Greetings! My name is Beverly Lynn and I am student at University of West Georgia in Carrollton, GA. I am studying to obtain a Master’s Degree in Business Education. This blog is for on-going dialogue about a subject that was pervasive in every role I worked in my 22 years with the Hewlett-Packard Co (HP). Soft skills are a key element for success in any business dealings, whether they are for work or personal activity. Often times these skills are not emphasized on a resume, job description, or during an interview, nor do many people pay much attention to them.
Hard skills such as knowing how to write code, build widgets, or operate a specific machine are the primary focus when hiring people. Even in our personal dealings, if we are looking for a doctor, we check things such as where they went to school, what degrees, training, and board memberships. Too often soft skills are overlooked in training or only offered in limited capacity.
Some may be wondering what are soft skills? Soft skills refers to a group of personal qualities, habits, attitudes, and communications capabilities that enable people to work well together and get things done.
For me, I paid little attention to this subject until I reached a point in my job where I wanted to go up the ladder for higher positions and pay. I was very competent in the technical side of my work and wanted to pursue management positions. However, I was labeled blunt and brusque, unapproachable, and having negative attitudes. Not very good skills if you want to go into people management. I was fortunate to have a mentor who worked with me on my soft skills which greatly improved my value to the company enabling me to move on to a management role and other challenging job opportunities.
Some of the skills are habits that can be changed and just like other habits it is difficult to change. However I did a lot of ‘mental work’ and practice with others to improve myself. This subject is important to me as I see examples in many areas of life. I work with a Boy Scout troop and when I see the boys not working well together, I talk to them about the soft skills, what they can improve and the benefits of behaving a certain way. It is good to see them incorporate these skills and I know they will be successful at work and school as a result.
I believe that soft skills can be taught from kindergarten on up. Simple things such as communicating clearly when the child is requesting to go to the bathroom or being on time are easy ways to start. Also In each grade or age group the skills can be further developed and emphasized. Soft skills often receive a bum rap at companies and typically are the first to be cut where budgets are concerned.
My goal with this blog is to dialogue, share stories, and help others to improve their soft skills at any age level. Learning about soft skills will help anyone improve their ability to be successful in employment, business adventures, and any organization where they may be active.
Do you have a story about when you saw either good or bad examples of soft skills?
Beverly Lynn
ABED 6107: Instructional Strategies For Technology Instructor: Dr. Sunil Hazari
Hard skills such as knowing how to write code, build widgets, or operate a specific machine are the primary focus when hiring people. Even in our personal dealings, if we are looking for a doctor, we check things such as where they went to school, what degrees, training, and board memberships. Too often soft skills are overlooked in training or only offered in limited capacity.
Some may be wondering what are soft skills? Soft skills refers to a group of personal qualities, habits, attitudes, and communications capabilities that enable people to work well together and get things done.
For me, I paid little attention to this subject until I reached a point in my job where I wanted to go up the ladder for higher positions and pay. I was very competent in the technical side of my work and wanted to pursue management positions. However, I was labeled blunt and brusque, unapproachable, and having negative attitudes. Not very good skills if you want to go into people management. I was fortunate to have a mentor who worked with me on my soft skills which greatly improved my value to the company enabling me to move on to a management role and other challenging job opportunities.
Some of the skills are habits that can be changed and just like other habits it is difficult to change. However I did a lot of ‘mental work’ and practice with others to improve myself. This subject is important to me as I see examples in many areas of life. I work with a Boy Scout troop and when I see the boys not working well together, I talk to them about the soft skills, what they can improve and the benefits of behaving a certain way. It is good to see them incorporate these skills and I know they will be successful at work and school as a result.
I believe that soft skills can be taught from kindergarten on up. Simple things such as communicating clearly when the child is requesting to go to the bathroom or being on time are easy ways to start. Also In each grade or age group the skills can be further developed and emphasized. Soft skills often receive a bum rap at companies and typically are the first to be cut where budgets are concerned.
