What is teamwork?

Teams are groups of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose
and hold themselves mutually accountable for its achievement. Ideally, they develop a distinct
identity and work together in a co-ordinated and mutually supportive way to fulfil their goal or
purpose. Task effectiveness is the extent to which the team is successful in achieving its task-
related objectives. Shared goals are most likely to be achieved through working together and
pooling experience and expertise. Successful teams are characterised by a team spirit based
around trust, mutual respect, and helpfulness and – at best – friendliness. Simply bringing people
together does not necessarily ensure they will function effectively as a team or make appropriate
decisions. Teams are composed of people who have a variety of emotional and social needs
which the team can either frustrate or help to meet. Teamwork indifference – failing to take
action to promote good teamwork – is a strategy likely to result in mediocre performance.

Effective teamwork results from:

 a team whose membership, size and resources match the task

 good leadership and attention to team-building
 commitment by team members to understand and identify with one another's goals
 the development of team goals – a shared vision
 a sense of common ownership of the task at hand and joint responsibility for its
achievement
 co-ordinated effort and planned sharing of tasks evenly across the team the
 open exchange of information within the team
 honesty and frankness among team members.

Effective teamwork may be undermined by a variety of problems, for example: disorganisation,

poor communication, misunderstandings or inadequate procedures for problem-solving. Team
functioning can be weakened by obstacles faced by individual members within the team, as well
as by difficulties linked to the task.

Benefits of successful teams

Improvements in participants' confidence, attitudes, motivation and personal satisfaction greater

clarity in expressing ideas through group discussion better understanding by individuals of the
nature of their contribution –and of the needs of other team members more efficient use of
resources – especially time greater optimism – by focusing on positive outcomes and putting less
weight on problems a wider range of ideas rather than individuals working in isolation more
effective responses to changes – improved trust and communication help a team to adapt to new
circumstances.

Potential drawbacks of teamwork

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So-called 'group think' can occur when a team is lulled into a false sense of satisfaction and loses
its critical edge. Team members can waste time and energy in disputes and some members may
opt out of the process – 'social loafing' – leaving others to do all the work. This can occur
particularly when people feel they are dispensable.

Selecting Team Members

Team members of high ability contribute most to a team when other members are also of high
ability. However, in forming and managing a team, it is important to consider not only
individuals' technical skills, knowledge and experience but also their ability to co-ordinate
actions and their inter-personal qualities.

In selecting potential members, it is important to look for people who will work constructively
with others and have a willingness to grow and develop within the team. Preferably, team
members will be selected who are able to:

 commit to a shared goal

 listen and respond to others in an objective and productive way
 take on different roles in the group in order to accomplish shared ends
 be open and honest with their ideas, concerns and values
 avoid carrying hidden agendas into team meetings.

Those unlikely to work well as team members are individuals who seek to maintain their position
by protecting their experience or who prefer to work alone and unaided and are unwilling to
discuss their assumptions, negotiate options or explain solutions.

Leadership in Teamwork

Leadership is critical to teamwork. The team leader is the person responsible for ensuring that
members work effectively together to achieve their goal or objective and must facilitate the co-
operation necessary for the team to perform well. The leader must also ensure that the team has
the resources and information necessary to complete its task.

The leader should be a role model for the team –good at communicating openly and honestly and
winning the respect and trust of all involved. Creating opportunities for team members to
participate and contribute to the task constructs a sense of common ownership of both the
problem and its solution.

Overall the leader needs to:

 Create a supportive climate of openness, trust and mutual respect that promotes loyalty
and co-operation and provides a 'blame free' culture
 Assist the team to forge a clearly articulated vision with clear objectives and goals

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class – II),

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  Identify team goals and objectives that are compatible with individual members' own
goals
 Devise a work plan in which each member is allocated clearly defined tasks that are
meaningful and challenging for that individual
 Gain commitment from team members to complete the task and, on occasion, inspire
them “to go the extra mile”
 Ensure that all members feel their contribution is visible to, and valued by, the team as a
whole
 Ensure there is regular, clear and accurate feedback to the team on its performance over
time
 Be willing to share credit for the team's successes with the entire team.

A confident and effective team leader looks to the team for answers and welcomes constructive
challenges and suggestions for alternative courses of action. He or she needs to be able to deal
with conflict constructively through the processes of mediation or negotiation. On occasion, the
leader must be prepared to take difficult decisions and be willing to explain the basis on which
they have been taken.
Socially, the leader should be aware of participants' loyalties to people or organizations outside
the team. Also, the leader has to be seen as a fair and impartial mediator of interpersonal issues,
whose focus is on members co-operating to achieve goals. Without this ability, the leader will
fail to gain the respect necessary to help team members.

Write a note on ‘teamwork’.

The ability to work as part of a team is one of the most important skills in today’s job market.
Employers are looking for workers who can contribute their own ideas, but also want people
who can work with others to create and develop projects and plans.

Teamwork is an essential part of workplace success. Like a basketball team working together to
set up the perfect shot, every team member has a specific role to play in accomplishing tasks on
the job. Although it may seem as if one player scored the basket, that basket was made possible
by many people‟s planning, coordination, and cooperation to get that player the ball. Employers
look for people who not only know how to work well with others, but who understand that not
every player on the team can or will be the one who gets the ball. When everyone in the
workplace works together to accomplish goals, everyone achieves more.

Teamwork involves building relationships and working with other people using a number of
important skills and habits:

• Working cooperatively

• Contributing to groups with ideas, suggestions, and effort

• Communication (both giving and receiving)

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• Sense of responsibility

• Healthy respect for different opinions, customs, and individual preferences

• Ability to participate in group decision-making

When employees work together to accomplish a goal, everyone benefits. Employers might
expect to “see” this in action in different ways. For example, team members in the workplace
plan ahead and work cooperatively to assign tasks, assess progress, and deliver on time. They
have professional discussions during which differing approaches and opinions might be shared
and assessed in a respectful manner. Even when certain employees end up with tasks that were
not their first choices, jobs get done with limited complaints because it is in the spirit of
teamwork and with the overall goal in mind. A leader or manager may often serve as the
teamwork facilitator. In this case, team members participate respectfully in discussion, carry out
assigned tasks, and defer to the leader in the best interest of the goal. Consensus is wonderful,
but not always possible, and an assigned leader will often support and facilitate the decision-
making necessary for quality teamwork to exist.

5 Reasons Why Effective Teamwork is Important for all

Organizations
Teamwork is a term used for joining the efforts of bringing members in a project or business
together to achieve a common goal. The members of the teamwork together effectively as a
group with the aim of increasing productivity and performance.

Here are 5 reasons why effective teamwork is essential in any organization:

1. Teamwork creates a smoother and looser structure by developing a friendly

environment, where leaders are not trying to be bosses but rather work together with
members of a team. This helps build strong bonds between the members.
2. Encourages flexibility since by working and communicating together teams enable
different perspectives to be considered and thus allow the business to respond to change
faster.
3. Enhances problem-solving by combining different solutions, abilities, and talents into
one big productive unit and allows new ideas to flourish and goals to be achieved faster.
4. Improves productivity since the performance and knowledge of an individual are
limited compared with a group of varied skill sets.
5. Motivates the workforce and creates a healthy environment between the team-
members as which is essential given that most people spend time with their colleagues
more than they do with their friends.

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Smart leaders encourage good teamwork and give teams the authority to make decisions based
on what they see is right. Smart individuals learn how to work well within a team since that is
becoming more and more important in all fields of work.

Great teamwork translates to great performance when it is managed well.

5 Important Reasons Why Teamwork Matters!

Being a master of one or a jack-of-all-trades in today‟s world does not bring about success if you are
unable to work as part of a team. The importance of teamwork cannot be stressed enough!

However, it‟s hard to get a group of individuals to work together smoothly. Don‟t you agree?

Look:

A leader that can‟t work with a team, is a failure!

Leaders that develop great teams around them have two things that they do well:

 they have a lot of emotional intelligence and

 are able to provide a clear vision for the team.

Well, you are probably wondering what the team members need to have:

The team members themselves also need to possess high emotional intelligence so that they
interact with each other with the least amount of friction.

The importance of teamwork is essential in today‟s multidisciplinary world. In the past, during the
industrial era when most jobs were represented by people on a manufacturing line doing one thing all day
– teamwork wasn‟t as important as it is today.

In today‟s knowledge economy, most of our jobs involve interacting with others that are not even
in the same line of profession. The need for effective teamwork is critical for any business.

The ability to simultaneously perform as an individual and together with your colleagues or
employees in effective teamwork is a key element to attaining growth and success.

In every aspect of a business, the diverse skills of teams are needed for reaching success. Make
use of every opportunity you have to engage in teamwork so you develop effective
communication skills.

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Steve Jobs changed the whole pattern of living with his innovative and creative mind. However,
without his team of hard-working professionals and their abilities, his innovations would not
have reached the hands of so many people around the world.

In effect, teamwork is important and essential in order to accomplish the overall objectives and
goals of an organization.

The following 5 reasons summarize the importance of

teamwork and why it matters to you:
 Teamwork motivates unity in the workplace

A teamwork environment promotes an atmosphere that fosters friendship and loyalty.

These close-knit relationships motivate employees in parallel and align them to work
harder, cooperate and be supportive of one another.

Individuals possess diverse talents, weaknesses, communication skills, strengths, and

habits. Therefore, when a teamwork environment is not encouraged this can pose many
challenges towards achieving the overall goals and objectives. This creates an
environment where employees become focused on promoting their own achievements
and competing against their fellow colleagues. Ultimately, this can lead to an unhealthy
and inefficient working environment.

When teamwork is working the whole team would be motivated and working toward the
same goal in harmony.

 Teamwork offers differing perspectives and feedback

Good teamwork structures provide your organization with a diversity of thought,

creativity, perspectives, opportunities, and problem-solving approaches. A proper team
environment allows individuals to brainstorm collectively, which in turn increases their
success to problem solve and arrive at solutions more efficiently and effectively.

Effective teams also allow the initiative to innovate, in turn creating a competitive edge
to accomplish goals and objectives. Sharing differing opinions and experiences
strengthens accountability and can help make effective decisions faster, than when done
alone.

Team effort increases output by having quick feedback and multiple sets of skills come
into play to support your work. You can do the stages of designing, planning, and
implementation much more efficiently when a team is functioning well.

 Teamwork provides improved efficiency and productivity

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 When incorporating teamwork strategies, you become more efficient and productive.
This is because it allows the workload to be shared, reducing the pressure on individuals,
and ensure tasks are completed within a set time frame. It also allows goals to be more
attainable, enhances the optimization of performance, improves job satisfaction and
increases work pace.

Ultimately, when a group of individuals works together, compared to one person working
alone, they promote a more efficient work output and are able to complete tasks faster
due to many minds intertwined on the same goals and objectives of the business.

 Teamwork provides great learning opportunities

Working in a team enables us to learn from one another‟s mistakes. You are able to avoid
future errors, gain insight from differing perspectives, and learn new concepts from more
experienced colleagues.

In addition, individuals can expand their skill sets, discover fresh ideas from newer
colleagues and therefore ascertain more effective approaches and solutions towards the
tasks at hand. This active engagement generates the future articulation, encouragement
and innovative capacity to problem solve and generate ideas more effectively and
efficiently.

 Teamwork promotes workplace synergy

Mutual support shared goals, cooperation and encouragement provide workplace

synergy. With this, team members are able to feel a greater sense of accomplishment, are
collectively responsible for outcomes achieved and feed individuals with the incentive to
perform at higher levels.

When team members are aware of their own responsibilities and roles, as well as the
significance of their output being relied upon by the rest of their team, team members will
be driven to share the same vision, values, and goals. The result creates a workplace
environment based on fellowship, trust, support, respect, and cooperation.

Without the ability to effectively work in a team environment, you could delay the success of
developing, formulating and implementing new and innovative ideas. The ability to solve
problem is reduced, as well as the attainment of meeting goals and objectives, in turn, limiting
the efficiency and effectiveness of growing a successful company is hindered.

5 Steps Creating an Exceptional Effective Team Work

Since one of the main elements of success in any organization is achieving excellence in team
collaboration, we will show you in this video how to do it.

Effective teamwork helps to combine a group of talents efficiently to reach a common goal.

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We suggest the following 5 steps for creating effective teamwork in your business:

1. Acknowledge the different skills you have by assigning a suitable task for each
employee accordingly. Keeping in mind the goal you want to achieve helps you
maximize the use of talents available to get it.
2. When hiring, always try to accommodate a broad range of performances and
experiences. By diversifying the set of employees chosen for the project, you have the
chance to view your goals and problems from more than one angle.
3. Don’t be a boss! Give your employees access and authority to whatever they need to
expand their horizons. Working well together and supporting each other will help you
reach your goal faster.
4. Verify Progress by monitoring your team regularly. Checking that they are on the
right path but always giving them a chance to do it on their own. This improves their
confidence making them stronger and more responsible with time.
5. Gratitude is always a key element for building trust, friendship, and respect
between the employees. Thanking them motivates new responsibilities with an ongoing
effort to do things better in the future.

As explained, creating a team that you can count on and that can work together effectively is an
important element of a successful business.

5 Reasons Why Workforce Diversity is Good for Business

Diversity is including many different aspects of society, tradition, culture, race, gender and
background experiences into one‟s organization. It can be considered as a strategy for better
productivity growth in the years ahead.

Diversity in the workforce is needed for the following 5 reasons:

1. By combining different cultures and experiences you will have a broad range of
understanding of what the consumer needs. This improves your connection with your
clients showing that there are many shared interests between both of you.
2. Showing your team that your business is a source of acceptance to all differences makes
them feel more trusted, respected and thus strong friendships will grow among all. By
developing their social skills, you motivate them to always give more.
3. Once your business‟s image has been settled as an open, un-discriminative and globally-
accepted firm, a diverse range of employees will be attracted to work in your
environment. This opens up your way to different perspectives and opportunities in
the future.
4. Equality and diversity in the workforce encourage individual contribution and
responsibility thus giving birth to new ideas raising your business to a whole new level.
5. By applying diversity strategies, you fill gaps in your business giving your organization a
competitive advantage. This leads to an improvement in your market share and
therefore growth of your business.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class – II),

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The above 5 reasons will guide you to why smart businesses encourage diversity. As a summary,
it can bring better opportunities, innovation, use of skills and thus excellent performance to your
business!

