Seven People Skills You Need In Order to Be Successful Today.

You may have outstanding technical skills that make you a star at your job. However, to be really successful today, you need more than industry skills and know-how. People skills are vital to helping propel you from average to exceptional.

Also known as soft skills, these are the desired interpersonal skills that are dependent on acquired knowledge of a specific job.

Here are seven core people skills that you need in order to be successful today.

1. Active listening: You need to be able to pay attention and actively listen to what others are sharing. While you may be an expert at relaying your own thoughts and feelings. Do you listen? To actively listen you should offer your undivided attention, do not interrupt, make notes if needed, carefully consider what the individual is feeling and try to articulate and do not judge.
2. Giving criticism: In any working environment, you will need to give feedback. This may mean critiquing a colleague’s contribution to a project or, if you are team leader, if it may mean continuous engagement to ensure optimal productivity levels. You should give feedback privately, be specific about the situation that you are addressing and ask for the individual’s input and agree on solutions.
3. Managing change: You should embrace change. In any work environment and in life in general changes happen. And while certain shifts may take a long time to adjust to, you must manage how you respond. Within your team, ensure that thoughts are shared publicly in the group, focus on the potential positive outcomes and ask and answer related questions.
4. Creative thinking: It is not enough to be able to identify challenges and flag issues. Work creatively to find solutions even when there are limited resources. Focus only on what you do have, brainstorm and make it work.
5. Empathy: Genuine and cordial relationships are essential to creating productive and peaceful work environments. You should be able to understand and relate well to other team members. And this may even mean respectfully engaging with people even when you disagree.
6. Negotiation: Successful negotiations are fair. Ensure that you assess the other side’s perspective. Have multiple counter offers ready, be willing to make concessions for your team. You will need this skill internally within the organisation to discuss job offers, benefits and allowances and salary increases. Also, externally when dealing with clients and possibly vendors and competitors.
7. Good judgement: You will need to actively listen, be supportive and empathetic and pay close attention to people and understand their motives in order to develop good judgement.

Bringing these core traits with you, no matter your job role, will ensure that you will excel. They are simple and basic skills that you will be able to return to in your career.

Sources: Forbes, Monster, The Muse and Business Insider.