Why develop soft skills?

Why Develop Soft Skills? digitalbloggers.com /internet-and-businesses-online/soft-skills Nov 15, 2016 15 views Written by Dylan Cooper Articles written: 18 Joined: 06 October 2016 Niche: Home Based Business Internet and Businesses Online Self Improvement

Author Dylan Cooper

When thinking about acquiring skills in life and for work, it can be easier to think about those skills that are closely related to a specific role or vocation. For example, the accountant's abilities or the electrician's skill set.

Soft Skills on the other hand, are often poorly understood and can seem, well..a bit vague.

I remember first hearing the term "Soft Skills" a few years ago and not really understanding what it meant.

So I did my own reading up and share some thoughts here..

Why Develop Soft Skills? These skills are important because they really define how we interact with other people.

Soft skills (also known as social skills, people skills, communication skills or transferable skills) are personal attributes that are developed over time, even a life time.

Some examples of soft skills are: Leadership Initiative Communication skills (Written and Oral)

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Problem solving Team working Work ethic Analytical skills Interpersonal skills So Why Develop Soft Skills? According to a study at Harvard University, it was concluded that around 80% of career accomplishments are due to soft skills and just 20% determined by "hard skills".

The development of skills such as the above should be a life-long endeavour. "There is always room to improve our interpersonal skills and grow in our ability to work with, lead and influence others. By making this a life-long pursuit, we seriously enhance our lives, relationships and work" says Grace Joliffe at the (U.S.) National Business Education Association.

One of the main characteristics of a "soft skill" is that these skills are transferable. What this means is that they are usable in a wide range of situations, organisations and roles etc. Hard skills are generally more technical and so can be quite specific to an activity. Soft skills on the other hand are broadly sociable skills and so can be brought into action wherever there are people.

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How To Develop Soft Skills One issue with developing soft skills, is that there is usually far less training on offer in these areas as there is for traditional hard skills. Many leaders in organisations assume that their people understand the importance of being friendly, punctual and being a self-starter. This is not always the case or people have an idea of how they should behave but the implementation is lacking.

So the answer is first to have an awareness that soft skills can be developed, then to actively seek out the learning and development. If relevant training is not spoon fed to us, then we must lead ourselves.

Here are some ways that soft skills can be actively developed: Become aware of your spoken communication and practice it. Practice making and holding eye contact. Be aware of the body language of yourself and others. When does your spoken communication and body language elicit positive communication from others and when does it not?

Become aware that you can actively listen and practice it. Most people crave to be listened to, to be understood and valued. Studies have shown that when people are in the presence of a good listener, they will also think that the person is a good communicator, even though the listener may only speak 5% of the time.

Practice speaking in a group. It does not have to be a huge stage to begin with. Volunteering in interest groups or putting some time in with a charity can be an excellent way to practice speaking to a group, let alone the benefit of contacts made with new individuals.

Taking initiative - Self reliance and leadership is demonstrated (and highly valued) when we strive to become more responsible in achieving objectives for ourselves, organisations as a whole and people around us.

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Finding tasks that need to be done, before being asked, shows leadership, whether own tasks or assisting others with theirs.

Actively search out relationships - In general, life ows a lot easier if good relationships are fostered with people in all kinds of roles. Socially with peers is an obvious one but rewarding connections can also be made with superiors, juniors, clients and business partners. New opportunities and ideas come out of interation with others across a wide set of roles and skill sets.

So it's clear that soft skills can and do enhance interpersonal relationships and from there, greater opportunities for progression in work or business and other areas in life can be found and developed.

The emphasis for these skills should be on life-long learning. "We never stop coming across chances to interact in better ways with the people around us and to create positive outcomes for others and ourselves".

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See you on the other side!

Dylan.

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