All managers at whatever level in the organisation from  the most junior with responsibility for a few staff to the person at the top responsible for everyone’s wellbeing and effectiveness need some key interpersonal skills to help their staff to grow and learn as well as develop their own skills. The goal is to make the organisation not only successful but also innovative and forward-thinking.

It is possible to classify key interpersonal skills under two headings: SUPPORTING BEHAVIOURS and INNOVATING BEHAVIOURS.

Supporting behaviours

These are the most important interpersonal skills for an effective organisation

• Building Consensus – this is about understanding the skills of managing conflict resolution and managing agreement
• Focusing on priorities – helping staff to become more effective is not about supporting them to work harder per se. Its not about efficiency-efficiency is about doing the right job, effectiveness is about doing the right job right. A manager’s job is to make sure staff are doing the right job right.
• Leading by example – Managers can’t expect staff to follow their leadership if it is perceived that the rules the manager want to enforce are not being followed by him/herself. This is not about doing a staff member’s job for them, it means doing the manager’s job appropriately. At its simplest it is about self discipline.