Learn how Social Skills Training can be of help today!

Introduction
Benefits of Social skills
Social Skills list

Social skills are an important component in both personal and professional capacity. Having strong social skills helps us to excel in our careers, perform well when we are interviewing, and also helps us to achieve career goals and expand our professional work. There are some specific skills that fall under the category of social skills category.

These are the skills that promote effective communication with everyone. There are several differences in which we communicate on a daily basis. Some of the social skills include written, verbal, nonverbal and visual communication that is used to relay a message to others. Some common ways in which we exercise our social skills are:

The language we use.
The tone, pitch and volume of our choice.
Physical gestures we make.
Our facial expressions.
Our body language.
Eye contact with others when we are communicating.

Working as a team with our colleagues, keeping our emotions in check during stressful situations and communicating with the clients and the team members are some of the situations where social skills are needed to be applied when we are working in a professional environment. These are also referred to as soft skills or interpersonal skills, these are important because they enable us to foster and maintain meaningful relationships with colleagues, employers and network contacts. No matter in which industry we are working or the experience level we have. Social skills are said to be beneficial and they help us to evaluate our professional careers.

Also read – Decision making skills

Allows us to effectively work as a team on different projects we get involved in.
Let us share our own perspectives in an effective manner.
They help us to expand our professional network and stay updated on new opportunities.
Makes the workplace more enjoyable.
Let’s gain valuable feedback and referrals from those who can attest to our abilities.
Enables to successfully communicate with colleagues, clients and employers.

Observation

The ability to observe serves us well in a professional setting. It may be natural to some and it is closely related to some and they are closely related with other people who may be slightly introverted, anyone can develop these traits by trying to pay attention to what is going on in the lives of people who are around them in both educational and professional environments.

Detaching yourself from our surroundings while we are observing how others behave in the given situations can help us understand complex concepts such as group dynamics, group mentality, relationships between others, non-verbal communication and a general understanding of other colleagues and their personalities.

Active listening

This is the ability to pay attention to others when they are communicating with us without interrupting or losing focus. Active listeners are able to pay close attention to others when they are speaking as well as to show respect for what the other person is saying. We can improve listening skills by avoiding distractions while we are communicating, focusing only on the speaker and demonstrating that we understand what the other person is saying through our body language and by expressing our concern or appreciation.

Conflict resolution

This is our ability to see a problem for what it is and devise a workable solution for solving it. It may be like a misunderstanding between two coworkers and they come to us for some help. We should always focus on the root cause of the issue and then work to solve the problem rather than getting involved in the arguing. People with good conflict resolution skills often excel in positions in human resources or in a customer service role.

Empathy

This skill is closely connected to the observation skills that is the ability to empathize with people and their situations. Empathy is nothing but the ability for identifying and understanding how another person is feeling in any given situation.

Phrases associated with expressing empathy are like “I understand what you are going through” or “I am sorry for what happened to you” many more like this. Expressing empathy requires a conscious effort and careful consideration of other feelings. Good empathy skills always can result in better relationships in our workplace.

Written and verbal communication

Verbal communication is the ability we should have for expressing ourselves using clear language that one can understand. Written communications come to play when we have to communicate to other people through email, text, letters, reports or presentations. These are the two important components of effective social skills.

When we are going to write or verbally communicate, we are expressing ourselves to other people. It is always important to use clear language as well as the proper spelling and also grammar when we are communicating to ensure an effective portrayal of what we want to say.

No matter what role we have in an organization, communication skills are important. Without these skills we may not be able to share all the details about what we are working on, why is it important, and when we require help from others.

Mirroring

This is a very useful skill for people whose jobs involve dealing with people on a regular basis, such as in sales, healthcare and client relations. Mirroring is an act of copying the body language and the emotions of the person we are talking to in order to make the clients or customers feel comfortable and understand what it is. This helps us in building rapport and fostering an agreement with the other person. This is especially useful in sales positions, as it can help both parties reach common ground and mutual agreement.

Cooperation

This is another essential social skill in the workplace. It gives us the ability to work well with others towards a common goal. This social skill is especially entertainment for people who work as a part of a team on projects in the workplace.

Even though we don’t work in a team, cooperation is necessary on some occasions when we are asked to work alongside colleagues to help achieve the goals of the organization. Employers always have a preference for candidates who can work well with other co-workers and won’t have any obstructed progress.

Relationship management

It is our ability to foster, grow and maintain relationships. This social skill is especially and equally important in customer service and other positions that require us to work directly with clients. Additionally, these executives often need good relationship management skills for creating bonds with investors, stakeholders and supervisors.

Nonverbal communication

We know verbal communication is an important skill, so is nonverbal communication. Through our body language, eye contact, and facial expressions, we can express that we are an empathetic person who carefully listens to others. If we walk around with a smile people will more readily engage with us than if we have a scowl on our face.

Optimism

This skill can work for personal, social, and several other areas of life. We know that positivity always works like a magnet that attracts any. We people are naturally drawn towards positivity and optimism since the attitude makes us feel great about ourselves and as well as life. And we know that the opposite can be said to the negative people. We should remove the roots of negativity; we need to stop feeding and watering it.

Compassion

It is another social skill that allows us to naturally feel for others and also have a deep desire to help them out. We need to learn compassion by carefully listening when someone tells us about the problem or the suffering of another. We should try to relate when they are describing a similar situation once what we had. Then we need to find ways that we can help either by pointing our own solutions to a previous problem.

Politeness

This is a trait where our parents, teachers, or society may have taught us since the day we are born. We should always make an extra effort to be polite which should not be difficult if we are careful about what we say before we say to any person. We should always think twice about the words we say and always avoid negative emotions or words. We should encourage ourselves to speak politely.

Discipline

Discipline teaches us to behave in a manner that is in accordance with the set of rules, customs, laws, policies, or any other guidelines. A disciplined person is willing to compile with the systematic method in a given environment. Discipline teaches us self-control that promotes acceptance by other members of society. This is the proven method for gaining self-discipline by allowing yourself rewards after a long period of success.

Patience

We can say that it is very much a social skill. Instead of blaming others, practice patience by using some meditative techniques. Before exploding into anger, take a few seconds to think about what is making you so mad. After identifying, take deep slow breaths one at a time. Close your eyes while we do this and count to 10. Think of the moment as an activity that is testing our patience and in order to pass the test, we need to react in the most sensible and constructive manner. Visualize the ideal reaction and try it every time.

On your route to mastering this skill, you can also explore professional courses by designed and delivered by industry experts.