What are the soft skills and how do you acquire them (comprehensive and exclusive guide2021)

What are the soft skills and how do you acquire them (comprehensive and exclusive guide2021)

What are the soft skills and how do you acquire them

 If you want to apply for a new job, you need to know very well the requirements of the job you're going to apply for, the skills required for any job are divided into two types of technical skills related to the job itself, and vary depending on the nature of each job, personal skills, which are called soft skills.

Soft skills are a very important requirement for all employers in their staff, as they ensure better functioning, harmonization and collaboration among staff to ensure more efficient staff production.

We may hear a lot about someone who applied for a job, who was very familiar with the job requirements and all the technical information and skills required for it, but who didn't get the job and was rejected, and in return someone who was less familiar with the job skills and technical information may be accepted.

You might wonder why it's happening, how employers refuse who's entitled to work and who's familiar with its requirements, and who's less efficient.

In fact, someone you see as less competent may have something else that is lacking than the best in terms of technical skills, which are soft skills, which we will elaborate on in our article today.

What's Soft Skills

Soft skills are simply a set of personal skills, which are not directly related to careers, but are very important and necessary to achieve the best possible results at work.

For example, one of the basic skills of the e-marketer function is the ability to analyze data, without which the e-marketer will not be able to perform the required functions.

But it's also important for e-marketers to have soft skills such as communication, leadership and teamwork, which are not directly related to task performance, but are very important to achieve the desired results.

It should be noted that in some practical jobs and disciplines some soft skills are basic skills, directly related to the performance of work, such as communication skills for a customer service function.

Soft Skills is a term that has spread very widely in recent times, and all corporate owners are looking to have all the people they work for.

Soft skills are very important skills that each of us needs to acquire, which make it easier to communicate and get along with others.

A study by Harvard University showed that 85% of success in a job depends on soft skills, and only 15% of success in a job depends on technical skills.

This shows us the great importance of soft skills, and it's something we can't underestimate or neglect, and now let's talk about the most important soft skills and learn how to acquire them.

The most important "soft skills"

Communication skill

Negotiation skill

The Skill of Emotional Intelligence

Leadership Skill

Problem solving skill

The Skill of Team

Flexibility skill and adaptation to variables

Timekeeping Skill

Now let's take each one in detail:

1. Communication skill

There is no doubt that communication is one of the most important skills that anyone can acquire in their life, and that they can find a clear and rapid impact on their life and relationships with those around them.

All the while, we are dealing with different types of human beings, both at work and in personal life, and it is very important to know how to communicate with them correctly to ensure that the relationship is successful and that its purpose is achieved.

If there is no proper way to communicate between people in any workplace, it is certain that the atmosphere will be full of differences and conflicts, which will have a significant and obvious impact on the functioning and cooperation of the team and thus affect production.

So it's a very important soft skill that corporate owners look for in their employees.

How to acquire communication skills

To gain the skill of communication, you have to understand very well that it is a very large skill under which smaller skills are included, which if you can acquire, you will have communication at its highest level.

Let's deal with these skills in detail:

1. Listening Skill

Being a good listener is one of the best ways to make you a good communicator with others. It's very important in any communication process to know what exactly the person in front of you wants to achieve the purpose of this communication, and it will only happen with effective listening.

Let me tell you how to do it:

You have to listen very well to the other person's talk and pay your full attention, then ask explanatory questions and paraphrase what the person says to ensure that what you understand is exactly what the other party means.

For example, I use sentences like: (If you mean it is), it makes you understand what the other side wants, so you do it right.

2. Non-verbal communication

And the meaning of non-verbal communication is your body language, visual communication, hand gestures, voice tone, and the position of your body in standing or sitting, all of which affects your message that you're trying to communicate to those in front of you.

Your comfortable, open stand where the arms are open, the legs are relaxed, and the tone of your voice full of friendly will make you friendly, and make others want to talk to you.

And don't forget the visual connection to your talk. It's very important. You have to look into the eye of who's talking to show your interest in talking to him and your respect for him, but you have to be careful not to look too long and stare at him and feel bad, not to ignore looking at him completely, and feel disrespectful and disrespectful.

And you have to pay attention to the non-verbal references of the person in front of you, and you often explain how he feels while talking to you, and also look out for your non-verbal signals. You can misspell them and make a sense that you don't mean to the other side, and to understand more about non-verbal references you can read in body language.

3. Clarity and brevity

Good verbal communication is that you just say enough. It doesn't go too long. It makes the listener bored and out of touch. It doesn't speak too little. It provides incomplete and unclear information.

Say what you want directly and clearly whatever means of communication you use whether you're talking to the other person face-to-face, by email, or by phone.

Think well about what you want to say before you talk so you can make sure it's clear, avoid excessive talk and confuse the listener.

4. Openness

In reaching out to others, it is very important to be open to all views; Listen to, accept and respect each opinion, even if you disagree with it, you have to think of the opinions you hear in neutrality without prejudice or prejudice to a particular opinion.

Be flexible with all the opinions and make your focus more on understanding the other's point of view than on communicating and holding your mind, so you can have more productive and honest conversations.

