There are many skills that are required of business people in today's demanding workforce. Marketing professionals must be creative and have conceptual skills. Financial analysts must have superior math skills and the ability to oversee budgets. But the most important skill set for any employee in an organization is their interpersonal communication skills. Interpersonal skills include the ability to listen and understand assignments, effectively communicate with other individuals, write clear and concise e-mails and reports; and to respect and get along with fellow coworkers.

Without effective communication skills, an employee can't succeed in the workplace. Fortunately, effective interpersonal communication skills can be learned and applied fairly easily. Following are some tips on how to start having more effective communication on the job:

Always use the first name of your subordinates or superiors. This shows that you respect them and helps you build rapport with them as well. Someones first name is the most important word they will ever hear.

• Be a good listener. Have an open-door policy if you're in management. Create a team environment.
• Adapt your message to your listener and never be condescending. If you are a manager who needs a project completed, provide subordinates with precise instructions when delegating tasks. Allow people to ask questions regarding your expectations. Make sure they fully understand what is required of them. Follow up and provide periodic feedback on their work.
• Always provide positive reinforcement to subordinates. Lead and motivate by example. Do not dictate or criticize a person's work in front of others. Be understanding about their needs.
• If someone requests something from you make sure you follow-up with an e-mail to confirm the specifics.
  
• Take good note when you are in meetings. Ask questions if you don't fully understand something. Repeat instructions back to them. Update them at different stages of a project instead of waiting until it is completed. This will allow for more flexibility in case changes are needed.

Don't let your non verbal communication interfere with your intentions. You can project negativism with conflicting body posture, facial expressions and by not maintaining eye-to-eye contact. For example, slumped posture can convey a lack of confidence, crossing the arms can indicate boredom and not looking at a person when you're speaking to them may cause them not to believe what you're telling them.

The further you advance in an organization the greater will be your need for excellent interpersonal communication skills. One of the reasons is that you will likely have more people working for you as you get promoted. You will be constantly delegating, training and instructing your subordinates on various projects while simultaneously meeting the demands of your superiors. It will be more important than ever to keep everyone moving toward the common goal of completing all tasks and projects in a timely manner.

Presentation skills are essential at the manager, director and executive levels. You can hone your presentation skills by taking seminars on how to write great presentations in Power Point, for example, and deliver them effectively. Writing and management seminars or courses are also recommended. Additionally, you can read books on all of these topics including psychology.