5 Essential Stages of Team Development

Building a team takes time and effort. Do not expect a group of people to work together
smoothly for the first time. Without proper leadership and management skills, you will not be
able to build an exceptional team. Communication between members is also very important
when developing a team.

The following are 5 essential stages that a business goes through during team development:

1. The first stage is the ‘Forming’ Stage. Over here, members are getting to know each
other. They are trying to understand the roles that must be taken and the goals that are
addressed to achieve. The leader at this point is working together with the colleagues
directing them to what this is all about.
2. The second stage is the „Storming’ Stage. In this stage, conflicts arise. Members are
uncomfortable with their fellow colleagues. Competition for roles and leadership arises.
Differences in perspectives and experiences collide with each other. At this point, the
leader steps in to reduce tension.
3. Next comes the ‘Norming’ Stage. In this stage, members are starting to communicate
together. Trust is starting to build among them. By now, everyone knows what their role
is. Leaders at this point are settling communications between members enabling the start
of a stable teamwork.
4. Now we reach the ‘Performing’ Stage. In this stage, a high level of communication,
understanding, and trust has been achieved between the team members. Individuals are
working together efficiently to achieve their common goals. Group decision making,
collaboration, motivation, and effective development is happening here. At this point,
leaders offer gratitude to the members individually and also as a team for their striving
performance.
5. The last stage is the ‘Adjourning’ Stage. In this stage, the delegated roles have either
been completed effectively or not. The goal has been achieved or not. According to the
accomplishments, the team either becomes permanent or temporary. Some members are
forced to go back to the early stages due to their incapability of achieving what was
desired. Others remain as a stable team taking on more responsibilities on future projects.

As explained, team development goes through 5 stages that we advise to help you lead your
employees to a joint effort. Achieving a hard-working, trustful and excelling teamwork is similar
to achieving a VALUABLE GEM for your business. Over the years, if taken care of, its value
increases giving prosperity to its owner!

6 Steps Building a Collaborative Team Environment

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class – II),

Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page 9
Team Collaboration in an organization is working with others efficiently leading to a productive
future. In this video, we will suggest 6 steps that you can follow in order to build a collaborative
team environment in your business. If achieved correctly, the collaboration between team
members can really strengthen your business performance.

Here are the 6 steps we advise you to follow:

1. Investing in social development and making them accessible to employees at all times
allows them to mingle comfortably with other colleagues within the business
environment. Improving communication between them improves their performance both
individually and as a team.
2. Allowing your personal collaborate behavior to be visible so as to be a good example
for all to follow. Communicating diversely and filling gaps in any task needed, helps you
set a good image in front of your team members encouraging the same performance.
3. Giving sufficient time to your members is important to encourage communication.
Informal teaching on a daily basis builds trust and valuable bonds within the business
team members.
4. Training employees for the skills needed for collaboration are essential. Some
employees have the will to communicate but no skills. Without skills, effective team
collaboration will not be achieved. Discuss the common goals, the reason behind the
team‟s existence, the methods used to resolve conflicts, the importance of diversification
and program management abilities.
5. Always support group events, structure your team to have good network connections
and encourage long-distance shared interests. Building a strong community within one‟s
organization is definitely the path to a

5. successful business.
6. Define roles and make it clear to all who has to do what. But always keep a vague path
to the common goal to give a chance to the team members to approach with different
perspectives and strategies. This strengthens the relationship between the team members
and gives them the power to solve issues effectively as a group!

As explained, team collaboration is essential to guide the path to a successful future. Over time,
strong bonds within the organization will allow your business to evolve into a family-oriented
community. Every individual‟s participation is needed in achieving such a community. We
suggest you follow the above steps to WOW your way to the creation of an exceptionally
productive family!

3 Tips for Building the Right Team

Building the right team is essential for every organization to scale its business and improve its
performance. You never know what to expect in business and unless you have the right team in place, it
would be very hard for a company to navigate the challenges and make use of the opportunities that arise.

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To build the right team, you need to think about 3 key
considerations:
 Hire Right

By making sure that you are getting people that are in line with your values, culture and
are passionate about what you are doing.

 Give Opportunities for Development

By having your team members do job rotations, get put on special projects, pursue some
side projects and be responsible for their learning.

 Fire Fast

When there is a mismatch between the individual‟s attitude and your objectives or
strategy. Don‟t let things linger so that it doesn‟t spill over to affect others.

By following these 3 key considerations and continuously rewarding – even if it is only a pat on
the back you will ensure that you have a cohesive team that is all rowing in the same direction.

Remember, your talent is your most important asset Nurture it, Manage it & Reward It!

7 Ways to Know the Team is Not OK

Like in any business, problems will always tend to arise and teams sometimes will not work out.
Do not panic. Use the 5 videos, you have already seen, to guide you in reorganizing your teams
and to find out what went wrong.

We will suggest 7 ways to help you know that your team is not ok:

1. There is no commitment, neither to the other team members nor to the project itself.
Here we have a lack of effort individually and as a group.
2. There is no decision making. Making the right choice as a group is something this team
is not able to produce.
3. Members are not able to resolve conflicts or find solutions as a group. Tension is
accumulating resulting in diminishing performance.
4. There is no proper communication and members are unable to reach an understanding.
Some members are always silent while some impose on others.
5. There is no group thinking and members are not able to accept differences and
perspectives.
6. There is no creativity. Here we have limited talents, limited innovation and possibly
wasting opportunities.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class – II),

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 7. There are no effective leadership skills. Great teamwork cannot be achieved without
proper management. Leaders must know what to do and how, so the team can work.

These 7 ways will let you know that something is wrong. As explained, review all the previous
videos to find what you have missed. Reorganize groups and build the skills of employees to
improve teamwork. Set effective managers and leaders to guide the members on the right track to
achieve team collaboration.

To ensure a successful business, efficient teamwork is required the most!

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class – II),

Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page 12
 Emotional Intelligence Skills

Many of us are aware of IQ (Intelligence Quotient). Designed to measure intellectual

intelligence, it gives a score from a series of tests. Higher IQs indicate better cognitive abilities,
or the ability to learn and understand. People with higher IQs are more likely to do well
academically without exerting the same amount of mental effort as those with lower IQ scores.

A logical assumption, therefore, is that people with higher IQs will be more successful at work
and through life. This assumption has been proven incorrect – there is more to success than
simply being ‘clever’.

Emotional Intelligence (EI or sometimes EQ – Emotional Quotient) is a more modern concept

and was only fully developed in the mid-1990s, by Daniel Goleman, among others.

First of all, let us look at how Emotional Intelligence works in our everyday lives:

 EI helps us manage our emotions – by allowing us to dismiss, ignore, or regulate our

unproductive emotions in instances where they’re just not instrumental. For example,
there’s little value in yelling at a bus driver because your commute has been slowed down
by bad traffic;

 Our EI abilities are what allow us to notice and understand how others are feeling. They
play a big role in defining who we are by shaping our relationships with others around us;
and

 Our Emotional Intelligence skills are believed to be huge contributors to our overall
success in life, due to their influence on our ability to self-manage and motivate.

Definition: Emotional Intelligence is the measure of an individual’s abilities to

recognize
Benefits and manage
of Higher their Intelligence
Emotional emotions, and the emotions of other people, both individually
and in groups.
 People with higher emotional intelligence find it easier to form and maintain
interpersonal relationships and to ‘fit in’ to group situations.
 People with higher emotional intelligence are also better at understanding their own
psychological state, which can include managing stress effectively and being less likely
to suffer from depression.

There is no correlation between IQ and EI scores.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page 1
In other words, academic aptitude (IQ) has no connection with how people understand and deal
with their emotions and the emotions of others (EI). This makes perfect sense: we’ve all met
very clever people who nonetheless had no idea about how to deal with people, and the reverse.

Some people have high IQs and low emotional intelligence and vice versa, while some people
score highly on both and some do not.

IQ and emotional intelligence attempt to measure different forms of human intelligence; along
with personality, these measures make up an individual’s psyche.

Emotional intelligence is the one part of the human psyche that we can develop and improve by
learning and practising new skills. You can learn more about these skills from the many pages
here at SkillsYouNeed. IQ and personality are more static measures and likely to stay reasonably
constant throughout life (although you can develop your ability to complete IQ tests very
successfully).

You can find many different tests to help you measure your IQ, EI and personality online and in
books. Emotional intelligence tests require that the person taking the test answers questions
honestly and it is therefore a lot easier to ‘cheat’ at an EI test than it is an IQ test.

Ultimately emotional intelligence can only be measured by how an individual progresses through
life - developing meaningful relationships with others, their interpersonal skills and
understanding, their ability to manage their own emotions, and their personal skills.

Emotional Intelligence Theories

Four branch model of EI

Mayer and Salovey’s Four Branch Model of Emotional Intelligence is a helpful way to visualize
the different Emotional Intelligence Skills we looked at earlier (Mayer & Salovey, 1997; Salovey
& Grewal, 2005). The two psychologists are credited with coming up with the term ‘Emotional
Intelligence’ before the concept was extended by other researchers and later came to mainstream
popularity.

The Four Branch Model simply premises that Emotional Intelligence Skills come under four
categories, as shown below. These are Perceiving Emotions, Facilitating Thought Using
Emotions, Understanding Emotions, and Managing Emotions.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page 2
 Source: Fiori & Vesely Maillefer, 2018

Perceiving emotions is about being aware of and sensitive to others’ emotions. In other words,
it’s about the ability to accurately identify emotions (yours and others) by detecting and decoding
emotional signals. This can be in others’ faces, voices, or even in pictures (Papadogiannis et al.,
2009).

Facilitating thought using emotions takes place once we detect and identify emotions.
Facilitating thought using emotions relates to analyzing and registering this ‘emotional
information’. Then, incorporating it into our higher-level cognitive functions for enhanced
decision-making, rationalizing, problem-solving, and consideration of others’ perspectives
(Mayer & Salovey, 1997; Mayer et al., 2002).

Understanding emotions is about being able to understand how different emotions relate to one
another, how they can change based on the situations we encounter, and how our feelings alter
over time (Papadogiannis et al., 2009). Being able to predict how someone’s emotions are
changing through their facial expressions, their tone of voice, and so forth, means you’ve
probably got strong emotional management skills. This is great—the ability to understand
emotions is very much linked to successful communication.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page 3
Managing emotions is the Emotional Intelligence skill that relates to handling your own and
others’ emotions effectively. Typically, emotional management and understanding are
considered higher-level skills, as they rely on the first two (Perceiving Emotions and Facilitating
Thought) to work effectively. Thinking about the workplace, it’s easy to see how managing your
own (and others) emotions might make life easier when facing a stressful deadline.

The Bar-On model of emotional-social intelligence (ESI)

A more recent contribution to Emotional Intelligence literature, Israeli psychologist Reuven Bar-
On’s (2006) ESI Model considers emotional intelligence, social skills, and their facilitators all
together. The Model consists of five interrelated competencies, skills, and behavior clusters that
were identified from academic literature.

Specifically, they were considered because they were all perceived to impact our well-being and
performance as humans (Bar-On, 2013). These ‘clusters’ are:

1. Self-Awareness and Self-Expression;

2. Social Awareness and Interpersonal Relationships;
3. Emotional Management and Regulation;
4. Change Management; and
5. Self Motivation.

The Bar-On model suggests that these EI competencies and skills contribute to how we as people
understand ourselves and others, our self-expression, relate to one another and deal with
everyday demands (Bar-On, 2006; McCleskey, 2014). While its underpinning premises remain
debated in the broader psychological literature, the Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology
considers the Bar-On Model of ESI one of the three main models of Emotional Intelligence
(Spielberger, 2004).

Bar-On’s work views EI and cognitive intelligence (IQ) as different, separate concepts, and he
suggests that the former is more important than the latter in predicting an individual’s success in
life. Interestingly, there is neurological research in support of this aspect of the ESI model. These
studies show that brain damage to areas we use for various emotional functions and decision-
making can impair our ability to function socially (Bechra et al., 2000; Bar-On et al., 2003).

Goleman’s Model of Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman is one of the most famous names worldwide when it comes to EI. His work on
Emotional Intelligence skills is linked very often to leadership and managerial abilities, and his
model of EI is an extension of Mayer and Salovey’s earlier work that identified four Emotional
Intelligence skills. Goleman’s (1995) model, like Bar-On’s, is based on five essential factors that
determine an individual’s EI, though they’re a bit different:

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 1. Emotional self-awareness – which is very similar to Mayer and Salovey’s Perceiving
Emotions skill, concerns awareness of one’s own feelings, and encompasses an
appreciation of how those feelings can affect those around us;
2. Self-regulation – concerns managing one’s own emotions and predicting their effects, in
a similar way to Facilitating Thought and Managing Emotions;
3. Motivation – this covers continuing on when encountering obstacles;
4. Empathy – which relates to detecting others’ emotions; and
5. Social skills – a set of Emotional Intelligence social skills that help us manage our
interpersonal relationships and elicit certain reactions from them.

Elements of Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman divided Emotional Intelligence into ‘Personal’ and ‘Social’ competences, which
broadly split between personal and interpersonal skills on SkillsYouNeed. Within each of these
sections are a range of skills which are the elements of emotional intelligence.

Personal Skills or Competences Social Skills or Competences

How we manage ourselves How we handle relationships with others
 Self-awareness  Empathy
o Emotional awareness o Understanding others
o Accurate self-assessment o Developing others
o Self-confidence o Service orientation
 Self-regulation o Leveraging diversity
o Self-control o Political awareness
o Trustworthiness  Social Skills
o Conscientiousness o Influence
o Adaptability o Communication
o Innovation o Conflict management
 Motivation o Leadership
o Achievement drive o Change catalyst
o Commitment o Building bonds
o Initiative o Collaboration and cooperation
o Optimism o Team capabilities

Based on ‘Workng with Emotional Intelligence’ Daniel Goleman

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

1. Self-awareness

If you're self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your
actions can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you're in a leadership position
also means having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses, and it means behaving with
humility.