My goal with this blog is to dialogue, share stories, and help others to improve their soft skills at any age level. Learning about soft skills will help anyone improve their ability to be successful in employment, business adventures, and any organization where they may be active.
Do you have a story about when you saw either good or bad examples of soft skills?
Beverly Lynn
ABED 6107: Instructional Strategies For Technology Instructor: Dr. Sunil Hazari
Beverly,
ReplyDeleteSoft skills are certainly important to businesses and therefore you will find the Business Communications course to be a requirement in any curriculum.
Starting students early in recognizing the importance of written and oral communication will help them gain confidence as they prepare for the workplace. The first real test comes when they send out resumes and cover letters close to graduation.
I agree Beverly, soft skills are overlooked. I have worked in music retail and now am in music education, with my time given with the retail portion I understood early on that it's the skills you can demonstrate with people that really create a successful business and sales associate. In the education field, soft skills simply cannot be overlooked. To have engaging teachers, they must be personable and willing with their students. Teachers cannot be drill instructors if they want their students to actually learn, retain knowledge, and apply that knowledge to their everyday life!
ReplyDeleteIn certain areas of the workforce, soft skills can be more important than hard skills for sure. Like you said Beverly, people management positions require higher levels of soft skills, which is completely understandable.
Great post! Love the YouTube video on listening as well. Nice touch with the Dilbert strip at the bottom too!
-Colby Anderson
Beverly,
ReplyDeleteBusiness Communication skills are important soft skills that many companies look for, but forget to emphasize in training. One of these skills that is definately overlooked is LISTENING. Listening is a crutial part of communication. Many people forget to fully listen these days. Regardless of what business you are in, what sector you work in, or what your individual job is; you need to listen to people to determine their needs.
Another soft skill that is needed in business, as well as life, is problem solving skills. John C. Maxwell states that leaders “cannot afford to be overwhelmed by emotion.” I always look at emotion and fact, but I tend to side with the needs of the individual. I help others with their problems and I solve issues effectively with decent results. I will never stop valuing the emotions of others, but I would like to look at the big picture more readily.
Problems in finances, relationships – family and professional and work issues happen every day. My husband and I don’t have a lot of money, for various reasons, but we pay our bills, manage a budget, and still manage to have some “fun money.” If that isn’t problem solving, I don’t know what is.
As individuals we must work--actively--to improve our soft skills. These skills will help us in our business careers and our personal lives as well. You have created a site devoted to an important part of business success and leadership that is becomming an important part of society ond business alike, but is often not emphasized enough. Great job Beverly!!!!
Beverly,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that soft skills are essential in the business world. Currently, the workplace is becoming more diverse and is very important to be able to communicate in an efficient manner regardless of culture, background and social status.
I like the design of your blog and how you choose to have the comic strip and video on the footer. Perhaps, my two cents of advice is if you can make the resolution of your blog a little bit smaller. I think it is important to be able to see everything in one screen. Some people with small monitors or screen resolutions would overlook the content on the right menu or the footer.
Good job!
Matias
Great blog topic! I think soft skills are very important. I try to incorporate communications, work ethics, and other soft skills into my curriculum. In addition, my students earn a work ethics grade at the end of every nine weeks. I take into account their attitudes, how well they are completing their work, and if they are respectful to others. This work ethics grade counts 15% of their final grade. I'm pretty sure that every business education teacher in Carroll County gives a work ethics grade. Once again, great job!
ReplyDeleteBeverly,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! I agree with you that soft skills are so important in the business world. For example, I have had a boss that did not have very good soft skills and he was very hard to get along with. He was extremely knowledgeable about the industry but had no compassion toward others. He also did not have a very good attitude which made it hard to go to him with a problem. He made the employees feel scared to talk to him when really managers are supposed to be open and easy to come to. I agree that soft skills are extremely important in a manager, sometimes even more important than hard skills. Would you agree?
Thanks,
Amanda