Soft skills are non-technical skills used every day at work that distinguish the good employees from the great ones. Soft skills include interpersonal communication, leadership and teamwork. These skills are what determine a business’s productivity and efficiency while fostering a successful work environment for employees.
Here is a list of four essential soft skills you should have to succeed in business and life:
1. Written & Verbal Communication
Being able to write and communicate effectively are among the most basic soft skills you need to develop if you want to be successful as an employee.
The ability to get messages across to people with little-to-no misunderstanding prevents friction in the workplace and maximizes productivity. If you and your colleagues can communicate wants, needs, boundaries, values and ideas, it will make for a frustration-free and highly efficient work environment.
If you want to build your writing and verbal communication skills, you’ll need to write often and engage in conversations with your co-workers. Don’t be afraid to speak up during meetings and receive feedback on your writing assignments.
Mastering these skills takes time, effort and practice.
2. Teamwork
Businesses rely on teamwork from their employees to accomplish tasks and find success in their market.
The ability to work together with your colleagues not only helps to build a friendly office environment but also helps with tackling huge projects.
Teams work best when given the tools to success–leverage online collaboration tools to keep in touch with your team and take advantage of borderless communication.
Using tools like online meeting tools and messaging platforms bridges the gap between team members and helps facilitate a cooperative work environment.
3. Leadership
Leadership skills include a range of character traits that inspire and motivate others.
Good leaders are confident and have a clear vision they can communicate with others.
They have top-notch interpersonal communication skills that go beyond basic written and verbal skills.
Leadership skills include:
- Ability to negotiate fairly while being considerate of employees–good leaders can put themselves in someone else’s shoes and demonstrate empathy.
- Solving problems by taking action–companies rely on problem solvers to attain their goals.
- Setting clear boundaries that afford the ability to turn people down sensitively and with reason.
- Ability to deliver bad news in person, with honesty, compassion and sensitivity.
- Connecting with colleagues on a personal level–a recent Gallup poll found that having a best friend at work boosts engagement and productivity.
- Ability to give constructive criticism.
- Ability to recognize and praise good work and behavior.
- Ability to deal with troublesome employees by resolving issues in an empathetic manner.
4. Listening
The best communicators are also great listeners. Good communicators understand the importance of listening to other people’s thoughts and opinions without judgment. Good listeners also give the speaker their undivided attention and can demonstrate they took what was said seriously.
To be a good listener, you need to let others command the conversation. Be sure to ask engaging questions and reiterate good points.
How You Can Gain Soft Skills
Gaining soft skills requires practice and real-life experience. Many soft skills are gained by getting out of your comfort zone and facing challenges head-on.
You can take classes on communication online or at your local community college. Put those skills to practice on colleagues, friends and family, and continue growing your communication skills.
One good way to learn and practice communication and leadership skills is to sign-up for your local toastmaster organization. Toastmasters is an international non-profit organization dedicated to teaching public speaking and leadership skills at the local level.
Soft-skills are essential skills that bring you success in business and life. Invest in yourself by developing and practicing soft-skills whenever you can.