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II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page 5
So, what can you do to improve your self-awareness?

 Keep a journal – Journals help you improve your self-awareness. If you spend just a few
minutes each day writing down your thoughts, this can move you to a higher degree of
self-awareness.
 Slow down – When you experience anger or other strong emotions, slow down to
examine why. Remember, no matter what the situation, you can always choose how you
react to it.

2. Self-regulation

Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or
emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about
staying in control.

This element of emotional intelligence, according to Goleman, also covers a leader's flexibility
and commitment to personal accountability

So, how can you improve your ability to self-regulate?

 Know your values – Do you have a clear idea of where you absolutely will not
compromise? Do you know what values are most important to you? Spend some time
examining your "code of ethics." If you know what's most important to you, then you
probably won't have to think twice when you face a moral or ethical decision – you'll
make the right choice.
 Hold yourself accountable – If you tend to blame others when something goes wrong,
stop. Make a commitment to admit to your mistakes and to face the consequences,
whatever they are. You'll probably sleep better at night, and you'll quickly earn the
respect of those around you.
 Practice being calm – The next time you're in a challenging situation, be very aware of
how you act. Do you relieve your stress by shouting at someone else? Practice deep-
breathing exercises to calm yourself. Also, try to write down all of the negative things
you want to say, and then rip it up and throw it away. Expressing these emotions on paper
(and not showing them to anyone!) is better than speaking them aloud to your team.
What's more, this helps you challenge your reactions to ensure that they're fair!

3. Motivation

Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high
standards for the quality of their work.

How can you improve your motivation?

 Re-examine why you're doing your job – It's easy to forget what you really love about
your career. So, take some time to remember why you wanted this job. Starting at the

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 root often helps you look at your situation in a new way. And make sure that your goal
statements are fresh and energizing.
 Know where you stand – Determine how motivated you are to lead.
 Be hopeful and find something good – Motivated leaders are usually optimistic, no
matter what problems they face. Adopting this mindset might take practice, but it's well
worth the effort.

Every time you face a challenge, or even a failure, try to find at least one good thing
about the situation. It might be something small, like a new contact, or something with
long-term effects, like an important lesson learned. But there's almost always something
positive, if you look for it.

4. Empathy

For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Leaders
with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else's situation. They help develop
the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback,
and listen to those who need it.

If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being
empathic.

How can you improve your empathy?

 Put yourself in someone else's position – It's easy to support your own point of view.
After all, it's yours! But take the time to look at situations from other people's
perspectives.
 Pay attention to body language – Perhaps when you listen to someone, you cross your
arms, move your feet back and forth, or bite your lip. This body language tells others how
you really feel about a situation, and the message you're giving isn't positive! Learning to
read body language can be a real asset in a leadership role, because you'll be better able to
determine how someone truly feels. This gives you the opportunity to respond
appropriately.
 Respond to feelings – You ask your assistant to work late – again. And although he
agrees, you can hear the disappointment in his voice. So, respond by addressing his
feelings. Tell him you appreciate how willing he is to work extra hours, and that you're
just as frustrated about working late. If possible, figure out a way for future late nights to
be less of an issue (for example, give him Monday mornings off).

5. Social Skills

Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great
communicators. They're just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they're expert at
getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project.

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Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts
diplomatically. They're rarely satisfied with leaving things as they are, but they don't sit back and
make everyone else do the work: they set an example with their own behavior.

So, how can you build social skills?

 Learn conflict resolution – Leaders must know how to resolve conflicts between their
team members, customers, or vendors. Learning conflict resolution skills is vital if you
want to succeed.
 Improve your communication skills – How well do you communicate? Improve it.
 Learn how to praise others – As a leader, you can inspire the loyalty of your team
simply by giving praise when it's earned. Learning how to praise others is a fine art, but
well worth the effort.

10 Effective Ways Fostering Emotional Intelligence skills in Organizations

Going over and above the roles and responsibilities of traditional leadership, the leaders in
today’s organization need to be much more caring as well as sensitive about what matters the
most to their employees. That is why here are shared a few effective ways for making the
employees more emotionally intelligent.

1. Detect the Stress and Response to it: the very first step towards increasing emotional
intelligence exercises to find out how does the stress feel like. Do you know how does
your body feel and react when it is under stress? By being attentive to the physical
responses that occur towards any response, you can easily regulate anxiety or
nervousness whenever it takes place. In the conditions when you become stressed or
angry, you can easily handle them with the help of stress relieving activities that will help
you in soothing down.

2. Take care of People Around: Care, although one simple word and easy to do, but is
rarely genuine in being delivered or not expressed always. Therefore, leaders need to
learn to create a perfect balance between the heart and the head. Being a leader, one
needs to display a mature attitude combined with passion and should be more
compassionate to create a balance between what is required from the human spirit and
what is needed at the job. Employees never ask for hand holding for doing any job, they
just want the appreciation of their efforts and hard work. Just show the extra efforts taken
by you by saying thanks and being a leader with high EQ you should be consistent with
it.

3. Develop Emotional Awareness: Many people are found to be pulling out from the
emotions, mainly from the core emotions like joy, anger, fear or sadness. The reason for
this can be negative childhood memories or experiences, through which they learn to try
to block or shut their feelings. Although our feelings can be denied, distorted or number,
they cannot be totally eliminated. Therefore, to be healthy as well as emotionally
intelligent on the emotional front, one needs to re-establish the connection with

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 unpleasant or strong emotions. We need to bring a change in the way we respond towards
our feelings or the manner we experience them. Try to develop emotional awareness by
either using some kind of help guide in order to bring a balance in one’s life.

4. Be Accountable: being the leader does not mean that cannot be equal to other staff
members. This clearly suggests that one should hold yourself also accountable while
enforcing the similar rules of getting the engagement as one expects to form the
employees. This perspective is adopted by best leaders always, but in the current
scenario, this kind of behavior should also be deliberate amongst the leaders. Employees
always are pleased about the leaders who will share their privileges as well as perks.
Transparency about leading and admitting whenever you are wrong is always
appreciated. Employees always value the leaders who are relatable as well as
approachable.

5. Non-verbal Communication: starting from the tone of voice to the body language, all
covered under non-verbal communication intends to send the messages that you do not
want to. So you need to learn to exercise control over non-verbal communication, which
simply commences with being focussed on others, listening carefully before making
judgments as well as making proper eye contact while giving your opinion. Successful
non-verbal communication totally relies on the capabilities you have for managing stress.
It important to find out your personal emotions at the same time analyze the signals sent
out by you as well as received by you.

6. Embrace Emotions: Few times every day make it a point to check you while doing a
self-evaluation of your thought process. It will help in finding out your strengths,
weaknesses, emotions or shortcomings. This will help you out in accepting the fact that
everyone on this earth is not perfect. Check whether you can accept this fact. Are you
ready to work on your lacunas to improve your emotional intelligence?

7. Be Thoughtful of Needs: If your team is not performing well or staffs are not obeying
your orders then you are not working as a good leader. You need to keep your radar of
sensitivity always on. This suggests that you need to be mindful of yourself as well as
thoughtful about the team members so that they show their full potential. Every person
has the capacity to show improvements as well as to increase their productivity. This can
be best done through continuous as well as regular feedbacks, suggestions, and
recommendations.

8. Think Before Acting: Thinking is imperative, so just analyze and find the results of the
actions taken by you. The best way is to put you in their shoes, before taking any major
action. This will help in finding out the real-time impact or consequences of your actions.
If it becomes taking any action which is very necessary and has a negative impact, find
out how you can help others in the team to handle the negative impacts easily.

9. Show Humor and Humility: The best way of seeking attention is to let your work speak
for it and not you. The best way of getting appreciated is when other speak good about
you and your actions. So learn to put the entire spotlight on others and this will depict the

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II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page 9
 emotional intelligence exercises humility aspect of your personality. Whenever facing
any challenges bigger or smaller, just take a deep breath and always demonstrate your
best sense of humor.

10. Be Responsible: Being emotionally intelligent means being humble and always being
ready to shoulder any responsibility. You should be ready to take responsibility for your
actions whenever the things are not going right. Just in case if you have hurt someone’s,
sincerely apologize for your wrong actions. Try walking away from unnecessary
arguments. Learn to forgive and forget instead of nurturing the feeling of resentment in
your heart. Taking revenge or revengeful attitude is bad for any person and lowers the
emotional intelligence quotient. Learn to stay happy and spread laughter all around.

Conclusion

To be effective, leaders must have a solid understanding of how their emotions and actions affect
the people around them. The better a leader relates to and works with others, the more successful
he or she will be.

Take the time to work on self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.
Working on these areas will help you excel in the future!

Works cited:

 Bar-On, R. (2006). The Bar-On model of emotional-social intelligence (ESI).

Psicothema, 18(S), pp.13-25.
 Bar-On, R. (2013). Theoretical foundations, background and development of the Bar-On
model of emotional intelligence. Retrieved from
http://www.reuvenbaron.org/wp/theoretical-foundations-background-and-development-
of-the-bar-on-model-of-emotional-intelligence/
 Bar-On, R., Tranel, D., Denburg, N. L., & Bechara, A. (2003). Exploring the neurological
substrate of emotional and social intelligence. Brain, 126(8), pp.1790-1800.
 Bechara, A., Tranel, D., & Damasio, H. (2000). Characterization of the decision-making
deficit of patients with ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions. Brain, 123(11), pp.2189-
2202.
 Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.
 Mayer, J., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is Emotional Intelligence? In P. Salovey and D.
Sluyter (Eds). Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence. New York: Basic
Books.
 Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. (2002). Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional
Intelligence Test manual. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.
 McCleskey, J. (2014). Emotional intelligence and leadership: A review of the progress,
controversy, and criticism. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 22(1),
pp.76-93.
 Papadogiannis, P. K., Logan, D., & Sitarenios, G. (2009). An ability model of emotional
intelligence: A rationale, description, and application of the Mayer Salovey Caruso

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
 Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). In C. Stough, D. H. Saklofske, & J. D. A. Parker
(editors), Assessing emotional intelligence: Theory, Research, and applications (pp. 9-
40). New York: Springer. Doi:10.1007/978-0-387-88370-0_3
 Salovey, P., & Grewal, D. (2005). The science of emotional intelligence. Current
directions in psychological science, 14(6), pp.281-285.
 Spielberger, C. (2004). Encyclopedia of applied psychology. Boston: Academic Press.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
Problem-Solving Skills

When employers talk about problem-solving skills, they are often referring to the ability to
handle difficult or unexpected situations in the workplace as well as complex business
challenges. Organizations rely on people who can assess both kinds of situations and calmly
identify solutions. Problem-solving skills are traits that enable you to do that. While problem-
solving skills are valued by employers, they are also highly useful in other areas of life like
relationship building and day-to-day decision making.

What are problem-solving skills?

Problem-solving skills help you determine the source of a problem and find an effective solution.
Although problem-solving is often identified as its own separate skill, there are other related
skills that contribute to this ability.

Some key problem-solving skills include:

 Active listening
 Analysis
 Research
 Creativity
 Communication
 Dependability
 Decision making
 Team-building

Problem-solving skills are important in every career at every level. As a result, effective problem
solving may also require industry or job-specific technical skills. For example, a registered nurse
will need active listening and communication skills when interacting with patients but will also
need effective technical knowledge related to diseases and medications. In many cases, a nurse
will need to know when to consult a doctor regarding a patient’s medical needs as part of the
solution.

Problem-solving skills examples

To solve a problem effectively, you will likely use a few different skills. Here are a few
examples of skills you may use when solving a problem:

Research

Researching is an essential skill related to problem-solving. As a problem solver, you need to be

able to identify the cause of the issue and understand it fully. You can begin to gather more
information about a problem by brainstorming with other team members, consulting more
experienced colleagues or acquiring knowledge through online research or courses.

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Analysis

The first step to solving any problem to analyze the situation. Your analytical skills will help you
understand problems and effectively develop solutions. You will also need analytical skills
during research to help distinguish between effective and ineffective solutions.

Decision-making

Ultimately, you will need to make a decision about how to solve problems that arise. At times
(and with industry experience), you may be able to make a decision quickly. Solid research and
analytical skills can help those who have less experience in their field. There may also be times
when it is appropriate to take some time to craft a solution or escalate the issue to someone more
capable of solving it.

Communication

When identifying possible solutions, you will need to know how to communicate the problem to
others. You will also need to know what communication channels are the most appropriate when
seeking assistance. Once you find a solution, communicating it clearly will help reduce any
confusion and make implementing a solution easier.

Dependability

Dependability is one of the most important skills for problem-solvers. Solving problems in a
timely manner is essential. Employers highly value individuals they can trust to both identify and
then implement solutions as fast and effectively as possible.

How to improve your problem-solving skills

There are several methods you can use to improve your problem-solving skills. Whether you are
searching for a job or currently working, improving your problem-solving skills and associated
abilities will help make you a strong candidate and employee.

 Acquire more technical knowledge in your field. Depending on your industry, it may
be easier to solve problems if you have strong working technical knowledge. You can
more technical knowledge through additional coursework, training or practice.
 Seek out opportunities to problem solve. By putting yourself into new situations, you
are more likely to be exposed to opportunities to problem solve. You may find there are
opportunities to volunteer for new projects in your current role, on another team or
outside the workplace for another organization.
 Do practice problems. Practice and role-play can be useful tools when learning to
develop your problem-solving skills. You can find professional practice books for your
industry and problem-solving scenarios online. Practice how you might solve those
problems and determine if your potential solutions are viable.

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For example, in customer service you might find a scenario like, ―How would you
handle an angry customer?‖ or ―How do you respond when a customer asks for a refund?‖
Practicing how you might handle these or other scenarios common in your industry can help you
call upon solutions quickly when they arise on the job.

 Observe how others problem solve. You may have colleagues who are skilled problem
solvers. Observing how those colleagues solve problems can help you improve your own
skills. If possible, ask one of your more experienced colleagues if you can observe their
techniques. Asking relevant questions can be helpful in applying them in your own
career.

