The importance of having good people's skills

I am going to side-track a bit from my usual posts. As I will be starting my PhD in Women's and Reproductive Health at the University of Oxford in October, I am applying for some scholarships. One of these scholarships is Activia Training UK Scholarship (https://www.activia.co.uk/scholarship-uk) which requires a blog post answering the question: "why is having good people skills important and how do you use them?" This question applies very well to the field that I am currently working in (embryology) and my future career in reproductive medicine.

I'll start with explaining what I believe to be good people's skills. Communicating with people in a friendly, non-condescending, informative way is what I consider as good people's skills. Being able to create an environment where everyone involved feels calm, content and understood is very important in achieving a healthy environment. Every one should feel safe to share their ideas and feel involved in the conversations. People's skills does not necessarily only apply to spoken words, it also comprises of hand gestures, body language, facial expressions, anything that people can see and associate with communication. Therefore, it is very important to have good people's skills and to be aware of the vibe that we give off to people. Now I'll focus a bit more specifically on myself and how I use people's skills in my daily life.

The nature of our field is very sensitive in that we are dealing with patient's reproductive health and possible fertility. Many of these patients have a great degree of guilt and self-blame. However, it is important for us as professionals to remind them that issues with reproductive health are not the patient's fault. We have to be able to create a calm, and self-assuring environment for the patients while also providing them with honest and accurate answers. Being able to communicate with the patients is very important.

Our work is very delicate, detail-oriented and requires a lot of skills. The patient's may not understand the intricacies of the work and so having good people's skills allows us to relay this information to them while maintaining a close relationship with them. Our patients are under a lot of stress as this may be their only chance of achieving pregnancy so it is our job to reduce their stress. The most important portion of our job is to ensure the patients are happy while providing the best care that we can. I do this by providing them with updates regarding their situation and ensuring that they are handling everything well. If a patient is not coping, I try to speak with them to calm the situation or refer them to speak with our specialists.

Another way that people's skills plays a role in our field is through communication with the rest of our staff. It is important for everyone involved in the care of the patients to be aware of everything and be able to relay that information to the patients. This reduces the stress of the patient and they feel more at ease. Therefore, as an embryologist it is important for me to clearly communicate this information to all of our staff. People's skills plays a major role because even though some aspects of my work may be too scientific for some of our staff, I have to explain everything to them in a non-condescending manner.

I also have to deal with a variety of different companies. When contacting them, I have realized that good people's skills makes for an easier transaction. Sometimes I am able to receive promotions or samples that I can use to enhance our work just by simply having good people's skills. I also believe that by being friendly, both the person I am dealing with and myself feel more at ease and happier.

Good people's skills plays an important role in all of our lives. It is required by everyone, everyday and in every field of work and personal life. Humans are social beings and having good people's skills ensures a healthy environment of support and inclusivity for all of us.