Soft Skills Include these 5 Highly-Regarded TalentsSoft skills include various ways we communicate effectively with others, including these 5 specific talents that employers hold in highest regard: 1) Building and maintaining rapport or cultivating good relations - especially with strangers or new people 2) Giving, exchanging and sharing crucial information with others 3) Leading, supervising, guiding or mentoring others 4) Perceiving, acknowledging and effectively responding to others’ practical and emotional needs 5) Cooperating with others and managing conflicts Since I've already talked about the importance of soft skills let’s now look at some specific examples of what soft skills you could add to your resume, mention in job interviews and actively demonstrate to employers throughout your job search. Here are some specific “sub-skills” that correspond to each of the above-mentioned 5 categories: Soft Skills Include 1) Building and Maintaining Rapport • Smiling, shaking hands, asking people how they’re doing and engaging in friendly “small talk” • Remembering people’s names the 2nd time you meet them • Making appropriate eye contact and giving an appropriate amount of “personal space.” • Making people laugh occasionally using appropriate, inoffensive humour • Expressing genuine concern to others about issues or concerns of interest to them • Listening carefully or closely to others through giving them undivided attention Soft Skills Include 2) Giving, Exchanging and Sharing Crucial Information This category includes educating, training, teaching, tutoring or testing/evaluating staff, students, customers and others and advising, instructing, demonstrating or showing them how to do something. Also featured here are skills used in presenting ideas and/or information to individuals and groups, following instructions and developing new ideas/formulating plans with others. Informing Others/Presenting Ideas and Information • Effectively and/or persuasively corresponding with others through writing; writing emails, letters, proposals and other literature • Appropriately redirecting inquires from others to another staff or team member who can best help them • Addressing a need or articulating a concept or idea for an individual or group; explaining ideas, instructions and complex information clearly • Facilitating team meetings, group seminars and workshops; speaking and presenting including effective use of voice • Talking with people by phone or email to publicize an idea, product, service, event or activity • Serving or servicing customers and clients; Selling services or products effectively • Following detailed oral instructions “to the letter” • Making recommendations and giving expert advice Educating Others • Lecturing students on a particular topic of specialized knowledge • Coaching a team of individuals, directing people through a process of giving them instructions; instructing teammates, subordinates, clients/customers, students or others • Advising students or staff how to do something new; coaching a team or individual regarding a particular skill • Demonstrating how to accomplish a particular task • Evaluating curriculum or training materials or the work of others Soft Skills Include 3) Leading and Inspiring This group of soft skills includes stimulating or inspiring others to learn and accept new ideas, absorb new knowledge or develop new skills. This includes encouraging, advocating, energizing, inspiring or motivating others to do better or to pursue or achieve their goals. • Managing, supervising, coordinating, organizing, administering or hosting projects, lectures, seminars, workshops and special events including work and social gatherings and parties • Managing, guiding or supervising the work of others, both groups and individuals through your own example • Enlisting the support of, getting “buy-in” from, influencing, persuading or convincing others to do something. • Recruiting people for a worthy cause; advocating to improve the lives of groups and individuals • Initiating discussions for ideas; chairing or moderating staff and/or other special meetings • Directing people to complete a task; coordinating people to put a plan into effect • Empowering others to make changes, encouraging others to take risks and motivating others to take action and to do better • Influencing the ideas and attitudes of others; lobbying or advocating on someone else’s behalf; representing other individuals or groups Soft Skills Include 4) Perceiving, Acknowledging and Effectively Responding Perceiving, acknowledging and effectively responding to others’ practical and emotional needs includes the following: • “Actively” or empathically listening to others – paraphrasing, clarifying and/or feeding back what was heard to ensure accurate and empathic understanding, and expressing emotional concern for them • Effectively writing emails and other documents of a sensitive or “political” nature that affect the lives of staff, clients/customers and other people • Providing hospitality services to guests or the public • Being sensitive and responsive to the feelings of others: Helping people to feel accepted and making people feel comfortable; Helping others to cope with their difficulties • Helping others in need: Providing counselling, treatment or care to relieve or reduce a person’s emotional, psychological, mental or spiritual challenges or problems and need for growth • Counselling individuals, groups or organizations about their problems and helping them to find solutions • “Being there” for your teammates including asking them if you can help them complete a project or task, and providing them with emotional encouragement or “moral support” • Carefully selecting people for particular roles and tasks Soft Skills Include 5) Cooperating with Others/Managing Conflicts This final and, for most people, most difficult category of soft skills features seeking collaboration and cooperation. Even more challenging is managing constructive conflicts with others when necessary and appropriate, and assisting others to do the same. The importance of soft skills is most evident here. Collaborating • Consulting, liaising, partnering, conferring and strategizing with others; unifying or uniting others for a common goal • Facilitating group progress and fostering a spirit of cooperation • Demonstrating your ability to assert yourself in a balanced way, taking into account both your own opinions and views and those of others to find a solution that works for all • Working together with others to complete a task; assisting other team or group members • Interacting with multicultural communities, embracing, welcoming and understanding the value of diversity Managing Conflict • Mediating, arbitrating, settling or reconciling disputes, problems, conflicts, disagreements, differences or misunderstandings among people and negotiating a settlement. • Dealing patiently and effectively with “difficult people” and customers/clients/co-workers from all walks of life, regardless of their attitude or mood • Confronting others with something they don’t want to hear; giving delicate or “sensitive” feedback, and asking difficult questions • Negotiating with others to solve a problem; acting as a liaison or intermediary; resolving cases, issues and problems through uncovering new and highly-effective solutions
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