We have found that working with teams and organizations on soft skills can be very valuable in improving team camaraderie as well as productivity and profitability. Teaching soft skills like empathy can help your team be more in tune with your clients, their direct reports, other departments, as well as family and friends. The Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence found that training on this type of interpersonal skills showed increases in daily production as high as 20% and also that turnover and absenteeism significantly declined among employees of trained supervisors. At Applied Vision Works we use an exercise called “Walking In Another’s Shoes.” This helps teams gain an appreciation for what feels like to consider the demands and responsibilities of each other’s roles.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view….until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”, Harper Lee wrote in, To Kill A Mockingbird.

 For our exercise, teams are broken into various departments and are asked to guess what the highs, lows, frustrations and rewards are of other departments. This allows each member of the team to know their roles matter and provides valuable insight on how to support each other and to achieve their business goals. This information is invaluable to have during development of the strategic plan for the business.

Some questions to consider:

• Do you regularly provide employees opportunities to voice frustrations, challenges and successes with other departments?

• Do you encourage empathy among departments in your organization?

• Do you ask your team members to unemotionally reflect on areas of conflict from the other people or department’s perspective?

If your organization needs help improving soft skills and conflict resolution that will significantly contribute to your success emotionally and financially, contact our expert guides at 800-786-4332 or email CClemmer@AppliedVisionWorks.com. It only takes 30 minutes to get started!