Developing Interpersonal Skills

An article on the website bigthinkedge.com lists eight interpersonal skills that help people be successful in working with others: “1.Exercising self-awareness; 2. Being cognizant of non-verbal communication; 3. Being respectful of others; 4. Showing empathy and understanding; 5. Being a clear communicator; 6. Engaging in active listening; 7. Behaving appropriately; 8. Being receptive to feedback.”

Francis Wardle, in his book, Oh Boy! writes about the importance of supporting interpersonal learning in children: “A central task of development for young children is to learn to understand other people and to be sensitive to their moods, actions, and feelings. Some children are more adept at this ability than others…The challenge of working with young boys who have an interpersonal learning style is that their involvement, organization, and leadership of other children may not always be viewed in a positive light – young boys’ groups leadership may not be a match with teacher or program goals. Nevertheless, boys with interpersonal learning styles must be given lots of opportunities to lead.” Wardle provides a number of ideas to help facilitate that process. Here is a sampling:

• Encourage young boys to direct projects and activities
• Support young boys when other children select them as group leaders
• Include young boys in small groups that organize classroom and school-wide activities such as parent nights, community events…”

Source: “Top 8 interpersonal skills for the workplace,” bigedgethinking.com, May 3, 2018

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