Introduction:

Soft skills refer to both character traits and interpersonal skills that will influence how well
a person can work or interact with others. The term soft-skills covers a wide range of skills
as diverse as teamwork, time management, empathy and delegation.

The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs report suggested that by 2025, complex
problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management and emotional
intelligence would be among the most important skills required in the workplace.

The importance of these soft skills is often undervalued, and there is far less training
provided for them than hard skills such as coding. Organizations seem to expect people
know how to behave on the job and the importance of skills such as taking initiative,
communicating effectively and listening, which often is not the case.

Can soft skills be taught?

While most people have fairly fixed soft skills, these behaviors can be taught. If you know
you're weak in one or more areas, working on yourself before you seek a new job can help
you stand out among the pool of candidates.

The question then is how to teach yourself soft skills?

Step outside of your comfort zone

As with anything you want to improve, it's important to step outside of your comfort
zone and take on something new. This may be a new setting, new responsibilities or
a leadership role. You can even offer to be the one in your group who gives the
project presentation as a way for you to improve your public speaking skills. Placing
yourself in unfamiliar territory professionally has the potential to showcase to your
manager how seriously you take your job and allows you to learn something
completely new.

Be open to feedback

A large part of improving your soft skills is being open to feedback you may receive
from supervisors, managers and even coworkers. When you're open to feedback,
you can be better able to receive constructive criticism and use that information to
improve in your workplace role, including your soft skills. You may receive feedback
on your communication skills, ability to work in a group, time management,
leadership potential and more. As you're receiving feedback, consider thanking the
individual who's providing it and developing a plan, either with yourself or through
speaking with a manager, to improve and learn.

Communicate often
Effective communication is a soft skill that benefits everyone in the workplace.
Although you may have tasks and responsibilities that don't require the help of
anyone else in your office, take the opportunities you have to form relationships with
those around you. Communicate often to develop this soft skill. This includes
communication face-to-face, through email and in presentations to a group. Since
nearly every method of communication differs from another, it's important to
communicate through various means so your communication soft skills are more
well-rounded.

When you communicate, think about how you're addressing others, how clear your
message is, your body language and your tone of voice. You'll also be able to see
how others communicate and take tips and techniques from them to find a
communication style that works for you.

Emphasize teamwork

When you engage in good teamwork, you show your employer that you are great at
collaborating with others. Teamwork could occur in a group setting for a presentation
or one-on-one with another coworker to complete a shared task. During a shared
task or daily responsibility, allow each member of the group to contribute their share
and celebrate the different skills and personalities of the group. When you emphasize
teamwork, you open yourself up to learning opportunities from your coworkers while
improving your own skills.

Why are soft skills important?

Many people are strong in certain soft skills, while weaker in others. For example,
someone might be a great public speaker and able to command a room full of people while
on stage, but struggle to interact with people at a busy networking event.

Most interactions with other people require some level of soft skills. At a company you
might be negotiating to win a new contract, presenting your new idea to colleagues,
networking for a new job, and so on. We use soft skills everyday at work and developing
these soft skills will help you win more business and accelerate your career progression.

On the other hand, a lack of soft skills can limit your potential, or even be the downfall of
your business. By developing strong leadership, delegation, teamwork, and communication
abilities, you can run projects more smoothly, deliver results that please everyone, and
even positively influence your personal life by improving how you interact with others.

Outside of the office, soft skills such as communication are used to build friendship groups
and meet potential partners. You might be negotiating the price of your new house
renovation, or mentoring your neighbours children on the weekend. Soft skills are useful
both in our professional and personal lives.
Conclusion:
Soft skills are personal attributes that influence how well you can work or interact with
others. These skills make it easier to form relationships with people, create trust and
dependability, and lead teams.

In essence, they are essential for success in the workplace, company’s success and personal
life.