The four stages of problem-solving

You can use many different approaches to problem-solving, but you'll typically work through
four distinct stages no matter what route you take. Understanding each step of the process will
help you hone your problem skills to better serve you along your journey toward a smart,
workable solution.

1. Define the problem: Identify the issue that you're dealing with. Observe the problem
area closely to form a detailed image of what's wrong. Analyze employee behavior,
workplace policies, and operating procedures. Keep your focus on the problem at this
point, and resist the urge to define the problem in terms of a solution. For example, "We
need to improve training procedures" speaks to the solution more than the problem.
"Sales documentation is inconsistent" better defines the issue.
2. Brainstorm alternatives: This is one of the most important stages of problem-solving. It
requires a careful balance of creativity and logical thinking. Compare all possible
alternatives. Analyze the money, time, staff, and resources necessary for each approach
as well as the return that you can expect from various strategies.
3. Choose the best strategy: Strong decision-making is essential at this stage. After
carefully considering all your options, you must select the best strategy for your problem
and stick with your choice. Employees who waver or struggle to commit to a single plan
don't make good problem solvers because they get stuck at this essential point in the
process.
4. Implement your solution: Implementation is the critical peak of the problem-solving
process. This is where you draw up an action plan, share it with the appropriate
personnel, and follow through with your chosen approach.

Essential skills for successful problem-solving

Problem-solving may seem straightforward at first glance, but there are many employees who
stumble over one or more of the critical steps, failing to successfully resolve workplace issues.
Successful problem-solving requires several important skills that will help you proceed
efficiently from identification to implementation.

"You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created." — Albert Einstein

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In the early stages of problem-solving, you need to have strong observational skills. Rather than
accepting issues at face value, you need to demonstrate lateral thinking and analytical abilities.
These will help you properly assess what's going on and pinpoint the core cause of the issue.

As you explore potential solutions to the issue, you must demonstrate persistence. Finding the
right approach to the issue won't come easily. Innovative thinking will serve you well.
Employees who know how to utilize their creative thinking facilities will excel in the second and
third stages of problem-solving, as they're able to come up with approaches that others have
overlooked.

Implementing your solution requires its own skill set. This typically requires a careful balance of
teamwork and leadership. You'll need to demonstrate resilience to withstand inevitable
pushback from co-workers who resist change. Both communication and negotiation are
important at this point. Once you've implemented your solution, you'll need to utilize critical
thinking and attention to detail as you assess the results and tweak your strategy as needed to
make sure the problem is successfully resolved.

Elaborate your ideas on the topic: „the importance of problem solving skills‟.

A problem is any unpleasant situation which prevents people from achieving what they want to
achieve. Any activity to eliminate a problem is termed problem solving.

Problem solving skills refers to our ability to solve problems in an effective and timely manner
without any impediments.

It involves being able to identify and define the problem, generating alternative solutions,
evaluating and selecting the best alternative, and implementing the selected solution. Obtaining a
feedback and responding to it appropriately is an essential aspect of problem solving skills too.

We face problems every time. However, some problems are more complex than others. But
whether you face big problems or small ones, this skill helps solve it effectively.

Importance of problem solving skills

Obviously, every organization has problems and every individual has problems too. For this
reason, the ability to solve problems is of great importance to individuals and organizations.
Some of the benefits include:

 Make the impossible possible. Knowledge alone is not the key to solving problems but
rather, complimenting it with systematic problem solving approaches makesthe
difference. This helps individuals and organizations overcome perilous challenges.
 Makes you a stand out. People are trained to do the usual. They have acquired skills and
knowledge in what they do. However, people can hardly solve problems when they are
unexpected or unprecedented ones. If you become a regular problem solver at your
workplace, you are easily noticed, recognized, and appreciated.

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  Increased confidence. No matter where you work or what your profession is, having the
ability to solve problems will boost your confidence level. Because you are sure of your
ability to solve problems, you don’t spend time worrying about what you will do if a
problem should arise.

Write a note on how to improve upon problem solving skills.

Just like any of the other skills, the art of problem solving can be learnt and improved upon.
Below are few tips to help you improve this skill.

 Detach yourself from the problem. Don’t regard yourself as the problem itself and
don’t presume you are incapacitated to solve the problem. See the problem as the enemy
that has to be defeated by you.
 Analyze it in parts and not as a whole. Don’t see the problem as a whole big unit that
needs to be fixed – That may deter you from attempting to solve it. Rather, break it into
parts and tackle them step by step, and portion by portion. The little pieces you solve will
add up to become the solution for the whole unit. For instance; if there’s turmoil in your
organization, analyze the various aspects or departments of the organization. Choose one
problematic area, such as communication, to start from. When that is fixed, you may
move on to the other problematic areas.
 Be inquisitive and investigative. Being inquisitive and conducting thorough
investigation and research helps you identify what the core of the problem is. In other
words, it grants you access to the cause of the problem. Once the real cause of the
problem is known, it becomes easier to solve it.
 Be open to suggestions. Other people’s contributions can be very helpful. It saves you
the time of having to search for every piece of information that is needed.

7 steps of Effective Problem Solving

Problem solving with a standardized, disciplined and methodical approach is by far the best way
of understanding root causes, exploring influences and implementing solutions that not only
work, but also stay effective over time. The best solution to a problem is not always the most
obvious and only after careful thought and assessment can the most suitable and feasible solution
or solutions be implemented. The 7 step problem solving guide provided below has been created
to help solve problems where the solution or in some cases the problem itself is not obvious.

STEP 1: The Right Problem to Solve

STEP 2: Analyze the Problem
STEP 3: Define the Problem
STEP 4: Develop Opportunities (Possible Solutions)
STEP 5: Select the Best Solution
STEP 6: Implement the Solution
STEP 7: Evaluate and Learn

When should problem solving be used?

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Anytime you have a goal to achieve or simply experience a challenge, problem solving
techniques can be adopted. The steps provided can be used on any problem no matter how small
and simple, or large and complex with the only difference being the amount of overall time
required to be spent on the problem at hand. Unfortunately effective problem solving does take
some time and attention to detail but the rewards for the time taken may far outweigh the
consequences for leaving problems in place.

STEP 1: The Right Problem to Solve

Identifying the right problem to solve can be by far the most crucial element in the process and it
can’t be stressed enough that for this step to work to its full potential it is important to remember
to focus on the problem and not just its symptoms or possible solutions, these parts will come
shortly. If dealing with multiple problems the right problem is generally the one with the most
important outcome, the greatest chance for solution and the nearest deadline. When trying to
determine the right problem or if only intending to confirm one, ask yourself the following
questions:

 Being as specific as possible what exactly is the problem to be solved?

o a clearly and concisely defined problem avoids confusion.
o A vaguely defined problem could be interpreted as something different.
 Can the problem be broken down further?
o A problem in its most simple form is in the best state for solving.
o Complex problems are possibly multiple smaller problems.
 Is the problem exactly the same from multiple perspectives? If not, can it be
reworded so that it is?
o Problems can look different to different people.
o Solving for one person will not necessarily solve for everyone.
 Is there anyone who thinks it is not a problem? Why not?
o Any doubt is worth looking into, they could know something you don’t.
o It is always a possibility that you or your perceptions are the problem.
 Is the problem a symptom of a deeper, underlying condition?
o Fixing the problem will stop future symptoms.
o Fixing a symptom is only temporary.
 Is the problem one that can be solved? If no, can the problem be redefined?
o How to get to work with a broken leg is a problem that can be solved.
o A broken leg itself is not a problem because it can’t be solved, it's broken.
 Can the problem be defined as an opportunity?
o An opportunity is something positive we generally look forward to and want to
take advantage of.
o A problem is generally something negative we don’t like and simply want to get
rid of.
 Is the problem a beneficial one to solve? Why?
o The most beneficial problem is often a good place to start.
o The world is full of problems and unfortunately we can’t solve them all.
 Are you trying to solve a problem? Or are you confusing cause and effect?
o Building an airstrip so a plane has somewhere to land can be solving a problem.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page 6
 o Building an airstrip because you know planes land on them does not guarantee a
plane.

Once the above questions can be answered concisely you should be left with a well-defined
problem which can also be described as an opportunity and more importantly you should have a
better understanding of what you will be going to solve or achieve. It is time for the next step,
analyzing the problem.

STEP 2: Analyze the Problem

Analysing the problem starts with collecting as much information as possible relating to all
aspects of the problem. This is where you find out what you already know about the situation and
what areas need further looking into. To help discover all the facts it is a good idea to create a
number of lists relating to the problem where you in turn list as many points as possible.

Remember that in this stage writing down anything and everything that comes to mind can be a
good starting point; irrelevant items can be removed at the end. Some of the information you
may find valuable may stem from the following questions. There are quite a few questions to
consider, but hopefully they will guide you in the right direction. They are based on the "5 W's
and 1 H".

When you ask "What?" you are asking for information specifying something - "What are we
looking at?" or for things that are used in specifying something - "What we need is?" or even
information specifying something - "What time is it?". Asking "What?" can also be used to find
out to what extent - "What does it matter?".

 What does the problem currently affect?

o People or yourself?
o Environment?
o Equipment?
o Process?
o Organisation?
 What will be the benefits of solving the problem? And by how much?

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page 7
 o Credibility?
o Financial?
o Knowledge?
o Legal?
o Marketing?
o Productivity?
o Quality?
o Quantity?
o Reputation?
o Respect?
 What influences the problem?
o Does anything seem to aggravate or spread the problem?
o Does anything seem to reduce or delay the problem?
o Does anything tend to speed up / slow down the problem?
o Can the problem be simulated, recreated or acted out in another setting?
o Is there a specific example of an extreme case?
 What would be needed to solve the problem?
o Will new tools and/or policies be required?
o Will new equipment be required?
o Will new people be required?
o Could any new problems arise?
 What would happen if no solution can be found?
o Will a solution be available at a later date?
o What would be the next best thing to finding a complete solution?
o Is there a way to delay the problem?
o What would be the next best thing to solving the problem?
o Is there a chance the problem will go away on its own?
o Is there a way to change the problem for the better?

When you ask "Why?" you are asking for a reason or purpose - "Why did they do it?" or "Why is
it the way it is?"

 Why do you want to achieve a solution?

o Is it something you personally want to do?
o Is it something you have been told to do?
o Is it something you feel you have to do?
 Why did the problem arise in the first place?
o Can the exact cause of the problem be pin pointed?
o Were there numerous reasons for the problem starting?
o Was a problem expected to occur at the time?
 Why was the problem allowed to escalate as far as it has?

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page 8
 o How much further can the problem escalate?
o Have previous attempts at solving the problem been made?
o Does the problem benefit anything/anyone else?

When you ask "How?" you are asking in what way or manner; by what means - "How does it
work?" or used to ask about the condition or quality of something - How was your time there?"

 How long has the problem been around?

o Has it always been a problem?
o Has it got worse over time?
o Has the problem occurred at a previous time?
 How will the situation be different once the problem is solved?
o In particular what will be different?
o Can you guarantee the situation will be different?
 How relevant is the information available?
o Is the information up to date?
o Was the information created for the specific purpose it will be used for?
o Does the information need to be modified?
 How can I find out more information on the problem and possible solutions?
o Is all available information available?
o Is any information not available? Why not?
o Will additional research be required?
o Can additional people get involved with finding a solution?
o Is there an expert who can be approached?
o Are additional resources required?

when you ask "Where?" you are asking what position something is or originates from or the
location something is acting on or at - "Where did it come from?" or "Where is it affecting?"

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page 9
  Where did the problem arise?
o Has the problem always existed?
o Can the exact starting point of the problem be pin pointed?
o Why did the problem arise where it did?
 Where is the problem currently located?
o Is the problem in a single or multiple locations?
o Can the problem be contained in its current location until it is dealt with?
o Is there a chance the problem will spread to different locations?
 Is the “where” component to the problem important? If so, why?

When you ask "Who?" you are asking what or which person or people are involved - "Who is
that?" or "Who was there at the time?"

 Who are the stakeholders?

o Who is affected by this problem?
o Who will be affected once it is solved?
o Does anyone think that it is not a problem? What is different about their
perspective?
o Who knows about the problem?
o Who has the information needed to solve or release the problem or issue?
o Who can do something or take action as a possible solution?
o Does anyone/s need to be informed about the problem?
 How do processes currently work where the problem is occurring?
o Who does what?
o With what information?
o Using what tools?
o Communicating with whom?
o In what time frame?
o Using what format?

When you ask "When?" you are asking at what time - "When did last witness it?" or at or on
which time or circumstance - "Is early mornings when it happens most?"

 When did the problem first appear?

o What was its initial impact?
o How was it identified?

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
 oWho identified it first?
oHow did it start?
oWhere did it start?
oWhy did it start?
oWhat initially started it?
oWhen did it start?
 When does a solution need to be found?
o Would it be better to wait for a better time to implement a solution?
o Is too late to look for solutions?

Once every aspect of the problem has been looked into it is not uncommon for other potential
problems to be identified as well. It may be necessary to start the entire process again for these
new problems, but remember that problems are best dealt with one at a time and with that in
mind it is time for the next step, defining the problem.

STEP 3: Define the Problem

Only after the right problem has been identified and analysed can one be sure of the correct
definition of the problem. In most cases the definition will remain unchanged from STEP 1, but
in some cases once other available information has been brought to light the problem, the
opportunity or the desired outcome may have changed to accommodate either new information
or a new perspective on the problem itself.

The following definitions should be written down for future reference. If there is any hesitation
with any of the definitions it can be a sign that you don’t fully understand the problem at hand
and that the previous step should be re-visited.

 Define exactly what the problem is.

 Define exactly what needs to be solved.
 Define your problem as an opportunity.
 Define the desired outcome.

STEP 4: Develop Opportunities (Possible Solutions)

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
There is always more than one way to solve a problem and in some cases simultaneous solutions
may be required. As with the previous steps it is essential that time is taken to develop plenty of
innovative and creative ideas. At the end of this step you can be certain you will have the best
solution if you have explored all possible avenues and generated every conceivable option. To
help you find the best solution the following methods can be used.

