We live in a highly competitive society. Becoming better at your craft or knowing how to excel at work, maintain employment or get a job is a major necessity. Therefore, having a career strategy is vital for those who want to be successful professionals in their field. 

By professional career development strategy, I don’t just mean get tons of degrees or certifications, today I have prepared this article to tell you about interpersonal skills you should be developing to stand out at work. Why these skills are important and how they help you grow? Keep on reading!

HIGHLY Recommended Article: How Strong Interpersonal Communication can Boost Productivity?

7 Interpersonal Skills to Stand Out at Work

1. Integrity

Have you ever worked with someone who likes to take advantage of everything? It can be the one who encourages gossips, bad-mouthing others behind their backs, pushing work to each other or under the rug, even copy-pasting the tasks, and so on. 

If we know someone who has done this, among other questionable behaviors, understand that this may indicate a lack of integrity in this person. And, that type of behavior is what makes most work environments toxic and unbearable for most people.

What does Integrity have to do With Standing out at work?

• Integrity is a set of genuine and conscious attitudes, which stands by a principle of human behavior, based on kind values such as a) honesty, b) dignity, c) bravery, and other characteristics that are considered socially virtuous. 
• Integrity is a quality necessary to be successful within and outside the work environment.
• At work, this means taking responsibility for any situation – mainly when something doesn’t happen as planned; mistakes occur. The sooner we put an eye on them, the faster we can resolve and learn from the situation.

Importance of Integrity at Work

In the business and professional setting, values such as honesty and integrity build trust, and trust means more responsibilities, and thus growth. This is valid for professional growth in the corporate ladder, as well as for a start-up trying to acquire and maintain a customer base.

•  Because it helps us always keep close to those of more ethical conduct, which always value coherence, without having to go out stripes to achieve our goals. 

• High Trust in an individual to handle sensitive and critical business matters is only possible when the person being trusted goes by this value

2. Being Easy going with our colleges

Cultivating good relationships wherever we go helps build a good reputation and consistent networking, which is crucial to our professional career, harmoniously collaborating with our co-workers, cooperating, and uniting efforts with the same purpose. 

So how can our happy and receiving mood or personality can make us stand out at work?

• A little friendliness in the workplace can cause us to be seen with respect and admiration by our colleagues and superiors; no one likes the Grinch person neither at work nor at a casual event;

Therefore, a) praising the well-done work of those who live with us, b) collaborating with our team in fulfilling tasks, especially when this is not our responsibility, helps a colleague to learn a new skill and act collaboratively. 

• Choosing to bring a good mood to the table makes work rich and delightful since we will be exchanging information, experiences, and engaging. We should always thank and respect the individuality of others; after all, small actions make a big difference in the daily life of all.

7 Tips for building a good relationship at work

TIPS for Building Good Relationships at Work	How to Build good relations at Work?
Get to know your colleagues.	Start noticing details about them.
Be organized	By standing out short, medium, and long term tasks, we need to accomplish; Turning them into tiny targets so we can get them finished in time.
Be helpful	Show availability to brainstorm a new strategy for his job task if he needs it; after all, you guys are like a team now.
Be able to listen genuinely.	Be present at the moment and don’t multitask or try to cut the person during her speech.
Be punctual	Being on time shows that we care enough to wake up hours ahead and honor our work’s commitment, our work, and respect for every colleague who is willing to the same.
Avoid talking about personal problems.	Analyze the relevance of sharing a particular experience before saying it.
Be nice but not too friendly.	Never create nicknames for colleagues even though you may chat is not good to mix environment work with personal business.

3. Proactivity

Proactivity is the ability to anticipate situations, being prepared to deal with them even before they happen. Thus, it is possible to anticipate a problem and plan our solution independently, without anyone having to tell us what to do.

When we limit ourselves to do only the tasks we have to do, we lack creativity, so we don’t bring any surprises to the table; if we seek a primary path, we need to take the initiative and think outside the box.

5 Characteristics of Proactive People

1. Ability to perceive a problem before it happens;
2. Focus on solving the problem;
3. Plan the necessary attitudes;
4. Prioritize what’s most important;
5. Do not accumulate tasks.

Importance of Proactivity at Work

Proactive people at work take a different view of the world, spending less time on victimization and focusing on bringing responsibility, improving a process, or solving a problem.

Someone with this characteristic shows determination without fear of facing challenges; this is highly valued in the corporate world when choosing new leaders, whether for teams, projects, or new roles.

4. Invest more in your studies

Many people believe that having a college degree is enough for a professional career. Of course, a degree is significant, but in itself, it does not guarantee success, especially in very competitive areas.

