Negotiations,
whether personal or professional, are part and parcel
of our daily life. However, the hue of these negotiations
changes with the context.
Corporate negotiations are often hard-nosed and are approached
with a win-lose attitude. Successful negotiations are
a consequence of mental attitudes towards the obtaining
issues. Quite often attitudes mar negotiations. Soft skills
play a major role in many organizational activities which
include negotiations. The ‘soft’ side of negotiations
is discussed by Reena Raj in her article “Business
Negotiations: A ‘Soft’ Perspective”.
To
be a leader one has to understand people. Human beings
are a bundle of values, thoughts, beliefs and emotions,
which interact among themselves and manifest in human
behavior. Unless an individual understands the interactions
between other individuals and more importantly within
him/her, it becomes difficult for him/her to interact
effectively with people. Emotional intelligence deals
with the understanding of emotions within the self and
the others. Subhashini P, in her article “The Intelligent
Act of Emotions”, discusses emotional intelligence
in the contexts of personal and professional lives.
Interpersonal relations to a large extent depend upon
the communication skills of individuals. The state of
communications within an organization depends upon a number
of variables. A healthy environment promotes effective
communications within the organizations resulting in good
interpersonal relations, which further result in better
organizational effectiveness. Our culture affects the
way we communicate, particularly women, upon whom a number
of factors impinge.
This
in turn affects their professional relationships at the
workplace.
R
Krishnaveni and R Thamaraiselvi in their paper “Interpersonal
Skills of Professional Women: A Psychological Approach”,
discuss the factors affecting the professional relationships
of women at the workplace.
The existing corporate environment imposes a great amount
of stress on the various executives who are all part of
the process. Stress not only affects the mental and physical
health of the executives but also the financial health
of the companies. What is stress and how do executives
perceive it? Suvarna Sen discusses this in her article
“Executives and the Stress Factor”.
Branding and brand development of products have been an
ongoing process for a long time now. Similarly, a large
number of companies engage in selling their image to the
public at large. As a result, companies who have established
their image/brand enjoy certain reputation, which further
extends to their products.
As
part of the process to further their image, companies
are increasingly making a pitch for prospective and existing
employees. This is being done with a view to attract and
retain the best talent available. Much of their efforts
concentrate on the ‘softer’ side of the company
and its HR practices. Soumya Gaddam examines these issues
in her article “Modeling Employer Branding Communication:
The Softer Aspect of HR Marketing Management”.
When we look at the word ‘communication’, a
majority of us limit its scope to language skills as a
means of developing good interpersonal relationships.
In fact, it encompasses every aspect of human behavior.
Effective communication skills require a high degree of
sensitivity to the purpose of communication, cultural
context, the receivers’ attitudes and a host of other
factors. Effective communication skills are also required
in therapeutic settings/contexts, where sensitivities
are heightened. Kavita Shastri reviews a very relevant
book, which deals with such communication—“Therapeutic
Communication: Developing Professional Skills”, written
by Herschell Knapp.
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T D Prasad
Consulting Editor
