Work. The single most powerful status symbol of the twenty-first century. Where you work, whom you work with, and how well you work define who you are.
More importantly what defines your work ethic is the attitude of those that you work with. Interpersonal communication is the name of the game when it comes to office politics and how to survive. While many students view work as a paycheck; what most don’t realize is that work is constructed like a chess board. If you fail to make one critical move, you might hear “Checkmate” from your opponent.
Employers try to dissuade this from happening by conducting a ritual called training. Training, in any job, is tedious and forecasted as unnecessary. What many do not realize is that training is not necessaryily instrumental in learning about the job or task at hand. Training is used to train employees to learn the new communication skills deemed necessary in the world of work.
Many employers focus on communication skills as a vital aspect of the job. Employers sometimes feel that in the twenty-first century that their employees might not be as responsive to cultural change of communication; so they use the absolute definition of interpersonal communication to instruct their employees how to be successful. Interpersonal communication is defined by participants use of direct and indirect channels in communication.
Direct are those that are conscious, they are both verbal and non-verbal. Whereas, indirect are those feelings that are subconscious and are reflected by inner emotions and motivations.
This means that for employers to find at least satisfactory communication within their company; they must be able to assess both areas of interpersonal communication. Why is this important? Interpersonal communication is fundamental on any level, especially a professional level because essentially how effectively you communicate effects how sufficiently your customers are going to respond. Being able to judge someone’s verbal and non-verbal cues are not sufficient for successful interpersonal communication anymore.
With today’s technology and yesterday’s expectations, one must dig further to find out why that particular person is communicating the way that they are. This can also be seen in the education system. Most disagreements between students and teachers are based on miscommunication or the lack of communication. According to online communication skills tests, one can analyze how well they are at interpersonal communication.
Such questions are asked: I can detect the moods of others while we converse, I manage to express my ideas clearly, when I talk to someone, I put myself in his or her shoes. After answering such questions, the interpersonal communication skills test can accurately describe how well you communicate with others and it will also detail what you might consider improving upon. In addition to these tests, there are workshops that can help you discover how you communicate, how to improve, and how to help others.
Overall, interpersonal communication skills are necessary to be successful in communicating your thoughts, respect, and interests; but have we neglected to learn these skills, or have we simply forgotten how to use them?