SOFT SKILLS

 

WHAT  ARE  SOFT  SKILLS?

Soft  or  social  skills  (also  called  non-technical  skills)  are  those  personal values  and  interpersonal  skills  that  determine  a  person’s  ability  to work  well  with  others  in  a  project  team.  Soft  skills  are  needed  to  deal with  the  external  world  and  to  work  in  a  collaborative  manner with one's colleagues. 

         

soft skills

       

These skills include  effective  communication, leadership,  and teamwork skills;  demonstrating problem solving abilities, initiative, and motivation skills; displaying honesty and strong work  ethics.

Soft  skills  play  a  vital  role  for  academic  and  professional  success; they  help  us  excel  in  the  workplace  and  their  importance  cannot be denied  in  the  emerging  information  or  knowledge  society.  

Soft  skills are needed to deal with the external world and to work in a collaborative manner  with  one’s  colleagues.

TYPES OF SOFT SKILLS

There are various components that comprise soft skills. Some are inborn such  as  confidence,  friendliness  and  whether  or  not  someone  has  a sociable  nature,  while  others  are  skills  that  can  be  taught  or  improved upon,  such  as  developing  effective  communication,  organization,  and social  graces.

                   

A  large  number  of  soft  skills are  known  today.  However,  a  different  set of  soft  skills  are required  for  a  specific  type/nature  of  work. 

For  our purpose  these  may  include  the  following:-

• communication  skills

• listening  skills

• presentation  skills

• interpersonal  skills

• team  skills

• leadership  skills

• etiquette

• cross-cultural  skills

• language  skills,  etc.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

The ability  to  communicate  ideas  to  others  effectively  is  an  absolute essential  requirement  for  our  career  building. Speaking  clearly  and coherently will allow effective verbal communication with others. How we speak is more influential to the person who we are communicating with  than  what  we  actually  say,  so  we  should  be  careful    about our.

body  language  and  tone  of  our  voice  when  we  are  talking. Communication  is  a  two–way  process.

  

Listening  is  therefore  an essential  skill  too.  Listening  is  more  than  just  hearing  what  is  being said. Effective listening encourages others to listen to us and respond to  what we say.If  communication  skills  are  an  area  that  we  feel  we could  improve  on,  we  should  set  about  identifying  ways  in  which  we could  develop them.

Communication  subsumes  delegation,  listening and  presentation.

The  ability  to  present  comprehensive  written  ideas  will  enable  us to  put  forward  professional  documentation  of  our  thoughts  and  is  a highly regarded skill. If we write so that misinterpretation is minimised we  will  find  that  people  are  far  more  receptive  to  our  suggestions.

Effective  communication  skills  are  something  everyone  needs  to possess.  Verbal  communication  skill  includes one-to-one interaction, presentation/public speaking ability, and good telephonic skills. Written communication  would  include  program  writing,  report  writing,  letter writing  and  e-mail  etiquette,  etc.

HOW TO DEVELOP SOFTS

KILLS?

Developing  soft  skills  needs  practice.  These  are  acquired  and experienced  on  the  spot.  Soft  skills  cannot  be  acquired  by  merely reading  textbooks.  The  soft  skills  we  gain  equip  us  to  excel  in  our academic/professional  life  and  in  our  personal  life.  It  is  a  continuous learning  process.

Development of soft skills has two parts. One part involves developing attitudes  and  attributes,  and  the  other  part  involves  fine-tuning communication skills to express attitudes, ideas, and thoughts. Perfect integration of ideas and attitudes with appropriate communication skills in oral, written, and non-verbal areas is necessary for successful work. Attitudes  and  skills  are  integral  to  soft  skills.  Each  one  influences  and

complements  the  other.

COMMUNICATION

We  know  that  communication  is  to  get  our  message  across  to  others clearly and unambiguously and it is most important for our progress.

For this, we must understand what our message is, who the audience Is and  how  it  will  be  perceived. 

We  must  also  weigh-in  the circumstances  surrounding  our  communications,  such  as  the situational  and  cultural  context.

EFFECTIVE 

COMMUNICATION

Effective  communication  and  interpersonal  skills  are  crucial  to  the success  of  an  academician  as  they  help  him  in  dealing  with  people  at the  emotional  level.  Effective  communication  and  soft  skills  not  only improve  relationships,  but  also  improve  efficiency.  Communicating effectively  is  characterised  by  such  things  as  active  listening,  using self  for  messages,  conflict  management,  positive  body  language,  and asking  the  right  questions.

