Interpersonal Skills Including Communication Skills

What the official syllabus says

Preliminary Examination, Paper-II, General Studies-II:

• Interpersonal skills including communication skills.

The syllabus names the area but not its contents. Questions on it can take the form of short situations in an office, a public meeting or a team, with options to choose the most fitting response. The breakdown below covers the ideas such questions draw on.

Topics in detail

The communication process

• Elements: sender, message, channel or medium, receiver, feedback and context
• Encoding and decoding: why a message can be understood differently from what was meant
• One-way and two-way communication; the role of feedback
• Formal and informal channels in an organisation; the grapevine
• Upward, downward and lateral communication in a hierarchy

Kinds of communication

• Verbal: oral and written
• Non-verbal: body language, gestures, eye contact, posture, facial expression
• Paralanguage: tone, pitch, pace and pauses
• Listening: hearing compared with active listening; paraphrasing and asking questions
• Written communication in an office: notes, letters, emails, minutes, notices

Barriers and how to overcome them

• Physical barriers: noise, distance, poor medium
• Semantic barriers: jargon, ambiguous words, language differences
• Psychological barriers: prejudice, emotions, closed mind, status difference
• Organisational barriers: too many levels, rigid rules, information overload
• Overcoming them: clarity, simple language, checking understanding, empathy

Interpersonal skills

• Empathy and sensitivity to other people's situation
• Respect, courtesy and patience, especially with citizens and subordinates
• Teamwork and cooperation; sharing credit and responsibility
• Leadership: guiding, motivating and delegating
• Giving and receiving feedback and criticism constructively
• Assertiveness compared with aggressiveness and passivity
• Managing one's own emotions under pressure
• Building trust and keeping commitments

Conflict and negotiation

• Sources of conflict: interests, values, roles, misunderstanding
• Ways of handling conflict: avoiding, accommodating, competing, compromising, collaborating
• Negotiation for an outcome both sides can accept
• Mediating between colleagues or groups of citizens

Situations in public service

• Dealing with an angry or distressed member of the public
• Communicating with groups of different language, caste, religion or class with equal respect
• Explaining a government decision or rule clearly and politely
• Working with a difficult superior or an uncooperative colleague
• Handling the media and public meetings

Answering situation questions

• Prefer the option that solves the problem while respecting the people involved and the rules.
• Options that ignore the problem, pass it on, or respond with anger or threats are usually weakest.
• Read every option: two may look right, and the better one is often the more constructive and fair.

Overlaps

• Attitude, emotional intelligence and values in public service are studied in depth for General Studies IV (ethics).
• The Personality Test judges expression and personality in person.