Seek advice; ask an expert

In today’s day and age there is an expert on pretty much any topic you can imagine. Sometimes
the best and fastest approach to getting the information we need can be simply to ask someone
who knows more about the subject than we do. Of course finding that someone can be a
challenge in itself, but the rewards in doing so could far outweigh other options. If the expert is
unsure about the best approach for your situation they will probably be able to point you in the
right direction.

Brainstorming
Best done with a group of individuals brainstorming is always a good starting point.
Brainstorming involves creating a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by an individual or
group of individuals. With this method there is no wrong answer and wild or unexpected answers
are often encouraged with all suggestions being written down. The process continues until no
more suggestions can be thought of and the list of ideas can later be used to develop a solution.

The Scientific Method

A method for conducting an objective investigation which is a proven approach to solving

problems in a way that is reliable, consistent and non-arbitrary. The scientific method can be
seen to underlay the scientific revolution and has helped to create many of the great
accomplishments of recent human history. A basic flow chart of the scientific method is shown
below.

Have a Guess

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
If there is some indication, a technique you have heard of or a gut instinct about a possible
solution, why not look into it further. Starting with an inkling and checking and adjusting it to
suit the problem at hand could lead to the ideal solution. This method generally works better for
a limited number of potential solutions where you can eliminate the options one at a time but
there is no harm in employing the method in any case, it might just lead to the solution you have
been looking for.

Work Backwards

If the ―where to start‖ is not obvious starting at the end goal and working backwards can be a
good approach. Working backwards can sometimes offer the fastest solution because it gets you
thinking with where you want to end up in mind. This approach to problem solving can also be
effective when used at a point not quite at the end goal or even to back check the starting point
from a different perspective.

Do the Opposite

What effect does doing the opposite to what you have been doing have on the situation? If you at
a dead-end or simply want to explore the opposite of something that clearly isn’t working, doing
the opposite can provide a new and refreshing perspective. Rather than avoiding a situation,
doing a complete 180 and diving straight in can in some cases be the best and/or fastest
approach.

A Randomized Approach

When all else fails or there is no indication what so ever to what sort of approach should be taken
a random approach may be required. By applying random solutions and seeing how they
influence the problem at hand may eventually lead to something more meaningful. You might
get lucky and find the solution you have been looking for or worst possible case you may just
find yourself where you started.

If after numerous attempts without success it might be necessary to go back to previous steps and
try to "look outside the square". Every now and then a problem presents itself that will require a
bit more creativity to come up with a feasible solution.

STEP 5: Select the Best Solution

With a list of possible solutions developed in the previous step it is time to select the best
individual or best combination of solutions to be put into action and to eliminate the problem at
hand. The process of selecting the best solution is a matter of ranking all of the available
solutions against one another and defining each options ―pluses and minuses‖. Some of the key
areas that might need to be evaluated and prioritized have been listed below.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
  Operational validity: Can the solution actually be implemented or is it just an idea?
 Economic validity: Is the solution economical? Will the solution bring an economic
result?
 Degree of Complexity: Is the solution simple to implement or are there complexities
involved?
 Ease of Implementation: Is the solution ready to go and easy to install?
 Stakeholder interest: Does the solution satisfy everyone’s interests.
 Potential Risk: Does the solution bring any additional risk with it?
 Personal commitment: Is the solution something that reflects the ideals of all involved?
Is the solution something you believe in?
 End result: Will the solution solve all parts of the problem or will the problem just be
reduced or concealed?

Keeping in mind that the best solution will be the result of considerable deliberation and also that
one solution that is available for any problem is to simply do nothing, everything should now be
in place for putting the solution into action. If something happens so that the chosen solution/s
cannot be used or if the solution stops working, there will now be a list of alternatives already
assessed, prioritized and ready to go.

STEP 6: Implement the Solution

The implementation plan is just as important as implementing the solution/s and monitoring the
progress of this step is something that will need to be done also. A brief guide to some of the
things that will need to be considered have been detailed below.

 Planning and documentation of a new solution/s

o When will the solution be implemented?
o Where will the solution be implemented?
o How is the solution to be implemented?
o What has to be done before the solution is implemented?
o How long will the solution take to start working?
o What time frame is the solution expected to take before the problem is solved?
o Have monitoring provisions been put in place?
o What are the key signs to look for to indicate the solution is working?
o Who will need to be notified about the changes about to take place?
o At what stages will the progress be reviewed?
o Have contingency arrangements been put in place for if the solution doesn’t
work?
o What will be the next step if the solution doesn’t work?
o If required, have all agreements been documented and signed?
o How will it be confirmed that the problem has been solved?
o Are steps required to remove or disable the solution?
o What will happen once the problem has been solved?
 Putting the solution into action
o Put the solution into action
o Monitor the progress and effect of the solution

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
 o Test and ensure the solution is meeting expectations and outcomes

STEP 7: Evaluate and Learn

Hopefully everything went to plan and the problem is now solved and even if it wasn’t, this step
is still the same. It is vital that the whole process is evaluated from problem to solution and a
good starting point is to document the 7 step procedure. This step is intended to not only provide
a future reference but also a learning experience for future problem solving. At a very minimum
the following questions should be answered:

How effective was that particular solution?

Did the solution achieve the desired outcomes?
What consequences did problem solving activity have on my situation?

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
 Interview Skills
Even though most jobs don't require smooth talking skills, getting through the interview
often does. You don't have to answer every interview question perfectly, but you can
improve your interview skills. Here are 10 interview skills that will help you land the job.

1. Do your background research.

This may not seem like an actual interview skill, but it is. If you walk into an interview
saying, "Now, what do you do again?" and "Do you guys have funding yet?" you're doomed
before you begin. No matter how sparkly your personality is, you have to do the
background research.

2. Be polite to everyone.
You may have heard stories of people who were rude to the receptionist, cut someone off in
the parking lot, or yelled at the barista at the coffee shop around the corner and then didn't
get the job. These things happen, and they can ruin your chances. I will never, ever, not in a
million years hire the person who is rude to the receptionist or barista. Many recruiters and
hiring managers feel the same.

3. Watch your body language.

This one is a bit harder. My Inc. colleague Minda Zetlin listed 21 body language mistakes
that people make. Some of them are especially important in an interview. For instance:

 Lean in or sit up straight to show you're interested.

 Keep eye contact so you look honest, but don't just lock in a stare, because then you
look aggressive.
 Don't nod too much. Yes, you want to show agreement, but too many nods and you
start to look like you don't truly care.

4. Watch your real language.

If you have a potty mouth, save it for your friends, and not for the interview. If the
interviewer is letting the f-bombs fly, you can feel more comfortable doing the same, but
otherwise, use words that express your actual feelings and ideas.

5. Review your own resume.

You know what you did, right? Are you sure? I once got caught off guard in an interview
when the hiring manager asked me a specific question about an accomplishment on my
resume. I had to stumble for a minute before my brain latched on to what she was talking
about. Don't make that mistake. Refresh your memory, especially old jobs.

6. Prepare for standard questions.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class-

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
Lots of interviewers are going to ask you to "tell me about a time when ..." followed by
something appropriate for your field and this particular job. You should have great answers
prepared for this. Brainstorm a list of possible questions and work on your answers.
Another Inc. colleague, Jeff Haden, just listed the 27 Most Common Job Interview
Questions and Answers. Definitely, review these questions before arriving at a job
interview.

7. Prepare your wardrobe.

Yes, people judge you by what you're wearing. Most interviewers aren't going to care the
brand of your jacket, or if the heel of your shoe is scuffed, but you should be dressed
appropriately. Generally, for most professional jobs that means a suit, or one step lower. If
you're concerned, go to their parking lot before the interview and watch people come out. If
their style is business casual, you should wear a suit. If they are wearing jean and flip flops,
you're probably fine in business casual, but better to be overdressed than underdressed, in
most industries.

8. Prepare your questions.

Don't ask questions that could be answered by looking at the company website. Do ask
questions about the challenges of the position, what success looks like, and how this
position fits in with the organization's goals. Remember, you want to look like you're really
interested in succeeding in this position, and you need this information to do so.

9. Don't badmouth your former employer.

You're most likely going to be asked why you're looking to leave your current job (or why
you left your last job if you're unemployed). Don't lie, but don't be super negative either.
"My boss is a huge jerk. She is nit-picky, plays favorites, and smells like tuna fish." These
things may all be true, but you don't come out looking good. Figure out how to explain why
you're leaving, why you got fired, what you learned from it, and how this all means this new
job is a great fit.

10. Don't forget the thank you card.

It doesn't have to be a card anymore; an email will do just fine. You can get hired without
one, but it's a nice gesture to send a quick follow up email to the hiring manager and
recruiter. It keeps you in their minds and shows your politeness, which brings this full
circle. You begin by being nice to everyone, and you end the interview by being nice to
everyone, and you increase your chances.

Don't panic at the thought of your interview. Prepare and in advance, and you'll do a great
job.

Some General Dos and Don’ts (at the time of interview)

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class-

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
Do:

 Arrive in good time. The interview panel may be interviewing a lot of candidates so
do not keep them waiting.
 Dress appropriately. Some organisations, especially technology companies, have a
very casual dress code but, for most, a suit will be appropriate interview wear.
Remember that you are being judged on the appearance that you present.
 Act appropriately, which usually means following the interviewer’s lead. If you are
offered a hand to shake, then shake it, but don’t offer your own hand if nobody else
seems interested.
 Engage with the interviewers. Smile, make eye contact, and build rapport.
 Answer the questions that are asked, using relevant examples where at all possible.

Don’t:

 Be afraid to blow your own trumpet a bit. After all, nobody else is going to blow it
for you; however do not lie or exaggerate. If you want the job, be enthusiastic and
positive.
 Be over-familiar or share too much information. For example, the interviewers don’t
want to know how you’re going to manage your childcare.

Let’s discuss some of the really important issues here in detail:

#1 Plan your first impression

When up against the open-ended question of “so… tell me about yourself”—where should
you begin? Definitely not at the beginning of your career.

Interviewers don’t want a recap of your resume. They want to know why you’re the most
relevant and interesting person for this job.

So give them what they want. You’re in control. And you get to decide what parts of your
story to emphasize—and in turn, what they will focus on.

Storytelling is your secret weapon. “If you can use storytelling techniques in interviewing,
it really helps to connect with the interviewer and make you a much more memorable
candidate.”

#2 Sell your strengths

In an interview, talking about your strengths isn’t obnoxious. It’s not bragging or being too
forward. It’s an essential skill to master if you want the job.

Take advantage of the opportunity to highlight your strengths and experience and go into
your interview prepared to discuss: “Here are the top three reasons why I would be
awesome at this job.”

Even if you’re an introvert or a modest person by nature, there are ways to communicate
your strengths without going against your personality.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class-

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
First, state the facts of what you accomplished:

I “led a multi-million dollar project” that “we delivered two weeks ahead of deadline” and
that “got amazing feedback from the client."

Second, quote others:

In my performance review, I got great feedback from my manager "about my ability to

mentor junior associates and motivate my team.”

And remember to practice aloud. With just a handful of practice responses, you can go from
stumbling to polished.

#3 Prepare speaking points—not a script

How can you be prepared, but also authentic and spontaneous? The answer is ‘Bullet
points’.

Don’t script responses word for word. Simply capture a few bullet points that communicate
the most important points for commonly asked questions.

Sometimes it can feel like you’re at the mercy of the interviewer. “But if you go in feeling
comfortable with your speaking points and the things that you want them to remember
about you, it gives you an opportunity to be strategic and proactive.”

This can be especially helpful if there’s an area you’re sensitive about, like a gap in your
resume. Don’t stick your head in the sand and hope they don’t ask.

Prepare and practice so you’ll be in control of your message no matter what the interview
throws your way.

#4 Show enthusiasm for the role

It’s a given that you will research the company and be able to discuss why you’re a good fit,
whether it’s culture or values.

But even more importantly, you need to express—with sincere enthusiasm!—how you’re a
great fit for the job itself and why you’d be excited to do this work. Think about:

 How am I uniquely qualified for this job?

 Why would I be motivated to succeed if they hired me?
 How does this job fit into my career goals and what I love to do?

Interviews are trying to get a feel for whether you would be a passionate, strong performer
if you were hired.

#5 Tell a good (short) story

“You want to have a little bit of a story arc, you want to paint a picture, and you want to
make sure that you're really sharing what you in particular did to contribute to the project or
the situation.”
Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class-
II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
But how?

1. Start with the backstory—just enough context to explain why the project was
important.
2. Tick through your actions—the highlights of what happened, the obstacles you
faced, and how you addressed them.
3. End with positive outcomes—either a concrete business improvement (“we
increased revenue by 8%) or an anecdotal result (“we came in under budget and the
customer renewed their contract.”)

To make your story concise and engaging:

 Keep it under two minutes.

 Use “I” not “we”—e.g. “I came up with the solution” (if you did!)
 Think of your story as the start of a dialogue, not a monologue. If they ask follow-
up questions to dig deeper, you know you’ve succeeded!

#6 End on a positive note

There’s plenty of advice out there that says to end the interview with something like “Do
you have any concerns?”

That is a bad idea.

One problem is that most interviewers and HR personnel, especially at big companies, are
trained not to give feedback like that on the spot. Plus, why end the interview by inviting
negativity?

Instead, end on a positive note by asking something like: “What do you think are the most
important qualities for someone in this role?”

It may open up a final opportunity for you to talk about your experience in a different way
and make a lasting impression.

Let us now discuss what should be done before, during and after the
interview in detail:
Interview Skills

There are some easy steps that you can take that will increase your chances of
success at interviews.

First, remember that job interviews should be a process of two-way

communication. Not only are they a tool for employers to use to evaluate you,
but they are also an opportunity for you to assess the job, the organization, and
to see if there is a "fit."

The keys to a successful interview are preparation and practice. The following
suggestions will help you prepare for an interview:

Self-evaluation It is important for you to think about yourself and your past experiences in

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class-

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
 order to be ready to articulate what you have to offer an employer. Consider the following
topics:

 How your present and past experience relate to the position

 Your current and future career goals
 What skills and expertise you have to offer
 The skills that you would like to develop or improve
 Location, salary, and lifestyle priorities
 Kinds of people and environments you prefer
 Past experiences you want to highlight such as volunteer work,
hobbies, travel

Before the Interview

Research the Company - A company's website is an excellent place to begin.

