In the professional world of today, developing and improving on your soft skills is of utmost importance. Having hard skills are important also, however, soft skills are not left out. They both work hand in hand and your chances of a successful career is in how polished your soft skills are and how best you are at your work. In this article, we discuss what soft skills are, why it is important and how you can improve on your soft skills. 

WHAT ARE SOFT SKILLS?

Soft skills are the skills you possess that go beyond your technical, measurable abilities. They are personal attributes and traits that helps you communicate and work with others. Examples of soft skills are communication skills, leadership skills, problem-solving skills, social skills, etc. 

WHY ARE SOFT SKILLS IMPORTANT?​​​​​

In today's career world, soft skills are the skills employers are looking for because they represent your ability to work effectively, efficiently, and harmoniously with others. You need to keep developing and improving on your social skills as this determines your longevity in your career. With soft skills, you know how to manage yourself and others in issues of communication, team work, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, etc. 

HOW CAN YOU IMOROVE ON YOUR SOFT SKILLS?

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1. Be open to feedback: You can only know if you're improving on your soft skills when you're open to feedbacks from your supervisors, managers, and your colleagues. Be open to constructive criticism and use it to improve in the areas complained about. Whatever it is, be it your communication skills, or ability to work in a group, etc. Develop a plan to improve and learn. 

2. Communicate often: Effective communication is a soft skill that is very important as communication is part of our daily life. Professionally, you need to know how to communicate well in your workplace. Although, you may have tasks at work that doesn't require you to talk or communicate with others face to face but with the different means of communication today, you can communicate through mails or during group presentations at the work place. If you're clueless on how best you can communicate well, you can watch and learn how others do it, then you can learn from them and improve.


3. Build positive relationships: Many of the soft skills we have depend solely on your relationships with others at work. Discussing with others at work can help you build a positive relationship with them. From discussing about your weekend plans, to hobbies, to interests and many other things, you can connect with your bosses and colleagues at work. You can even create time to hangout. Leaving the office is a great way to connect with them on a personal level which can help you to professionally understand their personality better and how it factors into their professional ethics.

4. Emotional intelligence: Emotional intelligence is a highly sought after soft skill in the workplace today. To be emotionally intelligent is to be able to harness your own emotions whilst understanding your colleagues motivations and feelings. Developing this skill might seem a little unusual as it involves some innate qualities such as empathy, self awareness, etc. However, these are skills that can be developed with the right training. The first step to improving emotional intelligence as a soft skill is to be self aware. When you're self aware, you can resolve conflict and build better relationships.

5. Adaptability: In the workplace, it is common to see variations from clerical staff to workplace procedures, and one way to develop your soft skills is to be adaptable to every situation. Adaptability is also an essential soft skill to offer alternative solutions to potential problems in the workplace. Open to learn new technologies and assist training for new participants in the organization. 

CONCLUSION 

​​​​​It is not easy to acquire soft skills in the workplace, but is it necessary? A workplace with excellent soft skills is definitely like brand new car engines that can maximize work efficiency. Remember, like any car engine, and your skills will gradually disappear over time if you do not take care of them. Through continuing business training, you can use your soft skills to be successful in the workplace.

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