Unlike other skills that require a lengthy study, social skills are more of a “learn on the job” kind of skill. Starting from the young years of a child, they learn how to make friends at school, how to ask someone to play with them and how to manage conflict.

It is crucial, however, to continue developing our social skills throughout our adulthood as well, since they are the key to our most important relationships: friendships, relationships with colleagues at work, family etc. Emotional intelligence, the backbone of social skills, allows one to understand another person’s feelings and to put themselves into the other’s shoes. This is the start of a healthy relationship with another person, since it focuses on your ability to acknowledge your own emotions, recognize emotions in others and use that information to guide your behaviour.

This module focuses on aspects of social skills such as work ethics, resolving conflicts, socialising at work, expressing ourselves through emotion, and achieving effective communication with other people. The exercises of the module correspond to the Session Plans developed under the same module, as part of IO2 – Development of the total Jobpackage concept.