It usually gives you information on whether it is international or domestic, what
its revenues are, how many locations it has, and the nature of its major
products. Most companies are very proud of their websites. Don't be surprised
if one of the first questions interviewers ask when you arrive is, "Have you
have had a chance to look at our
website?"

Practice interviews - Write down a list of possible questions that you think may be asked, then
have a friend act as an interviewer and direct them to you in a practice interview situation. Don't
stop until you feel comfortable answering each question. Practicing beforehand will make you
feel more comfortable and relaxed during the interview.

Dress Professionally - In today's environment, wearing a suit isn't always

necessary. Contact the HR Manager of the company or your recruiter, and find
out what the dress code is for the company at which you are going to
interview. Then dress one level above. For instance, if it is business casual,
men can wear dress pants, dress shirt, and sport coat. Women can wear a
pantsuit, dress, or a skirt and blouse. Visual impressions are very important.
Therefore, if in doubt, always dress on the conservative side.

Arrival - Try to arrive at the interview location a little early. This gives you time to determine
where you need to go, and will give you a few minutes to collect your thoughts. DO NOT arrive
late. Nothing destroys your chance at impressing an employer more than arriving late and
offering no explanation. If you learn at the last minute that you are going to be arriving late at the
interview, call and let the interviewer know. Interviewers understand that things can come up
suddenly. You are never considered late if you call and make them aware of the fact.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class-

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
During the Interview
First impressions - First impressions take only thirty seconds. Establishing
rapport, direct and sustained eye contact, a firm handshake, a warm smile,
good posture, and introducing yourself in a confident manner are important
ingredients. A well-groomed, professional appearance is critical. Greet the
interviewer with a firm
handshake, whether it is a woman or a man. (No one likes a weak handshake.)
Always maintain eye contact while shaking hands.

Smile - A smile denotes confidence in a candidate. Try to smile often. Also, don't be afraid to
use some hand animation while answering questions. This suggests enthusiasm in a candidate.

Body Language - Use good posture, and look the interviewer right in the eye. Sit up straight.
Never slouch.

Speak Clearly - Don't mumble. It portrays a lack of confidence. Speak with assurance. This
indicates confidence.

Listen Before Answering - Allow the employer to begin the interview, but
be prepared with some opening statements or questions such as, "I
understand that this position involves…," or "What are you looking for in
a job candidate?" Make sure you understand the question. If not, ask the
interviewer to clarify it. Don't be afraid to take some time to think before
answering. Interviewers are impressed with someone who thinks out an
answer before speaking.

Give Brief Answers - Make your answer concise and to the point. Rambling tends to suggest that
you really don't have the answer to the question(s) asked.

Previous Employers - Never, ever say anything negative about your present or previous
employers. No matter how much you may have disliked someone, find a way to give your
experiences a positive spin.

Be Truthful - Don't lie when asked about something you haven't done. The next question
will be "tell us about it."

Know Your Resume - Be prepared to talk about every fact that is on your resume. Many people
embellish their accomplishments on their resumes. Avoid this, since the only point of reference
an interviewer has about you is the resume you provide to him/her beforehand.

Keep things at a professional level - Sometimes near the end of an interview, the two parties start
feeling comfortable with each other. Don't let this comfortable feeling lead

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class-

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
you to telling them something about yourself that they really shouldn't know. Always keep
things at a professional level.

Look for Something in Common - This is something that has given an us

edge in the past. Try to find a common bond between yourself and your
interviewer. If you are being interviewed in an office, look at how the
office is decorated. Look for something you can identify with. Is his/her
college diploma hanging on the wall? Did you attend a nearby school, or
perhaps one in the same Division? If so, make a quick comment about
it: "Did you attend Penn State? I
attended the University of Michigan. What a great football conference."
Interviewers sometimes feel more comfortable with people with whom they have something in
common. This approach has helped several candidates obtain a position over other qualified
candidates. Above all, be sincere.

After the Interview

Back in Touch - Ask the interviewer when s/he expects to get back to you on her/his decision.

Get Everyone's Business Card - Before you leave, be sure to get the business cards of all of the
people with whom you visited. If you cannot do that, ask a secretary for their names and e-mail
addresses.

Thank the Interviewer - Verbally thank the interviewer for taking the time to
interview you, before leaving. Within a day, send thank-you letters to all of the
interviewers with whom you spoke. This does not need to consist of a written
letter sent via snail mail; an e-mailed thank-you works just as well.

Do not give up - Sometimes, within ten minutes of the start of an interview, you will know that
the job is not one you want to pursue. If you begin to feel this way, don't give up on the
interview. Continue to interview as if the job was the most important thing in the world. This
provides you with practice for your next interview, which may be for your dream job! Not all
interviews will lead to offers of employment, but, if you approach every interview as if it's the
most important interview you ever had, you will come out a winner!

Additional tips

 Focus on presenting a positive, enthusiastic tone.

 If you are asked to describe a weakness, mention lessons learned, and
steer away from negative descriptions.
 Think about three or four key points that you want to make about your
personal characteristics, skills you have learned, and relevant
experiences that demonstrate that you could perform the job well.
 Find specific, rather than general, examples from your experience that
illustrate important points about yourself.
 When answering questions, focus on experiences that demonstrate flexibility,
adaptability, responsibility, progress, achievement, creativity, initiative, and leadership.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class-

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
  If the employer signals the end of the interview and asks you for questions, and you
haven't discussed some key points, say: "There are a couple of points I would like to
mention."

After the interview, write a brief thank you letter. Express your appreciation for the opportunity
to interview and learn about the organization, re-confirm your interest, and re-emphasize how
your background and skills might be of interest to the organization.

Some Interview Questions

You can expect to be asked some of the following types of questions in an interview.

Case Questions are often used by consulting companies to assess analytical and problem solving
skills. The interviewer presents a situation and asks you to discuss possible solutions. A sample
case question is, "Describe a managed care company that you think is successful and explain
why. What do they do that works? What are their potential problems? What is your outlook for
their future? What suggestions do you have for their future?"

Behavioral or situational questions are used to assess how you would behave in different
circumstances and to predict your behaviour in future, similar situations. An interviewer may
ask, "Tell me about a time when a team you were working on was unable to proceed due to
some interpersonal conflict. How did you respond, and what role did you play on the team?"

Role-play questions entail the interviewer asking you to put yourself in another role and decide
how you would handle a specific problem.

Industry-specific questions are questions regarding the latest trends or issues in the industry. An
interviewer may ask, "If you were a CEO of Microsoft’s main competitor, what actions would
you take in the on-line services market?"

Brainteasers are quick questions where the obvious answer is not necessarily the right answer
such as, "Which would you rather receive: fifty thousand pennies or a 10x10x10 room filled
with pennies?"

General questions
 Tell me about yourself.
 What are your key experiences and accomplishments?
 How would you rank your achievements?
 What are your strengths and weaknesses?
 How would your friends describe you?
 Explain your reason for leaving your current job.
 What are the most important things to you in a job?
 What do you value in a supervisor?
 How would you describe your management style?
 What appeals to you about this job and organization?
 Describe the ideal position in our company.
 What qualities do you think make someone successful in our industry?
 What would you like me to know most that is not on your resume?

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class-

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
  Explain your understanding of the issues and trends in your specialty and in the
overall industry.
 Why are you qualified for this position?
 Give an example of a situation where you demonstrated leadership.
 Give an example of how you worked on a team.
 What questions do you have about the organization? Questions for the interviewer are queries
that usually focus on the culture or mission of the organization, and job responsibilities. This
is not the time to bring up questions about salary, benefits, and vacation about which you can
inquire after you have been offered the job.

The Phone Interview

Due to a company's geographic location, travel costs, and divergent schedules, a

phone interview may often be your initial contact with a prospective employer.
Therefore, we're offering some phone interview tips.

Objective - The idea behind a phone interview is to gain an invitation for a personal interview,
and to gather more information for future steps in the process.

Preparation - Have a pad, pen, and a copy of your resume near the phone. Use a phone in a quiet area.
Avoid any background noise. Also avoid using a cordless phone, because they tend to transmit
poorly.

Speaking

a. Smile and be enthusiastic. Your enthusiasm will carry through to the

interviewer.

b. Speak in a conversational manner, and be sure to speak loudly enough to

be heard. Speak with some inflection and tone.

c. Let the interviewer do most of the talking. When s/he asks you a question, expound
upon the answer. Use the opportunity to sell your skills and experience.

d. When the interview is over, let her/him know that you are very interested in
scheduling a personal interview at her/his place of business.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class-

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
 Adaptability Skills
Being able to adapt to changing environments and work processes can be desirable
traits to employers. Having adaptability skills means you are open and willing to learn
new things, take on new challenges and make adjustments to suit transitions in the
workplace. Additionally, developing your adaptability can also mean developing other
soft skills like communication and interpersonal skills. In this article, we explore what
adaptability skills are, how to improve these skills and how you might highlight
adaptability skills on a resume, in a cover letter and during an interview.

What are adaptability skills?

Adaptability skills are skill sets that encompass a person's ability to adjust to changes
in their environment. Being adaptable in your career can mean you are able to respond
quickly to changing ideas, responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies and other
processes at work. Being adaptable also means possessing soft skills like
interpersonal, communication, creative thinking and problem-solving skills.

Being adaptable in the workplace can be important when working on projects,

developing strategies and implementing different approaches to doing your job. By
showing your employers your adaptability skills, you are revealing how motivated
you are to try new things and learn new skills.

Examples of adaptability skills

Adaptability skills can include a variety of skill sets that can essentially help you
adapt to and deal with change in a positive and proactive way. Some of these
important soft skills include:

 Communication skills
 Interpersonal skills
 Problem-solving skills
 Creative and strategic thinking skills
 Teamwork skills
 Organizational skills

Communication skills

Being adaptable can depend on how effectively you communicate with your
teammates and managers. Being able to ask for clarification during transitions or
seeking out additional information or resources for a new and unfamiliar project can
Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –
II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
show your team leaders how motivated you are to learn and ask for help when you
need it.

Active listening and other forms of communication like nonverbal communication are
also equally important aspects of adaptability. Active listening shows you are attentive
and ready to take new direction, and developing your nonverbal communication skills
can help you navigate changes in team relationships or dynamics in the workplace.

Interpersonal skills

Similar to effectively communicating with others, having excellent interpersonal skills

can also play a key role in your overall adaptability. Being able to interact with others
in healthy and positive ways can help you avoid miscommunication and conflict
during operational shifts.

Problem-solving skills

Adapting to change can also rely on problem-solving skills. You might use your
problem-solving skills to find creative solutions to challenging topics, and being able
to observe and analyze how you might approach solving a new problem can show
your managers your willingness to make adjustments or improvements to the way you
approach solving problems at work.

Creative and strategic thinking skills

Adaptability can also require creative thinking and the ability to think strategically.
For instance, developing new ideas to market products, finding ways to adapt to a
changing market and implementing methods to improve and develop new strategies
can all showcase your overall adaptability skills.

Teamwork skills

Teamwork skills can be essential to being able to adapt to different personalities and
working dynamics. Your colleagues can be a combination of different skills,
backgrounds and experiences. Being able to work on a diverse team of people and
deal with conflict, differing ideas and other dynamics that can occur can positively
benefit how adaptive you are in a team environment.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
Organizational skills

Organization can include several different aspects that can make this skill necessary to
develop your adaptability skills. When you maintain an organized work area,
paperwork and other aspects of your job, you can be better prepared in the event that
operational changes happen at work.

How to improve adaptability skills

Being adaptable and open to change may not always be easy, however, you might
consider the following steps to help you develop and improve your adaptability skills:

1. Be aware of changes in your environment

2. Develop a growth mindset
3. Set goals for yourself
4. Ask for feedback
5. Learn to acknowledge and accept change

1. Be aware of changes in your environment

One key method that can help you develop your adaptability skills is to stay cognizant
of changes in your work environment. For instance, you might observe the finance
team's new budget to stay updated on current allowances if your team's
responsibilities involve the use of company funds. You might also remain aware of
policies, procedures and other operational processes to stay abreast of changes to
various company practices.

2. Develop a growth mindset

Being adaptable also means being willing to learn and try new things. Developing a
growth mindset can positively influence your ability to take on new challenges, find
new opportunities to develop your knowledge and contribute to new projects. Your
willingness and motivation to keep improving upon your skills can also show your
employer your commitment to your professional growth.

3. Set goals for yourself

Another method that can help you develop your adaptability skills might be to set
goals for yourself. For instance, if you feel you might be weaker in your nonverbal
communication or you tend to procrastinate when expected to complete challenging

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
tasks, you might set a goal to work on each aspect of your skills so you can improve
your overall ability to adapt to changes in the workplace.

4. Ask for feedback

As you develop throughout your career, you might think about requesting feedback or
constructive criticism from your managers to help you improve on your weaker skills.
Positive and constructive feedback can be beneficial for setting goals and achieving
success in your career.

5. Learn to acknowledge and accept change

It can also be highly beneficial to let yourself accept change as it occurs. Learning to
acknowledge changes in your career can help you prepare yourself and adapt to
differing circumstances. Additionally, learning how to be willing to accept change can
be an effective step toward recognizing when you need to make adjustments to make
transitions smoother for yourself.

Adaptability skills in the workplace

Here are some additional tips to help you apply your adaptability skills in the
workplace:

 If there are changes to processes, procedures or operational practices, you can

ask for clarification from teammates and managers to help you better plan for
transitions.
 You might request opportunities to work on tasks that may be new to you or
offer to take on responsibilities that require creative approaches.
 If sharing your ideas with your colleagues is something that makes you
anxious, you could set a goal to contribute to team meetings and collaborations.
 Try getting all aspects of your work organized, such as documents, required
paperwork, projects and other work information, so you're prepared in case
there are transitions within your job.

