VIII. Skills Part 3: Interpersonal Skills

We're going into the final sprint. After focusing on the skills you can influence as an individual, we will focus on the interpersonal aspects. This is a very short chapter, only 2 lessons are on the program:

• Social skills. This includes all the skills you need as a future employee in order to successfully integrate yourself into the social system "company".
  
  
• Leadership. This includes all those skills that are necessary for the assumption of temporary management tasks, for example in a project, and long-term, hierarchical management tasks.

You know what social competencies and leadership competencies are.

You know the difference between basic skills and advanced skills.

You know why you need these competencies to be successful in your job.

You know how to integrate these competencies into your own communication strategy.

You know how to identify these skills in real life situations, based on the cases and the videos.

Humans are social beings. To make social systems (groups, departments, etc.) work, all group members have to follow certain rules (compare to this and to the following): Aronson, E./Wilson, T. D./Akert, R. M./Sommers, S. R.: Social Psychology, Harlow, 2015, PP 246. And PP. 289.). If an individual now wants to join a group, he or she must act in accordance with the norms, rules, etc. of a group so that he or she is accepted by the rest of the members and becomes part of the group. In companies there are two different categories of these rules. There are guidelines for the behaviour of employees, which are regulated in the employment contract, for example the prohibition of the private use of social networks during working hours.  But many rules are not laid down in official documents, often colleagues assume that these rules are known. This is often a stumbling block for new entrants who can unintentionally violate them, for example:

• There are companies that have a very collegial, very casual way of dealing with each other. Maybe they also do something together privately. A completely wrong interpretation of this collegial corporate culture would be a post in a WhatsApp group that you are having fun in your own garden because you think that you have done enough work today. Anyone who does something like this violates a very important rule. You can do something like that, but such a post could cause envy among colleagues. They could then denounce you to your boss, which could have negative consequences for you. This unwritten rule can be deduced by thinking for yourself.
  
  
• In every company there are grey eminences. They have a very big influence but act mostly in the background. If you want to successfully complete your first project as a young employee, it is extremely important that you secure the goodwill of these grey eminences. If they are not involved in the decision-making process, they may build up adversaries without your knowledge. In your first project, carefully ask your colleagues about the people in the company who should be involved in decision-making, even if they are not hierarchical superiors.
  
  

What skills do you need to be successful in such a social system?

1. Self-regulation. In order to integrate yourself into a social system, you have to be in control of yourself. So think carefully about the extent to which you need to work on yourself in terms of these abilities.

2. Communication skills. Your colleagues are not clairvoyants, only by asking questions can you find out how the departments and collaboration works. Talk to your colleagues, this is better than making assumptions about behaviour and rules. Vital part of socio-communication competences including prior experiences and the personal position regarding communication. The topic includes listening skills as well as communication skills when talking in groups and written and verbal communication. (Heyse, V./Erpenbeck, J.: Kompetenztraining, Schäfer-Poeschel Verlag Stuttgart, 2009, P. 259)

3. Teamwork. Without teamwork you won't get far, so you should critically question your ability to work in a team. Act with integrity and act as a reliable, trustworthy colleague in combination with the ability and willingness to work in teams, to accept thoughts and opinions of others and develop them further.  (Heyse, V./Erpenbeck, J.: Kompetenztraining, Schäfer-Poeschel Verlag Stuttgart, 2009, P322)

4. Appreciation of Diversity. In international companies you will find teams that are made up of international people. In this context, it is important that you not only accept foreign cultures, but also learn to understand them.

As always, we distinguish between the 2 different levels, basic and advanced forms:

• Basic Forms: The ability to handle social interactions effectively. In business life that means to be able to communicate with the people surrounding you, make small talk and – over all - be well-respected. 
  
  
• Advanced Forms: The ability to influence complex social interactions effectively. Being aware of social barriers and having the ability to solve them. You have a good reputation among the people surrounding you, show empathy and work well even when situations are stressful or difficult. People listen to you and you have the possibility to influence a social system.

A good teacher is integrated very well into different social systems, classes. He or she has a great responsibility to educate pupils in the right way. Please open the attached PDF file. Enjoy the interview with Dr. Christian Bauer.

Interview Dr. Bauer (PDF)

Please assign the interpersonal skills to the right slots.

• How do people react to me? Can you explain why the others react like that?
  
  
• Which of your actions in your social environment lead to which reactions of your social environment?
  
  
• Do I communicate well with others and what kind of reactions do I get?
  
  
• Am I open for criticism/suggestions from colleagues and supervisors?
  
  
• Do you like working in an international team?
  • What do you like about it (5 topics)?
  • Where do you see challenges?
  • How do you cope with those challenges?
    
    
• How do you react when colleagues/superiors/customers are moody?
  
  
• Do you have the possibility to give a complete social system, e.g. a project team during your studies, a certain direction without forcing them just by convincing them?