COMMUNICATION

PROCESS

The process of communication involves effort from both the sender and receiver  of  the  message.  Else  the  process  can  be  fraught  with  error,with  messages  often  misinterpreted  by  the  recipient.  When  the  error  is not  detected,  it  can  cause  tremendous  confusion,  wasted  effort  and missed  opportunity.

Problems with communication  can  pop-up  at  every  stage  of  the

process.  To  be  an  effective  communicator  and  to  get  our  point  across without  confusion,  our  goal  should  be  to  lessen  the  frequency  of  these problems  at  each  stage.  This  can  be  done  through  clear,  concise,

accurate,  and  well-planned  communications.

The  communication  process  consists  of  basic  components  like sender,  encoding,  channel,  decoding,  receiver,  and  feedback  and the  context.

Sender As  the  source  of  the  message,  we  need  to  be  clear  about  why  we  are communicating,  and  what  we  want  to  communicate.  We  also  need  to be  confident  that  the  information  we  are  communicating  is  useful  and accurate.

Encoding 

This  is  the  process  of  transferring  the  information  we  want  to communicate into a form that can be sent and correctly decoded at the

other  end.  One  must  be  careful  about  cultural  issues, mistaken assumptions,  missing  information, etc.

Channel

Messages  are  conveyed  through  channels  which  may  be  verbal, including  face-to-face  meetings,  telephone and videoconferencing  and written,  including  letters,  e-mails,  memos  and  reports.  Different channels  have  different  strengths  and  weaknesses.  For  example,  it  is not  effective  to  give  a  long  list  of  directions  verbally.

Decoding

Just  as  successful  encoding  is  a  skill,  so  is  successful  decoding

(for example,  taking  the  time  to  read  a  message  carefully,  or  listen actively).  Confusion  can  arise  from  errors  in  encoding  as  well  as decoding. This  is  particularly  the  case  if  the  decoder  does  not  have

enough  knowledge  to  understand  the  message.

Receiver

Our  message  is  delivered  to  individual  members  of  our  audience.  No doubt,  we  need  to  be  aware  of  the  actions  or  reactions  we  hope  our message  will  get  from  them.  We  need  to  bear  in  mind,  though,  that

each  of  these  individuals  enters  into  the  communication  process  with his  or  her  own  ideas  and  feelings  that  will  undoubtedly  influence  their understanding  of  our  message,  and  thereby,  their  response.  To  be  a successful  communicator,  we  should  consider  this  before  delivering our  message,  and  act  appropriately.

Feedback

Feedback  is  obtained  by  monitoring the response  of  the  receiver  to  the message.  Our  audience  will  provide  us  with  the  feedback,  may  be  in the  form  of  verbal  and  non–verbal  reactions  to  our  communicated message.  Pay  close  attention  to  these  feedbacks.  These Feedbacks  are  the  only  things  that  allow  us  to  be  confident  that  our audience has understood our message. If we find that there has been a misunderstanding, at least we have the opportunity to send the message a second time.

COMMUNICATION

MODELS

Various  communication  models  have  been  proposed  for  the communication  process.  The  simplest  of  these,  the  sender-receiver models  are  discussed    here. Basic Communication Model

This  model   is  useful  when  the  movement  of  information across  space  and  through  time  is  a  central  challenge.  Since  the  model looks  at  communication  from  a  message  point-of-view,  its  usefulness is  limited  when  the  information  exchange  is  so  complex  that  it  cannot be  isolated  into  message  units.

WRITING SKILLS

Many people are intimidated by writing. Even so, there are times when writing  is  the  best  way  to  communicate,  and  often  the  only  way  to  get our  message  across.  While  writing,  remember  that  once  something  is sent  in  written  form,  it  cannot  be  taken  back.  This  presents  written communicators  with  additional  challenges,  including  spelling, grammar,  punctuation,  even  writing  style  and  actual  wording.

Thankfully,  today’s  technology  makes  memo,  letter  and  proposal writing  much  easier  by  providing  reliable  tools  like  word  processors that  check  and  even  correct  misspellt  words  and  incorrect  grammar.

THE IMPORTANCE OF

“ETIQUETTE”

Some  of  the  most  basic  tips  to  remember  when  writing  include:-

• Avoid  slang  words

• Try not to use abbreviations (unless appropriately defined or widely accepted)

• Steer  away  from  symbols  (such  as  ampersands  [&])

• Clichés  should  be  avoided,  or  at  the  very  least,  used  with  caution

• Brackets  are  used  to  play  down  words  or  phrases

• Dashes  are  generally  used  for  emphasis

• Care  should  ALWAYS  be  taken  to  spell  the  names  of  people  and companies  correctly

• Numbers  should  be  expressed  in  words  when  the  number  is  less than  10  or  is  used  to  start  a  sentence  (example:  Ten  years  ago,my  brother  and  I...).  The  number  10,  or  anything  greater  than  10, should  be  expressed  as  a  figure  (example:  My  brother  has13 matchbox  cars.)

