Your ability to work well with others鈥攜our people skills鈥攊s a valuable ability. Learn more about key people skills to feature on your resume.
Working with others鈥攁nd working well with others鈥攊s often a key part of many jobs. People skills, sometimes called interpersonal skills, are important traits you can develop or strengthen to create stronger relationships and improve how you work with others. As automation continues to escalate, 鈥渢he need for finely tuned social and emotional skills will rapidly grow鈥 by 2030, according to a skills report from McKinsey [].
In this article, we鈥檒l review several important people skills you can build or refine to succeed in your role.
People skills are typically used in social situations to work with others, be they colleagues, managers, clients, or some other type of work-related relationship.
People skills are essential because most people do not work alone. Even though you may work independently at times, you likely have relationships at鈥攐r as part of鈥攚ork. It鈥檚 vital to build and maintain those relationships. In fact, refining your people skills throughout your career can bolster other valuable job skills, such as technical and workplace skills.
The vast majority of people skills draw on some emotional or social component. The list below gathers the top people skills with examples of what they look like in the workplace. If you鈥檙e interested in strengthening your people skills, we鈥檝e developed a helpful guide for just that purpose.
Emotional intelligence is your ability to understand and manage your emotions and those of others. Developing greater emotional intelligence can be useful when it comes to regulating how you feel at work and cultivating greater self-awareness, empathy, and social skills.
Emotional intelligence looks like:
Thinking through situations carefully before reacting
Avoiding judging others
Problem-solving in a way that benefits everyone
Workplace communication varies, often entailing an array of written and verbal efforts, and understanding how to communicate clearly and effectively with your colleagues. Being strategic about the way you communicate can lead to smoother interactions and better results.
Communication looks like:
Listening to and engaging with what others have to say
Asking questions to gather more information
Being concise rather than over-explaining a message
Learn more about key communication skills.
Teamwork鈥攐r collaboration鈥攊s an essential people skill. Collaboration often means working towards a shared goal, which requires several abilities, including communicating, establishing responsibilities, and managing your time strategically.
Collaboration looks like:
Making sure everyone understands the central goal
Establishing communication preferences and methods
Trusting colleagues to do their part
In the workplace, it鈥檚 important to listen to others and hear what they鈥檙e saying. This skill is especially critical in facilitating strong relationships. With active listening, you should make eye contact, develop thoughtful body language, focus on what the other person is saying, and ask relevant questions.
Active listening looks like:
Concentrating on what someone has to say rather than thinking of your response
Smiling, making eye contact, or nodding to show engagement
Paraphrasing what someone has said and asking questions to gather more information
When you work with others, it鈥檚 essential to be flexible. Sometimes plans or projects change, and flexibility can help keep things on track and running smoothly. Being flexible may also mean reordering tasks according to new priorities.
Flexibility looks like:
Approaching things with an open mind
Remaining calm when things change
Developing contingency plans to make pivoting easier
Being a supportive colleague, team member, or manager is crucial to building and developing relationships in the workplace. You can be supportive by offering encouraging words or helpful actions, like reorganizing a project to distribute the workload more equitably.
Support looks like:
Checking in with colleagues and seeing how they鈥檙e doing
Offering advice to those open to hearing your perspective
Being positive when listening to others
Respecting those you work with, ranging from your immediate colleagues to any outside vendors you may encounter, helps lead to stronger and more positive relationships. Actively listening to what others say and respecting their perspective鈥攅ven if you don鈥檛 always agree鈥攃reates structured, safe workspaces.
Respect looks like:
Responding to emails or messages in a timely fashion
Expressing gratitude
Apologizing if you do something that hurts or offends someone
Being patient can help you do your work with less stress and contribute to teams and projects more smoothly. To cultivate patience, it鈥檚 helpful to recognize when you feel impatient and what may be causing that, and then take steps to develop better structures, organization, or time management.
Patience looks like:
Noticing what鈥檚 causing your impatience
Letting things you can鈥檛 control go
Establishing priorities so you can better manage your deadlines
While you should aim to be respectful and supportive when working with others, there may be times you鈥檒l need to be assertive. This skill is more about cultivating confidence and calm so that you can strategically communicate your ideas to others and stand up for what you believe.聽
Assertiveness looks like:
Speaking up when you have an idea, using 鈥淚 think鈥 or 鈥淚 believe鈥 statements
Making eye contact when speaking to others
Saying 鈥渘o鈥 when you can鈥檛 handle additional work requests
Similar to assertiveness, being able to negotiate with others鈥攚hich tends to involve active listening and compromise鈥攊s a valuable asset. It can help avoid larger conflicts and is an excellent way to use valuable problem-solving skills.
Negotiation looks like:
Holding a discussion to facilitate clear communication
Being honest about your needs or goals
Thinking creatively about potential solutions
When you work alongside others, conflict might arise. Listening to others, hearing what they鈥檙e saying, and identifying a solution to the problem will make for healthier, more long-lasting relationships.
Conflict resolution looks like:
Identifying your emotions
Respecting the other person鈥檚 perspective and how it might differ from yours
Letting things go once you鈥檝e reached a resolution
No matter your role at work, whether an entry-level employee or a manager, developing leadership skills can help you work well with others. Leaders are dependable, organized individuals who listen to what others have to say and communicate clearly and effectively.
Leadership looks like:
Approaching work and others positively
Communicating with others in a timely fashion
Being dependable
Looking for a new skill to add to your resume? Develop critical employability skills with a course on communication from Wharton or interpersonal skills from IBM. Enrol in a free, 7-day trial today.
Or check out a Professional Certificate from Google, IBM, or Meta to develop job-ready skills in areas like UX design, data science, project management, marketing analytics, and sales.
McKinsey and Company. 鈥, https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/skill-shift-automation-and-the-future-of-the-workforce.鈥 Accessed October 9, 2023.
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