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Everyday Life Skills for the Workplace

life-skills-workBy Amy Klimek
Online Career Tips, Special Contributor

When a company says they want someone who has the ability to work in a fast-paced environment, they are saying they want someone with good time management skills. Most job seekers think time management is as simple as getting to work on time on a consistent basis.

The reality is time management involves how much work you actually get done in a work day. Yes you may work 40 hours a week, but do you get 40 hours worth of work done?

So how do you know if you have time management skills? Take some time to think about how your typical day goes. Do you come up with a set plan each morning or do you fly by the seat of your pants? If the idea of having a set schedule each day makes you uncomfortable it is a sign you’re time management skills aren’t as good as they could be.

No matter how good you think you are at getting everything done without a plan, you will always have gotten it done more efficiently if you had a plan beforehand.

Being able to lay out and execute a plan is crucial in any line of business. Today’s work environment is faster, and employees are constantly asked to multi-task. The only way to multi-task efficiently is to be able to micro-manage your time.

You can improve your time management skills for the workplace by being conscious on how you use your time throughout the day. The first thing to do is time all of your activities for a week. Everything from showering to sleeping. The idea is you’ll be able to plan your time much more efficiently if you know how long each task takes. This skill will transfer to the workplace when you have to juggle more than one project at once.

Another way to improve your time management skills is a daily morning goal setting session. Buy a dry-erase board and hang it somewhere you walk by every day. Put your three most important tasks up on the board each day. Seeing the goal in a concrete fashion will inspire action.

Organizational Skills

Take a minute to look at the current state of your room or work area. Is everything a mess or does everything have its place? This will give you a good idea of the state of your organizational skills. As a job seeker it is crucial to realize the value someone with good organizational skills has for a company.

In a typical corporate office a lot of memos and emails get sent across departments, and those who are unorganized often slip and miss something they were supposed to do. This could be something minor, or it could be a slip that costs the company serious money. Companies know they can avoid this headache by hiring those with quality organizational skills.

Taking the aforementioned actions to improve your time management skills and your organizational skills will improve by default. Time management focuses on getting in the habit of timing specific tasks in the workplace and organization focuses on using this information to form a plan which maximizes the efficiency of each day.

Interpersonal Skills

“Personable” is one of the most common strengths job seekers list on their resumes. What exactly does being a “people person” mean?

The problem is everyone thinks they’re a people person. Most people think of their positive relationships, so of course everyone thinks they’re personable. There are a few key indicators in your personal life you can analyze to utilize your social skills in the workplace.

The first area to analyze is how you treat those who you have some degree of control over. A good example would be if you have a child. How do you handle defiance? Do you lose your patience quickly or do you have the self-control to keep your emotions in check and focus on the task at hand? Being able to motivate those below you to not only do what you ask but see what you’re asking is most beneficial to both parties is essential in moving up to leadership roles within a company.

Another area to analyze is how you handle authority. If you get defensive by thinking people are trying to control you when they offer suggestions, then you may have authority issues. The best way to work past this is to see the situation from your boss’s point of view. When you pretend you’re the boss and look at the situation objectively, you will often realize the reasoning behind the suggestion. If you still find the request irrational, then practice deep breathing to calm yourself. Inhale through the nose for four seconds, hold the breath for seven seconds, and exhale for eight seconds. Repeat this pattern until you feel yourself calming down.

Finally, look at how you treat people you don’t know or like. Everyone treats the people they like well, but you can tell a lot about a person by how they treat someone they don’t like. Many career fields involve customer service in some aspect, and not every customer is going to be nice. You have to have the ability to realize a customer is never attacking you personally.

Today’s job seekers and employers alike need to shed their abstract definition of their skill set and realize the most marketable skills they have are the ones they use in their daily lives. Great time management, efficient organization, and quality interpersonal skills are three everyday life skills that when blended together can land a job seeker their perfect job.

 About the Author

Amy Klimek is an experienced HR recruiter and VP of Human Resources for ZipRecruiter, a company that simplifies the hiring process for small to medium size businesses. Prior to that Amy has held similar roles at Rent.com, eBay and US Interactive. For Amy, corporate culture isn’t about dogs and free lunches, it’s about empowering employees and creating an enriching environment for people to excel.

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