“It takes no genius to observe that a one-man band never gets very big” - says Charles Garfield, one of America's leading authorities on high achievement. The matter is indeed very simple: we do have to work in teams to achieve more. But as in everything in life, there is a catch. Working with others involves a great deal of extra effort, which we are no always willing to undertake or just don’t know how to do it. The truth is, in most cases our upbringing and school life is not representative of what awaits us in our professional life. This way we are by default deprived of becoming what is called “street smart”. Soft skills are one of the elements of being street smart. Soft skills determine how we interact with one another.
What to do then, to get things “right”, if for some reason you have not been blessed with mastering soft skills so far? First of all practice! “Practice what!?” you might say. Luckily, last week, Lycoming College hosted an event titled “Secrets to Success – Mastering Soft Skills”. It was a set of six 10-minute presentations delivered by the school’s students. Here are some interesting facts that should help answering this question.
Presentation I – Small Talk
Conversation Criminals (don't be one of them!):
1. The FBI Agent – asks a lot of questions, does not wait for your answer.
2. The One-Upper – always has done better than you have.
3. The Monopoliser – does not stop talking.
4. The Poor Sport – changes open ended questions into closed ones.
5. The Adviser – gives advice no matter whether you want it or not.
Presentation II – Written Communication
• Most important piece of information first.
• Emphasis is on your audience.
• Use plain English - clear and concise, free of technical terms.
Presentation III– Group Communication
• Cohesiveness is the degree to which group members want to stay in the group and are committed to the group.
• Cohesiveness leads to increased productivity.
• Competition decreases cohesiveness.
Presentation IV – Presentational Speaking
Follow the format:
A. Tell them what you’re going to tell them.
B. Tell them.
C. Tell them what you told them.
Objective: find common ground, not attack.
Presentation VI – Leadership
The leader has five contributions to team effectiveness:
• Create a shared vision.
• Appropriately allocate resources.
• Build mutual trust, respect and cooperation.
• Competently motivate members of the group.
• Committed to improvement.
As you can see, soft skills do add tremendously to your life, to your self-esteem and ultimately... to your resume. Work on them now, otherwise they will come back and hunt you down in any professional setting you will find yourself in. After all, you may have the best idea but if, primo, you have nobody to help you with it, secundo you cannot communicate it to others and tertio you cannot get people to work on the idea effectively it will still be worth close to nothing, if at all. And remember, practice makes perfect!
I find much wisdom on your blog!
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