There are more than 60 soft skills, and no article would be enough to cover them all. Moreover, there are many books with detailed descriptions of these skills, so here are just some of the skills that are particularly in demand today. Flexible skills are divided into:
- Universal. Everyone needs them. Personal efficiency and the ability to get along with others depend on them.
- Managerial. They are necessary for bosses, imply complex interaction with the team.
Let us examine the lists of soft skills from each category:
Universal skills
Working with information: searching, collecting, processing. This is one of the most important skills today. It helps to ask the right questions, process data, and give it out when necessary. Such a skill is useful in any job: from a thesis writer to a driver.
- Time management. The main resource is time. It is now in short supply, life is picking up the pace, so it is so important to be able to manage it properly.
- Self-analysis. Allows you to look at yourself as if from the outside, through another’s eyes to assess their actions and understand how to act. Self-reflection helps to establish relations with others.
- Critical Thinking. Allows you to collect and process only the necessary information, analyze the facts and think soberly. With this skill comes protection from manipulators, the ability to persuade with arguments, and to navigate the flow of data.
- Creativity. Without it, it is impossible to invent and make something new. The ability to move away from templates in the head is valuable for every worker who wants not only to be competent in his field but also to create something non-standard and memorable for a long time.
- Systems thinking. It is the ability to break a large “iceberg” of a problem into small “pieces of ice,” to analyze each of them and identify the interrelationships, the ability to look at the matter from the outside. Such a detailed analysis makes it possible to understand how the whole mechanism works, and, if necessary, it can be recreated independently.
- The ability to make decisions and overcome problems. These are two very closely related skills. Together they allow you to choose the best solution, to act in such a way as to cope with difficulties and achieve results.
- The ability to set goals for yourself and others. Competent formulation of the problem helps to understand what intermediate steps are needed to solve it.
- Stress Resistance. It helps to tolerate stress and not to be exhausted when faced with stressful situations. In a job where overtime hours are frequent, especially in IT, this skill is simply invaluable.
- Communication is a global communication skill. It includes not only sharing information, but also the ability to get along with others, find understanding, summarize a conversation, read emotions, come to an agreement, etc.
- Nonviolent communication. Helps you get what you need from your interlocutor. It does not use threats or manipulation. The conversation is conducted in a feedback format, when the observation is presented, this data is supported by fact, and then the request is made. Everything is clear, peaceful, and polite.
- Teamwork. The skill of delegating, allowing you to delegate some of your responsibilities to others when necessary. Sounds simple, but in practice, it is easier to do everything yourself than to ask someone to do something, and then still get the result on time.
- Emotional intelligence (EQ). Thanks to him, it is possible to count other people’s emotions, to give out your own, appropriate to the situation. EQ helps to control feelings, to notice in time their occurrence, and to use them to achieve results. This skill is especially useful in negotiations.
Management skills
- Mentoring. This is the ability to transfer your knowledge to others, train them, and control the process. Mentoring is important for someone who is planning to hire newcomers with no work experience.
- The ability to manage teams and projects that are all around us: they are both at work and in everyday things. Set up a corporate party, collate a website, think through home design – examples of such tasks. The center of the project is the goal setter, around him – the employees, contractors, etc. For the successful implementation of the idea, it is important to plan everything correctly, rally the team and properly coordinate its activities.
- Setting goals and evaluating them. This is necessary to ensure that the work of the firm does not stand still, its resources were utilized to the maximum, and efforts were made in the right direction. Most people are lame in one part of this skill, evaluation, whereas goal setting they have mastered.
- Leadership. A successful team will form around such a leader. It is best if the head is not just a director, but also a leader. This skill is important both for politicians and top managers.
