"Soft Skills" have suddenly become a hot topic for discussion these days.Be it management colleges or corporates,suddenly everyone is waking up to the importance of soft skill.The reason is very simple,it is very difficult to survive in this competitive world without them.
The difference between skilled talent and raw talent will be "soft skills"-the presence or the absence of them.
Whether one is a gold medalist or an average performer ,what distinguishes him/her at the workplace is how he/she applies talent in the day-to-day activities,making things better for the organization.Here is where soft skills play a very vital role.
Soft skills comprises of leadership skills,time management,discipline,presentation skills,communication skills,etiquette,telephone speaking skills,business writing skills-the list is endless.
Soft Skills is basically a set of skills that influence how we interact with each other.It includes such abilities as effective communication,creativity,analytical thinking,diplomacy,flexibility,change-readiness,problem solving ability,leadership,team building and listening skills.
We shall now discuss few skills that the soft skill comprises of:
1)Personality Skills: These are the skills that define an individuals personality.Personality is the sum total of one's physical,social,emotional and spiritual characteristics that identify a person.It includes ones attitudes,beliefs,values and charcater.These are the skills that often determine the first impression.
2)Knowledge Skills: These skills constitute knowledge in action,as applied to your workplace or to any life situation.They include knowledge,competence and technical knowledge.These skills can be taught in classrooms but can be best applied in real life situations.One can also learn these skills from the experience of one's seniors and colleagues.
3)Leadership Skills: These are commonly referred to as soft skills.All soft skills are only extension of leadership skills.These include skills of communication,problem solving,decision making,time management,team playing etc.These are the skills that are vital and essential for the success in any business or real-life situation.
Why are Soft-Skills important?
Even a professionally qualified person cannot fit into an organization without soft skills.Without soft skills there are very little chances for success even with the best academic qualifications.Since soft skills are the skills that we already have all that we need to do is tuning up/some polishing.
Soft skills are important for the following reasons:
1)Business world does not operate in an ideal condition.It is in such situations that soft skills will help young executives take the lead.
2)Business is no more about planning and oraganizing alone.To drive a business successfully one needs to see through the chaos,craetive destruction and identify innovative synergies none of which is taught in the busines schools.
3)Individuals need to move out from the B-School thinking to business world thinking.
4)Knowledge skills can give you the break,soft skills will ensure you smooth sailing through that break.
5)Finally,soft skill is one of the most important skill recruiters and managers look for in potential candidates.So make sure you have them.
How to develop soft skills?
First you need to identify what skills you need to develop and then look at the appropriate coaching or training session for the same.However there are some important points to be kept in mind before deciding to take soft skills training session:
1)Be realistic of the outcome you want.You cannot become a powerful speaker from a one-two days training session.Soft skills session is not a conversion session.So,having realistic expectation is a must.
2)Be sure of what you want to learn.Just dont pick up a training session because your company is sponsoring you.Do it if you really need it else,ask for a session that specifically suits your requirements.
3)Have an open mind.Many a times people take soft skills training with a "know-all" approach.So,if u "know-all",the possibility of learning anything new is rare.
4)Finally,practice whatever you have learned in the training session.Unless you practice you would never feel the impact of whatever that was learned.
While corporates are waking up to the importance of soft skills,a lot still needs to be done.Many companies still have more emphasis to knowledge skills and the importance of soft skills depends upon how much management support is offered to them.This could be because people have the tendency to postpone things till they become urgent.Besides there are other reasons as well-like plain laziness to invest time and money,poor prioritizing and finally,not being aware of one's own strengths and weaknesses.The solution to the problem lies in shifting the focus on "soft skills" from secondary to primary and integrating them as the part of career development program.
Regards,
Kavita
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