• How often did you produce a valuable outcome with the team?
  • Once in your lifetime,
  • a few times in your lifetime,
  • very often,
  • this is my standard, I love working in a team

(1)    Do you have a story, an experience, etc. that has something to do with social competencies during your studies or during your professional career? If you spend a semester abroad or you conducted an internship abroad, congratulations – you have the ideal topic. Most of the future employers will understand the challenge coming with an internship/semester abroad: different rules, different culture, different behavior, different language. If you manage these challenges successfully, you have objective evidence for your intercultural competencies.

(2)    Make a few notes and try to create a section of the website or a blog article that covers in an unobtrusive and intelligent way that topic.

When you hear the word leadership, one usually immediately thinks of hierarchical leadership positions, but this would be too short. We distinguish 2 different categories:

• Category 1: temporary management tasks. This includes all management tasks that arise, for example, in the context of projects. In most companies these are the first steps to find out whether you are qualified for long-term management tasks. Perhaps you were able to undertake such management tasks during your studies. If you have worked in a student organization (student management consultancy, Konvent, etc.) you may already have taken on certain tasks together with other students. If you were responsible for the outcome, you have already gained your first leadership experience.
  
  
• Category 2: long-term, hierarchical management tasks. As the name suggests, these are formal management positions that you occupy in the hierarchy of a company. Perhaps you could already occupy such a position during your studies. Were you on the board of a student consultancy or responsible for a position in a student association?
  
  

To qualify for these tasks you will need the following skills (for more details see Hughes R. L./Ginnet R.C./Curphy G.J.: Leadership - Enhancing the Lessons of Experience, New York, 2014. The following clusters are a summary from this book.):

• Guide others. In order to lead others, one should master basic skills such as defining and communicating goals/information, allocating tasks and assessing the performance of employees. An important skill of a future manager is also the delegation of tasks. If you try to do everything yourself, you will quickly become overloaded and do less. In order to successfully manage this, however, one must also be able to communicate expectations, concrete results and quality standards in such a way that everyone understands it. This is a big difference to the previous lesson, because communicating among colleagues is different from leading colleagues.
  
  
• Resource Allocation. In order to manage efficiently and effectively, you need to be able to assess the skills of employees or colleagues. This analytical ability is completed by the ability to deploy employees according to their abilities.
  
  
• Personal Mindset. Here you should ask yourself if you have the right mindset to lead other people. In any case, you should have a basic confidence in the performance of your employees and colleagues, because permanent control can be a very big stress factor. An important point here is also the making of unpleasant decisions, for example the sanctioning of malpractice or even the release of employees. If you cannot imagine such a task, you should consider whether you intend to take on management tasks.
  
  

As always, we distinguish between the 2 different levels, basic and advanced forms:

• Basic Forms: Ability to guide, support, encourage and influence others and share knowledge and inspire others. When getting your first own projects, be aware of your capabilities and limitations and know the team you are working with in order to complete a project successfully. 
  
  
• Advanced Forms: Ability to guide, support, mentor, encourage and influence others, passing on knowledge, expertise and training where possible. Leading people as a permanent task is challenging yet rewarding. It is important to know and organize yourself well in order to lead others, mediate in stressful situations and align with the goals of the company.

Let‘s peek into the daily life of a computer scientist. Prof. Dr. Benedikt Elser is telling you about his former job, he was working for the Deutsche Bahn, responsible for big data management within that big Corporation.

Now let’s talk about the skills Prof. Dr. Elser mentioned during the interview. Please assign the interpersonal and a few selected intrapersonal skills to the right slots.

Second example for a leadership position. This time from a different perspective, because Mr. Behammer build up recently a completely new business unit. He had to hire many people, he had to develop a working environment and to make the new business unit profitable. Enjoy the interview.

Now let’s assign the skills Mr. Behammer mentioned during the interview.

• Have you ever done something that motivated others or built enthusiasm? Give 3 examples and say what went well and what did not went well.
  
  
• Have you ever had to lead people? If yes, was it easy for you to give instructions? Were you able to motivate others? If no: seize the next opportunity to lead a team and gain experience, start with small projects.
  
  
• How do you feel yourself when making important decisions. Do you stick to your decisions?
  
  
• Think about your best friend. When being asked about you, would he/she agree that you are able to delegate tasks and trust others that they do their tasks well?

(1)    Do you have a story, an experience, etc. that has something to do with leadership tasks during your studies or during your professional career?

1. You already got to know a few examples above. But there are more:
   
   
2. Taking over temporary management tasks in a learning group (e.g. organising a learning group)
   
   
3. Have you been a tutor? Not of course you have to explain the material successfully, but maybe you also have to motivate your fellow students.
   
   
4. Which projects did you successfully lead during your studies and bring to a successful end together with other students?
   
   
5. Are there any other projects, for example in a sports club, that you have successfully led and completed?
   
   
6. Did you perform permanent management tasks (student organizations) at the university?
   
   
7. Have you performed permanent management tasks outside the university (association, voluntary work, etc.)?
   
   
8. Etc.
   
   

(2)    Make a few notes and try to create a section of the website or a blog article that covers in an unobtrusive and intelligent way that topic.