How to highlight adaptability skills

Being adaptable can require a variety of combined skill sets. The following
information illustrates how you might showcase these skills on your resume, in your
cover letter and during an interview.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
Adaptability skills on a resume

You might consider the required job skills and compare them with your developed
skill sets. You can then highlight these skills on your resume by providing examples
of how you were successful because of your skills. Some skills you could include
might be your communication, teamwork or leadership skills.

Adaptability skills in a cover letter

Consider describing your accomplishments that can be directly contributed to your

adaptability skills. Maybe you successfully solved a technical problem on a software
development project, or maybe you found a creative solution to a customer's problem.
However your adaptability skills have helped you achieve goals, consider mentioning
it in your cover letter.

Adaptability skills in an interview

You can highlight your adaptability skills by providing the interviewer with examples
of how you have applied your skills in past roles. For instance, maybe you relied on
your strategic thinking skills in a past role to find new marketing strategies that would
position your company ahead of its competition. You can use your past experiences
and achievements to help you answer the interviewer's questions in a way that shows
how adaptable you are.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
 Written Communication Skills
The purpose of written communication is to capture your reader‘s attention and get
your point across clearly. Ultimately, when you communicate in writing, you are
helping the reader understand your perspective on a topic. There are certain
qualities all effective written communication shares, and if you add these elements
to your writing, your work will be more powerful.

Importance of Effective Written Communication

In some ways, effective written communication is even more important than

spoken communication. Unless it is being recorded, regular speech does not last.
However, written communication is a record, and people may refer back to it later.
This means that in addition to creating a connection with your audience, you need
to consider the lasting impact of what you write. Think about how it will be
perceived by your audience initially, as well as the impact it will leave.

The Five Cs of Effective Written Communication

Good written communication depends on the audience, the topic, your purpose in
communicating, and other factors. However, all effective written communication
has some characteristics in common:

 Connection - Good written communication forms a connection between the

reader and the writer.
 Clarity - Effective written communication is clear and easy to understand.
 Cause - The cause or reason for writing needs to be clear to both the writer
and the reader, including any specific actions you need from your audience.
 Conciseness - Good written communication sticks to the point and doesn‘t
meander around or include lots of extraneous information.
 Correctness - To be effective, the written communication should use the
correct tone, inoffensive language, and appropriate grammar.

How to Make Your Writing Communicate Effectively

Effective writing allows the reader to thoroughly understand everything you are
saying. This is not always easy to do. Here are a few tips that will help you:

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
1. Know Your Goal and State It Clearly

Do you want the reader to do something for you, or are you merely passing along
information? Do you want a response from the reader, or do you want him to take
action? Effective written communication has a clear purpose, and that purpose is
communicated to the reader. Explain in clear terms what you want the reader to do.

2. Use the Correct Tone for Your Purpose

Tone can help your writing be more effective. Certain forms of communication,
like memorandums and proposals, need a formal tone. Writing to someone you
know well would need a more informal tone. The kind of tone depends on the
audience and purpose of the writing.

3. Keep Language Simple

Do not overuse clichés, jargon, and expressions or try to impress with big words.
This can make the reader work harder, and you want to make it easy to understand
what you‘re saying.

4. Stay on Topic and Keep It Concise

Effective written communication stays on topic. Avoid information that is not

relevant. Clarity is key. Less is more when it comes to length. Keep sentences and
paragraphs short and concise, since long, complicated sentences will slow the
reader down. Leave out words that do not contribute to the main focus of the
communication.

5. Use Active Voice

Using an active voice will strengthen your writing. It‘s easier to understand
sentences that are written in the active voice. An active example is "I caught the
ball," and a passive example is "The ball was caught by me." Active voice will
engage the reader and keep his or her attention.

6. Have Someone Proofread Your Writing

Good grammar and punctuation are very important. It is a good idea to have
someone else proofread your writing before you send it. If you cannot do that, then
try reading it out loud.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
Practice Different Types of Written Communication

There are many types of written communication, including emails, memos,

business letters, blogs and websites, press releases and more. Practice writing a
variety of documents to improve your written communication skills. Like anything
else, becoming a great writer takes practice.

Of all communication channels, businesses rely the most on written

communication. Emails, memos, company newsletters, meeting recaps, scribbled
notes – the list goes on and on.

A great advantage of written communication is that the message can be referred

back to at a later time, making it the best option for sending a lot of important
information at once. And if there is one place you want to be on top of the latest
information, it‘s in the workplace.

How can you develop written communication skills?

Writing can be intimidating, but as with most things, practice helps. So does
learning the basics. You can do that by taking a business-writing course at your
local community college or in an online workshop. Asking a trusted coworker,
friend or family member to review your words can also help.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
To get you started, here are five steps that can make a real difference in developing
effective written communication skills:

1. Have the right mindset

Before you begin any writing project, gather the necessary resources and have
them nearby, including research materials. The more prepared you are, the more
relaxed you‘ll be as you start. First-rate writing does not happen by accident.
Before placing a single finger on the keyboard, take a moment to organize your
thoughts and identify the primary purpose of the written communication. Who is
your audience? What do you want people to know or do when they finish reading
what you've written? Keep those answers top of mind as you write.

2. Sort it out

Make sure you have a game plan in place. What is the main message you want to
get across? It‘s helpful to handwrite all the key points you want to make in advance
so you don‘t forget any. Also create a brief outline of what you‘d like to cover in a
logical order. This step can be particularly useful for larger documents that need to
address many issues.

3. Write in a straightforward manner

Professionals with strong written communication skills know it‘s critical to get to
the point immediately with any message or you may lose your audience. Between
emails, texts, the web, memos and reports, people are on information overload —
and they won‘t wade through overly long messages.

Many people also weigh down their written communications with buzzwords,
clichés, jargon and pretentious prose. This approach only muddles the message.
For example, ―Let‘s have a quick meeting‖ is much better than ―Let‘s mindshare to
align and synergize our deliverables.‖ Impress readers with your cogent thinking,
not your mastery of corporate-speak. Nobody will miss the overused clichés and
fancy Rs. 5 words.

The ‗Keep It Simple, Stupid‘ philosophy is a good one to follow. Include

summaries at the beginning of big reports, and use bullets or numbers to separate
individual points (like we've done with this blog post). Also avoid using acronyms
or industry jargon. Use too many confusing or annoying abbreviations and your
audience may move on to another pressing task, missing your message altogether.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
4. Stay professional

As you try to improve your written communication skills, take everything you
write seriously, steering clear of any controversial or sensitive subjects. This can
be easier said than done. Seriously, who doesn‘t want to joke around with
coworkers in emails about a ridiculous new company policy? You never know
when your email or other message could be forwarded, though. When in doubt,
think about whether you‘re comfortable with the entire company — including your
boss — reading what you‘ve written.

5. Check it again — and again

Maybe you feel like your written communication skills are on track as you make a
compelling case for updating your office‘s phone system. However, as you put
together your masterpiece, you‘re moving along so quickly that the document is
filled with typos and spelling mistakes. No worries, you tell yourself. You‘ll just
run a spellcheck, and all will be fine, right?

No. Spellcheck can and does miss a wide range of errors. So it‘s worth spending a
few extra minutes to reread messages yourself, and even have another person
check them or read them aloud to yourself.

Build your written communications skills and always review what you write for
typos, tone and clarity. That way, you can make sure you‘re getting your point
across clearly and wowing people for the right reasons.

Technical Writing - General Tips:

• Do not adopt a "personal" style. Writing a technical paper is not fiction;

• Always write in the passive voice;
• Do not use possessives (mine, ours, theirs);
• Be consistent. If you capitalise nouns then do so throughout;
• Do not use contractions ( e.g. don't);
• Use agreed structures and order, especially in research and scientific
papers;
• In project proposals, write the introduction LAST;
• Leave the title until the end. It should be the objective of the project
"rearranged";

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
 • Methods should be written in the future tense, results in the past tense;
• Check the correct form of singulars and plurals (e.g. data, media);
• Avoid starting sentences with prepositions (to, in, on, in order to , during,
etc.);
• Avoid the use of / , instead use and , or;
• Never use superlatives;
• Never use very;
• Be careful using "via"... it means by way of, e.g. Munich to Madrid via
Amsterdam, not by means of i.e. a mode of travel,
e.g. Munich to Amsterdam via plane.

• Be careful using "due to", it means attributable to or caused by, never

because of.

There are some words one can use in formal written communication, such as:

Knowledge Comprehend Analyze

Count, Define, Describe, Classify, Cite, Conclude, Break down,
Draw, Enumerate, Find, Convert, Describe, Characterize, Classify,
Identify, Label, List, Discuss, Estimate, Compare, Contrast,
Match, Name, Quote, Explain, Generalize, Give Correlate, Debate,
Read, Recall, Recite, examples, Illustrate, Deduce, Diagram,
Record, Reproduce, Interpret, Locate, Make, Differentiate,
Select, Sequence, State, sense of, Paraphrase, Discriminate, Distinguish,
Tell, View, Write Predict, Report, Restate, Examine, Focus,
Review, Summarize, Illustrate, Infer, Limit,
Trace, Understand Outline, Point out,
Prioritize, Recognize,
Research, Relate,
Separate, Subdivide
Synthesize Evaluate Apply
Adapt, Anticipate, Appraise, Argue, Assess, Act, Administer,
Categorize, Choose, Compare & Articulate, Assess,
Collaborate, Combine, Contrast, Conclude, Change, Chart, Choose,
Communicate, Criticize, Critique, Collect, Compute,
Compare, Compile, Decide, Defend, Evaluate, Construct, Contribute,

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
 Compose, Construct, Interpret, Judge, Justify, Control, Demonstrate,
Contrast, Create, Predict, Prioritize, Prove, Determine, Develop,
Design, Develop, Rank, Rate, Reframe, Discover, Dramatize,
Devise, Express, Select, Support Draw, Establish, Extend,
Facilitate, Formulate, Imitate, Implement,
Generate, Incorporate, Interview, Include,
Individualize, Initiate, Inform, Instruct, Paint,
Integrate, Intervene, Participate, Predict,
Invent, Make up, Prepare, Produce,
Model, Modify, Provide, Relate, Report,
Negotiate, Organize, Select, Show, Solve,
Perform, Plan, Pretend, Transfer, Use, Utilize
Produce, Progress,
Propose, Rearrange,
Reconstruct, Reinforce,
Reorganize, Revise,
Rewrite, Structure,
Substitute, Validate

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, Surat Page
 Statement of Purpose (SOP)
A Statement of Purpose, also referred to as an SOP, is a reflection of your personality that you portray in
front of the admission committee (Institution) for getting enrolled in universities abroad. It is your chance
of impressing the committee by presenting your profile strongly through an essay that describes your
personality traits, which are not covered in your academic documents.

What is SOP?
An SOP is a long essay required by universities abroad and nowadays some of the Indian
universities during the application process. As the full form of SOP reveals, a Statement of
Purpose is an essay stating the purpose of applying to a particular course in a particular
university. This essay consists of a gist of who you are, who you want to become, and how ready
you are to pursue a certain course in an institution.

The document seeks to understand the candidate’s life, the motivations for the chosen career path
and his/her goals. Hence, you should discuss the past incidents that have influenced your career
path in a specific domain wherein you aspire to grow by joining a course/college.

Why is SOP important?

A well-written SOP is extremely critical to your admission. Needless to say, there are many
aspects of a candidate’s application that are inspected before finalising a decision. While the
academic record and other exam scorecards/academic transcripts and backlog certificate are
essentially objective in nature, an SOP is the only truly subjective aspect of your application.

It is the only document in your application that gives you the opportunity to prove that you have
something unique that makes you stand out from the crowd. As such, it is the document of your
application docket that can hugely determine your admission.

What is the General Statement of Purpose Format?

Most universities across the globe have a standard format/template that is acceptable. However,
the content in SOP varies with different kinds of courses. Learn how to write the SOPs for
different courses here:

Purpose of SOP:

The purpose of the SOP is to indicate strong research interest and your potential for advanced
research. It will consist of your motivational story; education; projects -academic and
professional- to show your expertise in the subject; why you want to pursue the degree now;
short and long-term goals; why this University and lastly why you are a good fit for the school.
Please note that the SOP should be written in a REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL order (Present
to Past).

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, surat Page
Please follow the accepted SOP format given below:

Introduction

It is advised to start your SOP with an anecdote (of an account) which inspired you to take up the
particular course. The introduction should not consist of any generic information rather it is
advisable to talk about any specific instance that motivated you to pursue this course. Make sure
this instance is from your recent past (as the university would like to know about your recent
accomplishments).

The earlier lines are generic observations. Please give a specific instance or event that can
showcase your interest in the MS. You may talk of a recent research paper that you have read or
a project that you undertook.

Academic Background

Begin this para with the name of your college/ school, location, year of enrolment, year of
completion, course name, subjects studied. Mention the subjects that you feel you have a
stronghold or knowledge in. Also, include major projects that you have undertaken along with
the timelines (Month/ Year), and a brief description of it. This should follow up with any
Industrial visits, Internships, training, Seminars, workshops, symposiums and the likes.

Professional Experience (if any)

Start this para with the name of the present organization, with details of date of joining, location,
designation and a brief description of your profile/ Job responsibilities. If possible mention any
major project that you were involved in, focusing on your particular role. Next, you can write
about your previous job in the same manner as stated above.

Why Masters and Why Now

This paragraph includes information about your reason for pursuing Masters, also the skills
that you would like to inculcate and enhance through this course. It is important that you mention
your reasons with valid examples or substantial information. Also, you need to state WHY THIS
IS THE PERFECT TIME for you to pursue masters. If you have professional experience,
provide your reasons why you are leaving the job to pursue this course.

 What skills or knowledge are you planning to enhance through this course?
 How will it help to achieve your goals?
 What are your goals?
 Short-term: what are you planning to do just after masters?
 Long-term: in the long run, where do you see yourself?

What do colleges look for in an SOP?