• Quotation marks should be placed around any directly quoted speech or  text  and  around  titles  of  publications.

• Keep  sentences  short.

While  these  tips  cover  the  most  common  mistakes  made  when writing  letters,  memos  and  reports,  they  in  no  way  cover  everything we  need  to  know  or  ensure that our  written  communications  are accurate  and  understood.

LETTER WRITING SKILLS

When  writing  letters,  it  is  best  to  address  the  letter  to  an  individual. Moreover,  when  beginning  the  letter  with  a  personal  name,  be  sure  to end  it  with  an  appropriate  closing,  such  as  ‘yours  sincerely’.  If  we cannot  obtain  an  individual’s  name,  consider  ending  it  with  a  more generic  (less  personal)  closing,  such  as  ‘yours  faithfully’.

Normal  business  letters  should  start  with  an  overall  summary, showing  in  the  first  paragraph  why  the  letter  is  relevant  to  the  r

eader.

It is not a good practice to make the reader go past the first paragraphto  find  out  why  the  letter  was  sent  to  them.

The  body  of  the  letter  needs  to  explain  the  reason  for  the correspondence,  including  any  relevant  background  and  current information.  Make  sure  the  information  flows  logically,  ensuring  that we  are  making  our  points  effectively.  The  closing  of  the  letter  is  the final  impression  we  leave  with  the  reader.  End  with  an  action  point,such  as  ‘I  will  call  later  this  week  to  discuss  this  further’.

THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  CAREFUL  PROOFING

Perhaps  the  most  important  thing  to  remember  when  writing  a  letter is  to  check  it  thoroughly  after  it  is  completed.  This  “unwritten”  rule holds  true  for  everything  we  write  –  memos,  letters,  proposals,  etc.

We should use both the grammar and spell check on our computer, paying  close  attention  to  every  word  highlighted.  We  should  not  place total  faith  on  our  computer.  Instead,  we  should  have  both  a  dictionary and  thesaurus  (printed  or  online)  handy  to  double-check  everything our  computer’s  editing  tools  highlight,  as  these  tools  are  certainly  not always  reliable  in  a  given  context.

Is our written communication well organised? Does each idea proceed logically to the next? Would some additional headings help? We should make  sure  our  written  communications  are  easy  to  read  and  contain the  necessary  information,  using  facts  where  needed  and  avoiding information  that  is  not  relevant.  We  should  also outline  the  course  of action  we  expect,  such  as  a  return  call  or  visit.

Finally, we should close appropriately, making sure to include our contact information.  While  this  may  seem  obvious,  it  is  sometimes  overlooked  and can  make  our  written  communications  look  amateurish.  This  can diminish  our  chances  of  meeting  our  written  communication’s  goals.

AUDIOVISUAL COMMUNICATION  SKILLS

Computer and Communication Technology have empowered us to digitise our audio and video inputs and communicate across long and far-reaching destinations.  In  most  of  the  audio  communications,  many  users  do  not keep in mind certain essential aspects of audio communication and this results  in  either  miscommunication  or  no  communication.  Similarly,  in

using  a  tool  for  video  communication, some  things  should  be  kept  in mind so that the communication is effective and there is minimal loss of information  intended  to  be  conveyed.

Audio  Communication  Skills

• Always  have  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  issue  that  we  are  dealing  with  in  the audio  communication  and  the  key  points  that  we  have  to  discuss.  (always remember that the person on the other side can only hear us and respond to our details).

•  Do  not  use  very  long  sentences,  since  it  is  difficult  to  grasp  if  the  sentences  are too  long.

• Always  have  a  modulated  pitch  of  voice,  we  should  stress  and  emphasise  on  the words that we want to convey more strongly than the rest of our communication.

•  Make  use  of  key  words  and  terms  that  are  related  to  the  issue  in  consideration, this  will  minimise  the  understanding  time  of  the  receiver  of  the  information.

•  Never  speak  in  a  jet  speed  fashion;  always  speak  clearly  voicing  out  each  word and  do  not  leave  it  for  the  receiver  to  understand  it  on  its  own.

