People skills, or interpersonal skills, have always been necessary. Relationships, business transactions, and logistics happen with human interaction. Even the most technologically advanced systems require human input. While AI undoubtedly disrupts our world, it still requires human collaboration, for example, using text prompts with ChatGPT.
People skills are also known as “soft skills,” which may undermine their importance. However, they are “soft” because their power is difficult to quantify, not because they are less valuable than “hard” skills. We can take effective interaction with others for granted without fully appreciating the time and effort required to build “durable skills” that will remain relevant in a world of increasing technological innovation.
But how do we learn better interpersonal skills? Trial and error is one option, but there are many other ways to improve your interactions with others. For example, you can learn about psychology and enhance your communication skills. This post will discuss why soft skills are necessary and how to improve them.
What are people skills?
People skills is a broad term, so what exactly does having these competencies mean?
We’ve talked about soft skills versus hard skills on this blog before, but to sum up, interpersonal skills include the following core competencies:
- Listening effectively, not just to what someone says, but how they are saying it
- Emotional intelligence, which helps you to tune into what you and other people are feeling to respond appropriately
- Communication skills, which can help you to express yourself, whether in person or via voice or text
- Empathy, linked to emotional intelligence, enables you to get insight into what another person is experiencing and can help build relationships and resolve conflict.
- Conflict management, which involves the ability to take a step back and calmly resolve an escalating situation instead of reacting and worsening it
- Self-awareness, which relates to emotional intelligence and allows you to be aware of the impact of your behaviour
Why are people skills so necessary?
1. Integral social functioning
Society can only function if human beings interact and share information constructively. We are so used to communicating with others daily that we only appreciate good interpersonal skills when something goes wrong. In our densely populated society, we can undervalue the importance of simple interactions, which all contribute to building relationships and ensuring integral social functioning. They promote our well-being. It’s about functioning and the human need for connection and a sense of belonging. Most people do their best to be productive, meet goals, and often just make it through the day. However, good people skills can help us thrive instead of just surviving.
2. Maximising productivity
Effective personal interactions keep things ticking over, but learning to interact better with others can bring more efficiency. Imagine if everyone communicated clearly and valued one another’s input. The drive to make money can often relegate human interactions to the lower end of the priority scale. However, every interaction contributes to a greater whole, and even just one bad experience can have a ripple effect.
It’s not all about making money, either. Productivity can also mean having better conversations, finding more meaning in your work, and empowering others to live better lives.
3. Navigating conflict
When people value each other, they also value everything in their lives, including our environment. If everyone had better interpersonal skills, we wouldn’t struggle so much with conflict; we would all make time to talk, listen to one another, and come up with solutions.
Of course, in an ideal world, we wouldn’t have any problems, and everyone would live in peace and harmony. It might sound naive, but it’s incredible to think how much better our lives would be if everyone took a little time to work on their soft skills.
4. Adaptability
When we can communicate better with each other, we can be more adaptable. How many crises could we prevent if people responded more quickly and effectively? We can’t control everything, but we can avoid unnecessary angst and frustration by learning to interact more effectively in all spheres of society.
Interpersonal skills are also more durable, as they are the human skills we will need to adapt to a world of continuous technological developments. In other words, although it might seem like AI is “taking over”, effective interpersonal interactions will allow us to find ways to work more efficiently with technology in all spheres of life.
5. Progress
As mentioned above, it’s no secret that the world is changing rapidly, and there has been massive social upheaval. To navigate this challenging world, we need to interact positively with one another.
As AI continues to evolve, we’ll also need to work better with one another to ensure that we can grow alongside technology and not leave anyone behind. People skills are also critical in political conflict and tension, which we would all like to resolve and prevent from escalating.
How do we enhance our people skills?
SACAP Global offers a variety of short online courses to help you enhance your interpersonal skills, which can positively impact your personal and professional life.
Some of our most popular courses include:
- Intro to Human Behaviour
- The Art of Motivation: Empower Self and Others
- Effective Interpersonal Communication
- How to Have Critical Conversations
- Sexology: Intro to Relationship Dynamics
- Intro to Couple Counselling
For more information, browse our course list.