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, surat Page
While drafting your SOP, you need to keep in mind that the admission committee will be
reviewing thousands of applications for the same course. Thus, not only your SOP needs to be
crisp and precise, but it should also highlight the uniqueness in your profile. Here are few things
that the college review committee generally looks for in a student’s SOP:

 Your writing capability is reflected in your SOP. Your SOP should be free from
grammatical errors. The language should be lucid enough for them to comprehend yet
should have a good vocabulary. Make sure not to use too many heavy words as
sometimes too much of rich vocabulary makes the sentence redundant and it fails to
communicate the meaning.
 What makes you stand out from the rest of the crowd? Highlight your unique side/unique
personality. The institution should be able to recognize you as an individual through your
SOP. Your interests and goals will help them know you on a personal basis.
 With your talent, previous experiences and interest, how and what can you contribute to
the department and college/university, as a whole? Think of it as a two-way process. If
you receive an admit, your career will get a kick-start and through your efforts and
participation, the department/college can receive benefits. You need to mention how you
will be able to contribute towards their community, be it through sports, community
services, societies or clubs, and so on.
 Being familiar with the university facilities and curriculum will help you a great deal.
You need to be aware of the student programmes, faculty, internship opportunities,
student facilities and societies, traditions etc. that sets the university apart from others.
The institution should be convinced that you know about the department and
college/university thoroughly and thus, you are applying in it and not applying randomly.
 Your motivation or inspiration to study a selected course should clear, evident and
justified. Institution does not approve of bragging sentences in the SOP. So keep it
original, real, and free from any overbearing or arrogant statements.

How to make your SOP stand out from the Crowd?

Now that we have assessed how important your SOP is, we come to the important part – how to
write an SOP that stands out amongst 1000s of applicants every year. There are obviously some
basics about SOP writing, which clear what all you need to keep in mind like general word limit,
format, etc.

What is important to note, is that you must, at all times, remember which course you are writing
the SOP for. For example, if you are talking about studying Computer Science in a country, you
must discuss about all your encounters, experiences, and learning of Computer Science. Do not
miss out on anything important and do not talk about the rest of the things too much.

Specifically speaking, the SOP for an MBA application would be rather different from the SOP
for a Masters course like an MS or an MSc. Similarly, the SOP for a Bachelors course would be
widely different from any of the two. Here is a look at how to write a winning SOP.

How long should a statement of purpose be?

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, surat Page
Statement of Purpose should be 1-2 pages long, ideally wrapped in 800-1000 words. However,
the length of this document may vary as per university-specific requirements. Some universities
have a fixed length and pattern of SOPs required, which is fixed to 500 words only, even 200
words in some cases. Most of the universities accept generic length, which is 800-1000 words,
which may go beyond 1000, but not exceeding 1200 words, in some cases.

It is generally easy to write a story of your life explaining the importance of each incident in
shaping or moulding your character. However, when it comes to defining your SOP within the
communicated word limit by some university, the challenge is to portray your best within limited
words. In such cases, it is better to mention the major achievements from every place you been to
such as school, college, office, etc.

What to Include in an SOP?

There are many elements to an SOP. Universities could ask question-based essays or simply a
general statement of purpose. Until and unless categorically asked, an SOP must include your
goals and the career path you have taken up so far as well as your academic progress. Other
elements that are further important to the SOP are also the personal motivations that lead you to
choose the university/course you have applied to as well as how you intend to use that
experience to achieve that goal.

What not to Include in an SOP?

Statement of Purpose, or SOP as commonly referred, is easily the most important 1000 words
that stand between your application and admission to that dream program. And as important as it
may be to know what all you should include in your SOP, what is equally or perhaps more
important is to understand what not to include in your SOP.

Often Universities come across a lengthy statement of purpose and yet they reject it. Even when
you cannot find one grammatical error, the seemingly excellent SOP would be rejected. And the
primary reason is – too much unnecessary information. For instance, just because you might
want to talk about your family, does not mean you go on and on to talk about only your family.
This is not because the candidate is not aware of what to include…what he/she fail to understand
is what not to include.

Here are a few pointers to help you understand what not to be included in your SOP:

All your accomplishments!

Yes, we understand that you were an ace in your academics and a star hockey, tennis and
volleyball player. We also understand that you were the lead vocalist of your college band and
have at least 50 medals and endless recommendations from your teachers, etc. The point is…
while your SOP should be a brag sheet, it should be a brag sheet with a substance. You need to
pick and choose what to include. Pick a theme and mention the accomplishments that make the
most sense to your candidacy.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, surat Page
Remember, your resume is the place for listing down your accomplishments, SOP is all about
what made you the person you are.

Your Family History

We say, don’t waste too many precious words to describe your maternal and paternal family to
the admission committee. They have no consideration if your forefathers descended from royalty
– until that has something to do with the personality that you wish to highlight! They are
interested in understanding you as a person – period. Don’t go on and on about how hard
working your father is or how your mother was a devoted mom. A small sentence, if absolutely
necessary, should be enough to wrap up about your family. And remember – no history!

Financial Details

Often, universities require separate documentation for your financial status. Also, most
universities, while deciding about scholarships would ask the candidates to provide a separate
essay for the same. Hence, including details about your financial status and requirements not
necessary in the case of SOP. So, unless money has truly shaped your personality, avoid getting
into lengthy details about it.

Details about your Academic Projects/ Jobs

It is important to include your Academic Projects. What, however, you should avoid is
explaining in detail about your project and what you did. Same applies for you work experience.
It is important to make a reference, illustrate perhaps the incident and then talk about what you
learned from it. Remember, it is always important to make your SOP narrative. Focus on your
key learning and how they made you into what you are. Leave the lengthy detailing to your
resume.

How to Write a Winning Statement of Purpose

The basic rule of a statement of purpose is to understand what to include in a SOP and how to
write it. Like every individual, the statement of purpose is also unique in a lot many ways.
Needless to say, your experiences would be your own, your thoughts and ideas would be your
own and your aspirations would be unique and different too. But when it comes to writing them
down, there are a few basics that everyone must follow. We look at them in these 5 basic steps
on how to write a winning SOP.

Step 1: Prepare a list of what all you wish to include.

A Statement of Purpose is going to be a long document. But before you start writing, you need to
think and prepare a list of what all things you would like to include. Statement of Purpose ideally
lets you express the journey of your life so far and seeks to understand your goals and
aspirations. Hence, there are so many things that you can include. You need to understand what

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, surat Page
all to include in your SOP and then prepare a list. Simply take a piece of paper and jot down all
the points that you think you would like to talk about. It must have a list of your short-term goals
(if you have more than one), your long-term goals and of course all the life events you might
want to include. Remember, the key is to write down every incident, however, irrelevant it might
seem. At this stage, you must not worry about deciding what all not to include while writing the
SOP.

Step 2: Ideate on the theme of your SOP

Your SOP must have a theme. What we mean by that is that it should try to focus on a certain
thought process. You might want to tell about everything, but you must decide how your SOP
should progress. Thinking of a theme or to simply put, how your SOP would flow towards your
goals is important. Imagine that you are telling your story…and ask yourself…which incident in
your life you would like to stand out. It could be a particular incident that got you interested in
that Mechanical Engineering course or perhaps how your job highlighted why you need to take
up an MBA at that juncture. But finding the theme is very important and the easiest manner of
doing that is finding that one turning point in your life when you knew that this is what you had
to do.

Step 3: Prune the List

At this stage, you must now revisit the list prepared and start pruning it. After deciding the
theme, it becomes, however, to start removing instances which would not fit with it. Simply take
a red pen and keep striking out the instances that are not important or, would not necessarily go
well with the theme decided. Remember at this stage, it is extremely important to know what to
include in an SOP and more importantly what all you should not include in your SOP.

Also, the list usually can be customized as per the course you are applying for. For instance,
what to include in an MBA SOP varies from what you must include in an MS SOP. Also, how to
write an SOP for UG courses is completely different as there are lesser instances and relevant
projects to highlight. So, depending on the course, cut short the list prepared.

Step 4: Research about the course and the University

You would know a lot about the course and the university. This time around, research about the
culture, the alumni and find out how the culture and the success stories of the university chosen
fit with the theme you have chosen. This would help you greatly customize your SOP and sync
your goals with your chosen path. For research-based programs, it would be almost necessary to
include the names of the faculty members and their respective research projects that are currently
on-going. Remember, even if it is not categorically asked, it would bode well to do your research
about the faculty members who would be taking up the course you are planning to take up.
Thorough research about the program is highly appreciated by universities abroad.

Step 5: Write, Edit, and Re-write

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, surat Page
After completing the tasks, it is now time to write. We always recommend never to submit your
first draft. It is extremely important to write it once and re-visit it. You may not want to have
three or four edits, but one is a must. Almost essential! Even if the story and thoughts don’t
change, the vocabulary and basic punctuation must be checked. In all your essays, vocabulary,
spelling, and punctuation must be in order. With time at hand, there is no reason why
Universities would accept typo errors. Never underestimate the importance of punctuation in
your essays or SOP.

Also, we recommend going through the SOP after a few days. While you have had time to relax,
you would be able to look at the write up with fresh eyes and find something else you would
want to include. Hence, once you have edited and have had time to think, you must re-write your
SOP and then finalize your draft.

Remember, an SOP would ideally have your career progression and your career goals. Follow
the right format for a statement of purpose and you can't go wrong!

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How to write a Statement of Purpose (SOP) for UG Courses
Writing a Statement of Purpose for admissions to universities abroad is a rather challenging
thing. What makes it more so for the undergraduate applicants is the dearth of material to write
about. While there are many aspects that a student applying for a master’s program can include,
or for that matter an MBA applicant can include in his/her SOP, the student applying for an UG
course finds it difficult to do so. For them, there might not be any professional experiences. Not
everyone would have traveled the world nor would they have a long list of extra-curricular. As
such, how to write the SOP for an UG course becomes a completely different practice.

To start off, there are many things a student applying for UG courses can include in the SOP.
But, how to go about the process? Is it any different? Here’s a look at the 5 basic steps of writing
the SOP for a bachelor’s program.

Step 1: Prepare a list of important achievements of your school life.

At the UG level, what you have to offer is not 3 years of work experience or 4 – 5 years of your
college life. What instead you have is about 12 full years of your growth. Your journey has been
longer and hence you have so much more to include. Think about the past 12 years, imagine the
smallest joys and the greatest teachers, think about the stresses and the joyous victories. It could
be your win at the State Level Volleyball Tournament or the first win in an intra-class debate
competition in your 5th standard. Whatever it might be, you have a long history of 12 years to
rack up. So think about all the instances and if you still remember them, there is a good reason to
include them in your list.

Step 2: Do not look for a theme – just think about your life’s journey so far.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, surat Page
Contrary to the 5 basics of how to write a SOP, this is one step that is completely invalidated. At
this juncture, we suggest to not think of a theme other than your life’s story. This is, in true terms
the platform where you would be able to talk about what all you have done and how you came to
this decision. You are still exploring and deciphering and yearning to learn. You have to mention
everything so don’t go searching for leadership instances or any specific characteristic. You are
still mouldable, be flexible in your SOP and just don’t pick a particular instance.

Step 3: Prepare your first draft.

At the UG stage, we pull this step forth and ask you to start with writing it down. This is
important even before you start cutting your lists. We suggest that you prepare a draft early on,
even before you get a chance to think what all you wish to include.

Step 4: Discuss your lists and the first draft.

Discussing with friends, families, and if you share that rapport, with your teachers is a great way
to start pruning your list. Find out what they think of your draft, which incident they would
rather have you remove and what all they think you should talk about. Ask help for your drafts’
to be critiqued and questioned. Remember, they would be able to look at your achievements
from an outsider’s perspective and find something more amusing than other.

Step 5: Finalize your essay.

Once you have discussed the draft and the lists, it is now time to finalize your essay. We always
recommend writing a piece. Once you have completed the same, simply write the statement of
purpose again. Be very clear about your goal, keep in mind what all you want to include in your
SOP for the UG course. Once you have completed, edit the document, remove the grammatical
and typographical errors. There is no finite number of times you might have to write and re-write
your essay. We recommend, keep at it till you read it and feel that this is it.

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How to write an SOP for MBA programme

Step 1: Prepare a separate list of personal and professional instances

Writing a statement of purpose is a creative exercise. However, one must remember that the
process as such is rather technical. And like writing any SOP, you need to start by preparing a
list. The difference, however, while preparing a SOP for a Management Course or an MBA
program would be creating two separate lists – one personal and another professional.

Many Universities abroad require work experience for their MBA programs. As such, you would
have to include your work experience in your statement of purpose as well. While writing a SOP
for MBA programs, it becomes important to understand how to strike a balance in the two. The

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, surat Page
best way to do that is by preparing the list of incidents, instances and or qualities that you would
want to include and putting them in two separate lists.

Step 2: Select the characteristic that you wish to highlight

Often, different MBA/ Management Schools look for a certain quality in the candidate. Before
you start writing your SOP, it is important to search for the quality universities often look at and
determine which of those characteristics you would want to fit it. It could be anything –
leadership, entrepreneurship, lessons from failures, perseverance and hard-working or even
focussed and goal oriented. It could be anything that you wish to highlight. What matters is that
you choose something that would be what the university is looking for.

Point to Remember: You can always highlight more than one characteristic that strengthens
your profile.

Step 3: Match the lists and prepare a combined list

Once you have selected the idea and the have lists ready, now you must match the lists and
prepare one combined list. Remember, while writing a SOP you would be required to shorten the
list when writing for your MBA SOP, you must keep in mind to match the two lists and
accordingly strike away from the unnecessary parts. No matter which incident you pick, you
must ensure that the personal or professional experiences fall in place with the same.

Step 4: Research the relevant clubs

Management programs are more of a training arena and clubs/ student associations are a big part
of the learning process. It is important to include the clubs and other activities you would be
participating in. The club you choose should also be in accordance with the characteristics you
choose.

Step 5: Write the first draft and edit and re-write

This is the same as any SOP…you are now ready to write your SOP. The first draft should be
prepared and then edited. Punctuation, spellings, and vocabulary should be given extra focus.
After you have written your first draft, give it a few days before going through it. Spacing it out
gives you a fresher perspective. Give it a few days and read your SOP again. And then, write a
fresh statement of purpose. Remember, to re-write. Making changes would not suffice. And as
said, remember to always edit the document.

Dr. Vaishali S Biradar, Lecturer – English (GES – Class –

II), Government Polytechnic for Girls, surat Page