank you and encouragement from someone you
care for and who truly cares for you is a gift that makes a difference
in building relationships and unleashing a person's potential.
When you focus
on building and maintaining healthy relationships with others, you will
find yourself enjoying happiness and rewards greatly in excess of the efforts
you make toward that end. As Zig Ziglar says, "You can have everything
in life you want if you will help enough other people get what they want."
Interpersonal
Relationships
Within
every human being exists the desire to act freely, in harmony with his or her
own intrinsic nature, rather than being at the mercy of external forces. This
tendency towards autonomy manifests in the desire to distinguish oneself from
others, to become an individual, to assume a precise and unique identify, to
affirm oneself in the world. There is a complementary tendency towards
harmony; the desire to feel oneself to be part of a larger whole; to enter into
relations with others and thus transcend the limitations of individuality;
giving rise to the need for friendship, tenderness, and love. We must
learn to satisfy our needs for contact with others and for belonging. To
this end, it is important to develop other qualities and capacities, such as the
ability to communicate clearly and directly, the experience of empathy, an
accurate perception or others, free from projection and prejudice, a creative
approach to inter-personal conflicts; and finally, the capacity to attain that
sincere and total relationship, free from ulterior motives, expectations and
fears.
Links to
More Information
Workplace Personalities and How to
Handle Them
http://www.ivillage.com/work/job/succeed/articles/0,10109,187833_245505,00.html
Managing People
http://www.ivillage.com/topics/work/0,10707,165455,00.html
Communications Test
http://www.queendom.com/tests/relationships/communication_skills_r_access.html
Team Roles Test
http://www.queendom.com/tests/career/team_roles_access.html
How to Make and Keep New Friends
http://www.ivillage.com/relationships/experts/msdemeanor/qas/0,4144,168945_30231,00.html
The Friendship Compatibility Test
http://www.ivillage.com/relationships/tools/quizcentral/articles/0,9632,166979_251982,00.html
Roommate IQ Test
http://www.queendom.com/tests/minitests/roommate_access.html
Relationship Problems
http://www.ivillage.com/topics/relation/0,10707,166964,00.html |
