Softly, Softly, Catchee Skills?

Soft skills are skills relating to people issues. They are often more important, than technical skills to the success of projects. These are the skills that make clients and customers feel happy as well as keep them loyal.

TECHNOLOGY, customer-driven markets, an information-based economy and globalisation are currently impacting the structure of the workplace and leading to an increased reliance on, and demand for, soft skills. Many employers today look for a set of skills that are often developed on cross-functional assignments. These are apart from the technical skills that a candidate posses and are termed as soft skills. "Soft" skills include oral communication, written communication, critical and lateral thinking skills, and the development of an overall sense of the "big picture." Soft skills are skills relating to people issues. They are often more important, than technical skills (to the success of projects). So essential are they that it could mean the difference between you and the next technically qualified candidate when applying for your next job.

What are soft skills

Simply put, soft skills are the ability to communicate. These are the skills that make clients and customers feel happy as well as keep them loyal. And all these 'qualities' makes individuals with these skills very valuable. To a techie, anything outside of product and development skills could be considered soft skills, but here's an unofficial list of soft skills and why they're important to have.

* Teamwork: In today's corporate world, there's no room for egos. Being a good team member means putting the good of the team ahead of any personal ambitions and agendas. It means respecting others opinions, hearing people out and involving everyone in finding solutions to problems. As you start out, the easiest way to get recognised is by being a good team member.

* Communication skills: From answering the phone, to writing e- mails to putting together a proposal- how well you put your point across will affect others' perceptions of your abilities. You have to make sure that each interaction paints an intelligent picture of you.

* Presentation skills: These skills are a must for any situation, from facilitating a meeting, pitching a product or solution or justifying why you should get that raise. It doesn't matter who and how many are the audience, every time you open your mouth you are using these skills. Make sure you're presenting the image that you want by mastering this skill set.

* Selling: Face it-regardless of whether your job profile includes "sales," or not you're always selling. Whether it's yourself, your project or your next position, you're always seeking a buy in on something. Learn how to do it more effectively.

* Conducting meetings: Learning how to facilitate meetings and manage group interactions is an important first step to becoming a team leader.

* Leadership: There are many keys to successful projects, from organisational buy in and good project management to proper resourcing. A strong leader understands these dynamics and harnesses the diverse energies within an organisation and pulls everyone together.

* Problem solving: This is the skill that you are probably most familiar with. To some, problem solving comes instinctively. To others, it's not so natural. The key is to find a process that works and apply it.

* Customer service: From dealing with difficult people to making customers feel valued and important, customer service means that the customer should always feel like they're the priority.

* Just remember: If you don't treat them right, someone else will.

Soft Skills are the essential skills that all employees must have or develop in order to succeed in the work place regardless of what type of job they have. Be it a CEO of a company, an HR executive, manager, counselor or an ordinary employee, all can make use of these skills in any field.

Qualifications and attributes

There are no formal qualifications required to become a soft skills trainer. Any person with good communication skills and leadership qualities can conduct training in soft skills. A good trainer must have the ability to express ideas well, must be creative and imaginative, flexible and have a good grasp on the language.

As soft skills are basically skills related to people the trainers must be people-friendly and must posses excellent inter- personal and intra-personal skills.

You must be good at building rapport, have the quest to ask questions and gain information, must be open to receive and give feedback, should be a good listener, must have it in you to persuade, influence and encourage others, as well be good at personal management.

You should be able to observe and correctly interpret what's happening before, during and after the training. You should help others learn and continue to learn yourself and must posses the ability to think on your feet and tackle situations creatively.

A good trainer must have the ability to encourage others to go beyond their current level of performance.

To do this you must:

* Want to share what you know and your experiences with others

* Be willing to invest time for the sake of others, and the organisation

* Believe that people are capable of higher performance

* Not expect to take credit for improvements in others and

* Enjoy working with people

Counselors and psychiatrics can easily venture into this field. MBA professionals with HR specialisation have a lot of scope in the field of soft skills. Anyone with an MA in literature, psychology or public relation or even a diploma in customer relation management can become a successful trainer.

Whatever is your educational background, if you feel you have it in you to bring out the best in the other person, you can enter the field.

There are a number of companies in the country, which are into full time soft skills training. Some of them being---Accord in Bangalore, Entellisoft, CPI, Hyderabad, Galaxy in Delhi, Cogent Consulting, Chennai, Middle Earth and Mafoi. Content x Knowledge Networks (CxK) Hyderabad, is the market leader that provides comprehensive training to internationally certified courses from Carnegie Melon University.

Though it is worthwhile to remember that these skills are not a replacement for technical-skills, the argument for improving soft skills is compelling.

They are, in most instances, complementary, and serve to unlock the potential for highly effective performance in people qualified with the requisite professional skills.

What is certain, though, is that soft skills will be taking on an increasingly important role in organisations across all sectors of economy.

FARZANA JUNAISE

farzana.hyd@careercommunity.co.in