It is necessary to invest in postgraduate courses, specialization and updating courses, language courses, and new technologies to stand out at work.

Even if investing in research is fundamental, investment needs to be done smartly. We need to know where and when to take specific courses and whether they will serve us in the future.

For example, it is pointless to invest in a Korean course if we do not intend to live in Korea or our company has no business with that country. Studying this language can be seen as a good hobby, but it can be irrelevant from a professional perspective.

Importance of Investing on our careers

Work is a significant part of our lives, and therefore it is such an essential factor for well-being and satisfaction. That way, when we decide to invest in our career, in our potential, we can reach new heights within it, whether it’s a change of area, a better job, or even a promotion.

Also, in times of crisis, companies need to dry expenses, causing significant cuts in the staff of various departments. In this context, the more qualified the professional is, the less likely he is to suffer a mass dismissal and, if necessary, the greater the chances of getting a new job quickly.

5. Politeness

Most people like to be welcomed with a smile and a good morning; however, it is typical for routine or tiredness to make employees forget to greet their co-workers. This is a rude attitude that can cause a negative impression.

We should do our best to always treat everyone with education and equality; we want to treat others how we liked to be treated; greeting colleagues is a sign of respect and demonstrates that we keep the path open for contact.

4 Essential Rules to Never Break Respect at Work

1. Avoid extravagant clothes, very bold necklines, or dresses unsuitable for a professional setting, such as shorts, sandals, and T-shirts;
2.  Be careful with perfume; it is allowed to be worn, but moderately, so as not to attack the smell of our companions;
3. Keep respect “treat others as you would like to be treated” is already a good start;
4. Even if the company has a more informal and relaxed atmosphere, remember the purpose of all who are there is to work. We should avoid spending too much on the coffee break.

Importance of politeness at Work

Good professional relationships and people revolve around respect, so we should be well-educated and respect co-workers, clients, and hierarchies in the corporate environment.

 Being respectful positively interferes with the organizational climate and strengthens professional ties. This is a natural and easy way to stand out at work.

6. Active Listening

We have two ears and a mouth, and we should use them proportionally.

– Susan Cain.

Knowing how to listen is an essential skill for effective communication. Being able to absorb what others say allows us to arrive at appropriate responses. Great communicators do not create unilateral conversations because, after all, what would be the reason for this?

When we listen actively, we become effective communicators, and therefore in teamwork, we are an asset because we ensure that the ideas of all members are called into question.

Active listeners never try to think of answers while the other is still talking because they don’t want to risk getting lost in what is being said. By keeping the attention under each word of the conversation, good communicators know precisely what fits when it’s time to talk.

7. Show results

Our results are our best weapon. At this point, productivity is also worth considering. After all, it is not very interesting to perform excellent tasks out of time; we need to be productive and present a great job. 

This way, we will stand out for the quality of our services and may even be a reference for other colleagues in the group.

3 Tips for Time-management at Work

Use the Eisenhower Matrix

• Eisenhower’s Matrix is an easy way to define how to prioritize our tasks so that the most important ones are not left out of the sudden or urgent ones;
• The idea is that all our tasks can be distributed in 4 quadrants, with two axes: one of Importance and the other of Urgency;
• These four quadrants receive a value from 1 to 4 based on their priority.

By setting priority tasks, we can organize our time and even develop activities more calmly. It is much easier to meet deadlines, and delivery can be made with higher quality!

Don’t Multitask

Avoid performing multiple activities simultaneously; this causes us to lose focus, fail to perform the tasks well, and even fail to complete them, spending valuable time and generating frustrations by not finishing the day’s obligations.

Pause

Taking breaks during the work period helps us optimize time., when we rest a little between one activity and another, drink water, have a coffee, go to the bathroom, walk a little, it makes all the difference!

When we return to our activities, our brain will be rested able to focus more on our tasks; this helps us be more productive and, consequently, optimize the time spent on each job.

Conclusion

If we want to stand out at work, our resume cannot be the only good thing we will present; we have to improve our interpersonal skills so we can genuinely show our business co-workers how to fit we are to the job we are in or we aspire to be in it.

Reference and Further Reading

AMADEBAI, Emidio. 7 Indicators of Good and Bad Social Skills. Ace The Presentation.

AMADEBAI, Emidio. TOP 7 BENEFITS OF STRONG SOCIAL SKILLS AS AN ADULT. Ace The Presentation.

Investopedia. How do Interpersonal Skills Influence Business Culture?

MORIN, Amy. 12 Ways To Improve Social Skills And Make You Sociable Anytime.