How To Strengthen Your Soft Skills
Soft skills are often seen as the abilities an individual possesses beyond just their technical or tangible skills. To a certain extent, soft skills are at the core of a person’s personality or work ethic, leading some to believe that this skillset is difficult to be taught. However, with the right tools and enough practice, soft skills can always be improved.
From negotiating and compromising to time management skills, try these four tips below for strengthening your soft skills.
Work through conflict
Workplace conflicts can create unwanted tension between groups and even damage a company culture if not handled correctly. On the other hand, when conflict is tackled head-on and thoroughly discussed, it can actually bring about some positives. For example, working through conflict rather than avoiding it can actually help strengthen soft skills such as negotiation, compromising, problem-solving, and communication. This is because when conflict is thoroughly discussed, all angles can be observed and everyone involved can have an opportunity to have their voice heard. New outlooks can be explored and all involved are likely to come out on the other side with a new perspective and of course – new or strengthened skills.
Ask for feedback
Without the proper feedback, it can be difficult to know exactly what soft skills you need to improve on and which direction to go in. Therefore, take advantage of the feedback you’re given from the people you often closely work with such as your colleagues, managers, or clients that will be able to offer helpful suggestions or recommendations to achieve your full potential. For example, let’s say you have just completed a presentation and are now seeking feedback on your public speaking abilities. After discussing the presentation with your team, you come to find they believe you can work on some interpersonal skills needed for public speaking such as communication, enthusiasm, and audience engagement.
Step out of your comfort zone
Stepping out of your comfort zone in the workplace can seem intimidating at first. While it might be much easier to go into work every day and never engage with coworkers or form meaningful relationships, and simply just make it through the day, this perspective can be damaging to company culture, your personal experiences at work, and your skillset. Instead, when you put yourself in a situation that tests your professional abilities, you’re able to practice the proper skills needed to succeed in your workplace – communication, trustworthiness, leadership, etc.
Utilize technology
Using technology to strengthen soft skills can have a few different meanings. For example, you can set alarms or timers to measure how long you work on tasks in order to improve time management skills or use a digital calendar to keep track of your to-do list, thus improving your organizational skills. In the long run, these skills are useful in all industries and positions, making them relevant for wherever your career takes you. In addition, technology can also be utilized in the form of online courses on professional development opportunities to continue to strengthen and learn more about the soft skills needed in your particular industry or role.
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