•  Always  give  sufficient  time  to  listen to  what  the  person  on  the  other  side  is saying.  Allow  the  other  person  also  to  speak  his/her  part  and  then  respond  to him/her  after  s/he  has  finished.

•  Always  have  a  note-book and  pen/pencil  marker  to  note  some  information  given immediately  by  the  receiver

•  If we are on a multi-people conference call then we should first introduce ourselves and  then  deliver  the  message.

•  Use  of  correct  salutation  is  also  important  depending  upon  the  regional/global context  of  the  person/s  we  are  communicating  with.

•  Summarise  the  discussion  at  the  end  of  the  meeting.

Video  Communication  Skills

•  In  a  video  communication  to  one  or  many  person(s),  one  should  always  keep  in mind  that  audio  is  integrated  with  video.  Hence  most  points  mentioned  above are  relevant.

• Dressing  up  for  the  occasion  is  also  a  part  of  the  communication,  since  many times  video  conferences  are  formal  in nature.

• there should be enough preparation for the occasion so that while communicating,we  should  not  be  looking  for  any  information  that  is  sought  by  person(s)  on  the other  end.

•  Greeting everyone and introducing ourselves is essential in video communication especially  when  there  is  more  than  one  person  on  board.

• Always give an opportunity to others to express themselves in the communication and  allow  participation of all.

ACTIVE  LISTENING

Hear What People Are Really Saying

It  is  obvious  that  if  we  have  poor interpersonal communications  skills (which  include  active  listening),  our  productivity  will  suffer.  This  is simply because we do not have the tools needed to influence, persuade and  negotiate all  necessary  for  workplace  success. Lines  of communications must be open between people who rely on one another to get work done.

Considering  this,  we  must  be  able  to  listen  attentively  if  we  are  to perform  up  to  expectations,  avoid  conflicts  and  misunderstandings, and  to  succeed.  Following  are  a  few  short  tips  to  help  us  enhance  our communication  skills  and  to  ensure  that  we  are  an  active  listeners.  

START BY UNDERSTANDING OUR OWN

COMMUNICATION STYLE

Good  communication  skills  require  a  high  level  of  self-awareness.

Understanding  our  personal  style  of  communicating  will  go  a  long  way towards  helping  us  create a good  and  lasting  impression  on  others.  By becoming  more  aware  of  how  others  perceive  us,  we  can  adapt  more readily  to  their  styles  of  communicating.  This  does  not  mean  we  have to  be  a  chameleon,  changing  with  every  personality  we  meet.  Instead, we  can  make  another  person  more  comfortable  with  us  by  selecting and  emphasizing  certain  behaviors  that  fit  within  our  personality and  resonate  with  another.  In  doing  this,  we  will  prepare  ourselves  to become  active  listeners.

 BE AN ACTIVE LISTENER

People  speak  at  100  to  175  words  per  minute  but  they  can  listen intelligently  to  up  to  300  words  per  minute.  Since  only  a  part  of  our mind  is  paying  attention,  it  is  easy  to  go  into  mind  drift  -  thinking

about  other  things  while  listening  to  someone.  The  cure  for  this  is active  listening  -  which  involves  listening  with  a  purpose.  It  may  be  to gain information, obtain directions, understand others, solve problems, share  interest,  see  how  another  person  feels,  show  support,  etc.  If  we are  finding  it  particularly  difficult  to  concentrate  on  what  someone  is saying,  we  should  try  to  repeat  their  words  mentally  as  they  say  it  - this  will  reinforce  their  message  and  help  us  control  mind drift.

USE NONVERBAL

COMMUNICATION

Use  nonverbal  behaviors  to  raise  the  channel  of  interpersonal communication.  Nonverbal  communication  is  facial  expressions  like

smiles,  gestures,  eye  contact,  and  even  our  posture.  This  shows  our

interest  to  the  person  we  are  communicating  with.    This  will  prompt further  communication  while  keeping costly, time-consuming misunderstandings  at  a  minimum.

 GIVE FEEDBACK

Remember that what someone says and what we hear can be amazingly

different!  Our  personal  filters,  assumptions,  judgments,  and  beliefs  can

distort what we hear. Repeat or summarise to ensure that we understand.

Restate  what  we  think  we  heard  and  ask,  “Have  I  understood  you correctly?”  If  we  find  ourself  responding  emotionally  to  what  someone said,  say  so,  and  ask  for  more  information:“I  may  not  understand  you correctly,  and  I  find  myself  taking  what  you  said  personally".

THANK YOU