
In today’s workplace, success is not only determined by technical knowledge but also by having essential soft skills. Soft skills, often called people skills, are abilities and character traits that have to do with how well you relate with others.
These skills are not specific to any job, and they help employees succeed in the workplace. Such skills include: communication, teamwork, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, time management, leadership etc.
As much as technical know-how is important, if you’re not armed with the necessary soft skills, you may lose out big time at the workplace.
As stated, there are quite a number of them, but five must-have soft skills (in no particular order) at the workplace are:
A good team player is likely to work better with colleagues, achieve their professional goals and contribute to the growth of the company. No wonder John Maxwell said, “teamwork makes the dream work.”
Good teams also produce creativity and innovation, because of the diverse ideas and initiatives that are shared by each person.
1. Communication
This goes without saying, effective communication is a needed soft skill in most places as it helps in building and fostering strong relationships. You must be able to pass across messages with clarity, understand the needs of people and provide constructive feedback. A lot of communication goes on at the workplace—amongst the staff, boss, supervisors, managers to staff and vice versa. Clients, stakeholders and the company, the company and different vendors etc. You might not be a skilled communicator, but you can learn the art.Some communication skills to develop include:
- Verbal communication
- Negotiating skills
- Nonverbal communication
- Active listening
- Presentation skills
- Written communication
2. Teamwork
Teamwork is another needed soft skill at the workplace; it ensures a positive and healthy working environment. Most employers love a good team player because most projects and work-related activities involve collaborating with people at different levels.
Some examples of teamwork skills that enable you to work well with others include:
- Conflict management
- Reliability
- Respectfulness
- Accountability
- Collaboration
- Rapport-building and listening
- Communication
- Decision-making
- Problem-solving
- Organisational and planning skills
3. Time management is a must-have soft skill
Managing your time effectively both at the workplace and elsewhere is essential to building a successful career or life in general. This is a must-have soft skill. Good time management saves one from chronic stress, burnout, illnesses, anxiety and you are more likely to be seen as reliable, dependable and trustworthy. For women who have to juggle work with other equally important activities, it is at times tedious for them to manage their time. That’s why it is necessary to keep improving on your skills in time management.Some of them include:
- Delegation
- Goal-setting
- Planning
- Setting deadlines
- Evaluating urgent tasks
- Prioritisation
4. Emotional Intelligence (EI)
Most employers regard EI or emotional quotient (EQ) as a requisite soft skill at the workplace. It is now as important as the intelligence quotient (IQ), if not more important in some instances. Research has shown that EQ is a better predictor of success than IQ or technical skills. (Feist & Barron, 1996) Emotional intelligence or quotient is the ability to be aware of emotions in yourself and others and how that awareness guides your thinking and actions. A person with high emotional intelligence will most likely display a good number of the following traits: a. Detect and resolve conflict with others. b. Being able to control impulses—managing, regulating and controlling your behaviours, emotions and impulses. c. Being aware of one’s emotional state at any given time. d. Being aware of other people’s emotions. e. Being able to communicate effectively with others. f. Being able to control your thoughts. g. Being able to pause, reflect and compose oneself without acting out of order.Some examples of emotional intelligence skills that you should have or develop are:
- Self-awareness skills
- Social skills
- Self-regulation skills
- Empathy skills
- Motivation skills
5. Problem-solving and Critical thinking
Employers cherish employees who can analyse situations, think critically and proffer solutions to varied situations. This particular skill is invaluable because it helps in addressing challenges and in making sound decisions.Some examples of this particular soft skill include:
- Critical thinking
- Observation skills
- Identification of biases—this allows you to see things from different perspectives and not be influenced by other people’s prejudices.
- Analysis
- Strategic thinking
- Initiative
- Information processing
- Creativity
- Problem-solving
- Research
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