This practical activity will help you to think about the interpersonal skills that you have and how you build interpersonal relationships; how you use your empathy, how you build relationships built on trust and how you work according to ethical values. 

The activity also supports you in finding out what other people think.  It gives you a chance to get some insights and some feedback that will help you to build and develop the way that you build relationships.

If you are going to get the best out of this course, it is important that you complete this exercise!  

(I know that it is very easy to ignore this but you will not develop your interpersonal relationships by just watching the video lectures!)

The first part of the course explores empathy.  This lecture covers the learning outcomes of this section on empathy.

This lecture investigates the need for empathy in the workplace with some specific instances of where it place an important part.

Empathy is defined in this lecture to give an understanding of what empathy is and what it is not.

Empathy is a fundamental component of both emotional and social intelligence.  There is an intelligence within empathy itself that can be utilised in developing interpersonal relationships.

This lecture looks at the structure of the brain with a very simple, but practical overview. It looks at where thoughts and emotions are generated that form the basis of empathy.

The way that the brain works when building interpersonal relationships.

This lesson covers how thinking can help and how it can hinder you in building interpersonal relationships. 

This lecture covers the way that your brain works with empathy.

The strange way that empathy creates and develops us as individuals and the fascinating neuroscience behind this.

This lesson looks at ways that you can demonstrate your empathy with others. 

Considering non-verbal cues is a good way to build and develop empathy.  In this lecture we look at body language and the signals communicated non-verbally.

This lesson covers how clusters of non-verbal signals can be interpreted.  They can give insights into how people manage their emotions, use their assertiveness and their principle focus.

Looking at facial expressions gives some clues to a person's emotional state but using only this channel can be misleading.  This lesson gives some examples of why concentrating solely on facial expressions can cause problems with empathy.

This lecture explores rapport and why it is important in empathetic communication.

The art of listening is about finding out what the speaker thinks about something at a deep level.   When people listen to one another, they learn from one another.  A free flow of ideas that are truly listened to can lead to relationships where people respect each other and are constantly learning from each other.

There are five levels of listening: ignoring, pretend listening, selective listening, attentive listening, and empathetic listening.  Each level represents the degree to which someone is listening to another person during a conversation.

This video investigates what hinders people's inability to listen and the detrimental impact of poor listening skills can have on effective communication.

Fundamental to good empathy is good listening. This lecture looks at what it means to be an empathetic listener.

This video considers the ways that you can develop your active listening skills and so become more empathetic.

Some hints and tips to consider that will help you to develop and build your empathetic skills.

The overview and review of this part of the course on empathy.

Empathy involves the ability to read the behaviours and actions of others in order to understand that person's emotional state.

How a person is feeling can be determined by looking at their non-verbal signals. This Practical Activity involves considering how emotions are expressed in other people.

If you are going to get the best out of this course, it is important that you complete this activity! 

(I know that it is very easy to ignore this but you will not develop your empathy by just watching the video lectures!)

This part of the course looks at behavioural styles.  It will give you an overview of the four working styles so that you can determine your social style and those of other people.

This lecture covers the learning outcomes for this module on working with others. 

Some people have certain views about working in a team whilst others see things from a different perspective.

This lecture looks at how my attitude and behaviour influences your attitude and behaviour and the cycle of behaviour that follows. It also looks at communication.

Social interaction styles consider your preferred pattern of behaviour when building relationships.  This section looks at the four styles based on assertiveness and emotional control.

This interactive questionnaire gives you a chance to determine your Social Interaction Style.

The Driver Style has a clear idea of their ambitions and goals, as well as the directness and forcefulness to achieve those goals. It also means that people like this will tend to have a competitive attitude, and they will generally follow their own ideas rather than work co-operatively with others.

This lesson reviews the Driver Style with particular reference to team working with some do's and don'ts when working with this style.

The Expressive Style thrives on the attention and approval of other people, and they're more motivated by praise and appreciation than most other types. Despite their outgoing attitude, they're often unwilling to risk causing offence, and they'll often avoid possible confrontations. In other words, while Expressive Style is socially confident, they tend not to be particularly assertive or forceful.

This lesson reviews the Expressive Style with particular reference to team working with some do's and don'ts when working with this style.

The Amiable Style is consistent and reliable in their approach. They prefer to operate in situations that follow established patterns, and to avoid unplanned developments. Because of this, people with the Amiable Style tend to be quite resistant to change, and will take time to adapt to new situations.

This lesson reviews the Amiable Style with particular reference to team working with some do's and don'ts when working with this style.

The Analytical Style likes to have a clear idea of their role, and what's expected of them, so they are far more motivated in situations that are clearly regulated and planned. In general, the Analytical Style is not independent by nature, and will prefer not to be left to make decisions or take actions without the support of others.

This lesson reviews the Analytical Style with particular reference to team working with some do's and don'ts when working with this style.

Each style has a unique set of priorities and preferences regarding relationships and tasks, and each prefers to work at its own pace. These can lead to tension.

Each Social Interaction Style reacts to increasing pressure in its own way around using their assertiveness and working with their emotions.

In conflict, the Driver Style will become autocratic.  This lesson looks at why, and how to work with this style in conflict. 

In conflict, the Expressive Style will attack.  This lesson looks at why, and how to work with this style in conflict. 

In conflict, the Amiable Style will acquiesce.  This lesson looks at why, and how to work with this style in conflict. 

In conflict, the Analytical Style will avoid. This lesson looks at why, and how to work with this style in conflict.

This lesson covers what happens with the Social Interaction Styles if the pressure continues to increase. 

This lesson contains a set of hints and tips that are useful behaviours for any interaction that are irrespective of your Social Interaction Style.

This lesson covers ways to become more emotionally and socially intelligent in your interactions with other people. It takes a lot of hard work and effort!

A few final words to conclude these sections on Social Interaction Styles.  In this lesson, we look at how each Social Interaction Style works with their emotional intelligence. 

Teamwork and working with others involves building trust in each other. This lecture reviews the learning outcomes for this part of the course exploring interpersonal relationships.

This lecture looks into the importance of the relationships that we build and what happens without effective communication.

How you work with conflict will impact upon the way that your relationships develop.

This lesson looks at the role of empathy in conflict and links back to the section on the social interaction styles model.

People can find saying "no" to requests quite difficult at times.  Here are some hints and tips that should allow you to say "No" without feeling guilty.

This video determines what factors and questions you need to consider in conflict resolution.

In this lecture we look at trust and find out why it is important.

This lecture investigates Robert Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions which considers trust as an emotion within the wheel which provides some very interesting insights.

Trust can be represented by an equation. It consists of four interrelated factors - three combine to increase trust whilst one can diminish trust.

This video investigates how trust becomes somewhat pivotal in motivating people to do what is necessary to achieve required outcomes.

Stephen R. Covey and Stephen M. R. Covey (father and son) have both produced seminal models on trust. This lecture reviews both models and looks at ways that you can work to build trust in relationships.

This lecture looks at trust from an economical perspective.

This lecture reviews the learning outcomes of this part of the course looking at conflict and trust in interpersonal relationships.

This practical activity gets you to look at your emotional bank statement and review how much in credit or how much in debt you are in your personal relationships and at work.

If you are going to get the best out of this course, it is important that you complete this activity! 

(I know that it is very easy to ignore this but you will not develop your trust by just watching the video lectures!)