The importance of people skills in every aspect of your life—but especially in your professional development—really can’t be overemphasized. No matter what industry you plan to enter after you graduate, knowing how to effectively build relationships and deal with conflict is an essential part of any successful career. But these “soft skills” aren’t ones that are taught in most traditional college curriculums—and if they are, are approached from a theory based perspective that doesn’t replace real-world experience.
So what can you do to develop these crucial abilities? In this article, we’ll break down the types of people skills you’ll want to focus on learning before you enter your career—and a few ways to do just that while completing your undergraduate degree.
People 101: the 6 key skills you’ll need to succeed, no matter your career.
Successfully dealing with people is really about being a good communicator. The six skills covered here all come back to being an effective communicator, and are crucial areas that every student should focus on developing.
Know yourself
Before you can learn how to better interact with the people around you, it’s important to understand who you are and how you prefer to approach social and business situations. For example, if you have a dominant personality type, you may need to learn how to leave room for others and not be too overbearing. On the flip side, if you fall onto the more contentious side of the spectrum, you’ll need to know when to stand up for yourself and your ideas. Taking a personality test like the DiSC Assessment is a great way to begin to understand yourself—and the people around you—more deeply.
Know who you’re talking to
Just like understanding your own personality can help you approach situations of all kinds more strategically, so too, can understanding the personalities of the people you’re interacting with. Developing ways to quickly identify people’s dominant personality traits will help you immensely as you learn how to effectively communicate with those around you. For example, if you’re able to identify that your boss or client is a detail-oriented person, you can come to meetings prepared with as much information as possible to present to them. Similarly, if you know a prospective customer is more conscientious, you can prioritize providing reassurance over nitty-gritty details to earn their trust.
Understand by listening
The best way to quickly understand what motivates the people around you is to listen, and listen closely. When people talk, they offer insight into their intentions, motivations, needs, and desires that go far beyond what they might be saying verbatim. This means that developing your active listening skills—where you’re paying attention not only to what someone is saying, but also how they’re saying it—is extremely important. Listening intently (not just waiting for your turn to speak!) and responding to what you hear with clarity and respect is the fastest way to earn the trust of friends, colleagues, and clients.
Speak clearly
The most effective communicators are those who can express their ideas in ways that are concise and easy to understand, no matter the topic. If you can do that while expressing a bit of your personality at the same time, you’re all but guaranteed to have positive interactions with those around you.
Time it right
Knowing what to say is only half the battle—understanding when to say it can be just as (if not more) important. By actively listening to those around you, you can be on the lookout for windows of opportunity and generate a communication strategy that is most likely to be well received and effective. For example, pitching a potential client to paint their home at the beginning of spring is more likely to be successful than that same pitch would be in the middle of winter. The same logic applies to your college career, too: you’re much more likely to get a helpful response if you email your professor a question about an assignment a week before it is due than if you try to contact them the night before the deadline.
Conflict resolution
Regardless of how well you listen, how clearly you explain yourself, and how good your communication skills are, you will inevitably encounter difficult people and challenging social situations. This is why having a strong set of conflict resolution techniques in your back pocket is so important. We could write endlessly about this particular topic, but here are a few of the most common causes of conflict—and how to resolve them.
- The problem: Unmet expectations. Whether due to a misunderstanding or because someone genuinely dropped the ball, unmet expectations are one of the most common reasons for conflict in the workplace (and life in general!). The key here is to not take things personally, which can cause the situation to escalate. Instead, apologize if necessary—and be sincere, but firm. Then, move onto finding rational, fair ways to address the situation.
- The problem: Someone who knows it all. We’ve all had the misfortune of interacting with someone determined to talk over you or offer advice in your area of expertise at some point. The key here is to be patient, and to use those active listening skills you’ve been practicing. By listening to the “know it all,” you’ll give them a chance to run out of steam on their own—and will likely learn something about their needs in the process that will allow you to respond with expertise and authority.
- The problem: Combative communication. Dealing with someone who is short-tempered, self-centered, and determined to project their general dissatisfaction with life onto you can be extremely challenging. The key here is to keep cool—by remaining calm and collected you have the best chance of de-escalating the situation. That said, when dealing with people who are overly aggressive, it is also important to understand when enough is enough. Maintaining a firm standard for professionalism, and knowing how to walk away when that boundary has been crossed, is key to protecting yourself and those around you.
- The problem: Indecisiveness. It can be frustrating to interact with someone who is overly cautious or who takes an extremely long time (and needs a near-endless stream of questions answered) to make a decision. In this situation, listening and remaining engaged are going to be your best strategies for leading them where you want to go. By doing so, you’ll be able to understand the root of their indecision, and come up with ways to reassure them that they’re making the right choice.
3 ways to develop people skills as an undergraduate student.
While you might learn the theory behind effective communication methods and people management skills in business and psychology classes, nothing beats real-word practice when it comes to developing soft skills. Luckily, college campuses offer plenty of opportunities to do just that.
For the sake of this article, we’re going to focus on ways to flex your professional people skills—but know that your interactions with your roommates, friends, and fellow students also offer plenty of opportunities to put these ideas into practice.
- Campus jobs. Whether you work as a cashier at the student store or as an assistant to faculty in your department, on-campus jobs are many students’ first opportunity to learn how to deal with people in a work setting. These jobs are great ways to practice effective communication and gain experience quickly resolving problems with others.
- Campus organizations. Greek life, clubs, and sports teams all offer plenty of opportunities to practice your people skills. By being an active member of a campus organization, you’ll learn how to effectively deal with many different personality types, will definitely need to resolve some conflicts along the way, and get to know your own personality more deeply.
- Traditional internships. Similarly to campus jobs, internships are a great way to understand how the social skills you already have should be adapted to more corporate settings. The skills you’ll develop most will depend on the type of internship you do, but at a bare minimum, you’ll learn how to listen and observe those around you closely as well as how to communicate clearly and professionally.
Why College Works is the best training ground for developing strong people skills.
Campus jobs and traditional internships go a long way towards helping you lay the foundation for the strong people skills you’ll need to succeed in your career. But the College Works Student Professional Program (SPP) takes people skill development one step further, and gives you the chance to develop all of the crucial skills we’ve covered in this article.
That’s because our interns do more than just sit in on meetings, make copies, and fetch cups of coffee. Instead, they’re trusted to manage every aspect of their own painting business. On any given day while participating in the SPP, you’ll have the chance to…
- talk with potential clients
- communicate with existing clients
- manage job sites
- hire subcontractors
- direct workers on job guidelines
- negotiate with suppliers
- collect from customers
During your time as an intern, you’ll encounter personalities of all types, and will learn how to effectively deal with people when they’re at their best and at their worst. You’ll learn how to listen closely, communicate clearly, and will definitely have the chance to practice some conflict resolution.
College Works offers students a unique opportunity to learn firsthand how interpersonal dynamics play out in the business world. The skills you’ll develop during your internship will be invaluable over the course of your career, and will help you stand out from your peers as you compete for jobs after graduation.
Interested in learning more about how the College Works program can set you up for success? Learn more at our Student Professional Program internship page.