2. Negotiation skill

Negotiation skills are very important skills that employers are looking for. Being a successful negotiator means knowing how to convince, and how to reach a compromise that satisfies all parties to agreements or disputes so that everyone comes out as winners.

How to acquire the skill of negotiation

Negotiation skills require simple capabilities such as: Communication, persuasion, planning, collaboration, strategy development, having these capabilities makes you a successful negotiator.

1. Connection

Through proper communication you can avoid misunderstandings that might prevent you from reaching a compromise that satisfies all parties.

The correct communication occurs from your attention to non-verbal signals through speech from body language, voice tone, etc., as well as expressing yourself in a clear way so that you can reach the intended goal of speaking.

The skills of listening effectively, asking for observations and making sure you understand each other properly through questions are essential.

2. Persuasion

Your ability to convince and influence others makes you a successful negotiator, and here I mean positively, not controlling or controlling them.

And it helps you to know very well the reasons why the solution you're offering is good for all parties, and to know how to explain those reasons to others and communicate your idea well, so you get the support of others to your point of view.

3. Layout

It is very important that any agreement or negotiation be planned to determine the long-term consequences of such agreement for all parties.

in addition to developing a plan for how to implement the Agreement and the steps required of all parties, and establishing agreed parameters and laws to implement the Agreement.

4. Strategy development

For any successful negotiator, making contingency plans before any negotiation is essential, it is important that you plan all the scenarios that are expected, and develop strategies that will make you ready for all the potential outcomes.

It's important to bring your strategies before you enter into any negotiation so that you can come out of it with the greatest possible gain as well as the lowest possible loss.

3. The Skill of Emotional Intelligence

The skill of emotional intelligence consists of two interrelated components: Your ability to understand and manage your feelings, as well as other people's feelings.

According to statistics, people with emotional intelligence are better able to produce at work, solve problems, make decisions, work on a team, and also lead successfully, which means they succeed in working and reaching higher positions quickly.

We are only human beings, a mass of different emotions that move us and control our actions in a great way, so our understanding of our own feelings and those around us, and our learning how to deal with them and manage them positively, will greatly affect our success at work and in life as a whole and this is emotional intelligence.

How to acquire the skill of emotional intelligence

There are five key skills that help you acquire the skill of emotional intelligence.

1. Self-awareness

You have to know yourself well and your feelings, by watching yourself and your actions in different situations and analyzing the feelings behind those actions.

Just as you have to tell the people around you what you want, they won't know it by themselves, you have to tell them gently what's bothering or angering you and what's comforting and satisfying you so they can deal with you the way you prefer.

2. Emotion Control

You know how to manage your feelings positively to control them instead of being controlled and controlled.

It's always because of your interpretation of different situations. In your own interpretation, you get feelings, if your interpretation is positive, and if your interpretation of the situation is negative, then you're bound to get negative feelings.

3. Self-stimulation

It's very important to have the ability to motivate yourself, and don't do that wrong by sitting there waiting for someone else to motivate you, and if it happens once, you won't find it every time.

Put your goals in front of you and then set targets or small steps to get you to each big goal, and it's very important that you set specific targets with a specific time limit.

4. Perception of other people's feelings

Your understanding of other people's feelings begins with your understanding of their feelings and seeing things from their own perspective. Each of us has its own angle from which to see things depending on the nature of one's personality, lifestyle and feelings.

It is very important that you understand and respect the feelings of others, and if you do not understand them or be convinced of them, we have each other's point of view in life, and have always tried to help others to channel their feelings towards positivity.

5. Relationship Management

By being aware of your feelings and recognizing other people's feelings and being able to manage those feelings, then comes a very important step, which is to manage relationships, which is simply to use everyone you treat the right way for.

We each have a different nature, different feelings and a different view of life, so it is very important that you deal with each person in a manner appropriate to his/her nature to bring the relationship to success and to achieve its desired goals with ease.

4. Leadership Skill

Those with strong leadership skills are capable of inspiring and motivating team members and leading them to success, which makes it a much needed skill.

It's not about managing and controlling people, but it's about your knowledge of the members of the team that you lead well, and your knowledge of the skills and abilities that each team member has.

And then assign tasks to them based on their capabilities, to achieve the best possible results and take out the creativity that lies within each of them.

Leadership is not only important to every manager or to the people who want to get to the position of manager. It's important to all of us .You lead yourself first before you lead any other person.

And life can put you in different situations where you need to be a leader, even for a very short period of time, it can be for a few minutes, and you have to pass this test.

How to gain leadership

There are four key qualities you must have in order to gain leadership: Listen, empathy, emotional intelligence, creativity.

1. Listen

It may be surprising that the idea of our leadership is always associated with giving orders and directions all the time, but it is also the leader's most important task to make decisions, and no one, no matter how experienced, can make decisions alone all the time and these decisions are correct every time.

It is therefore very important for the leader to listen to all views objectively, and to think well about them without any bias to his own, so that he can finally reach the best view, and be the opinion of the whole group and not one individual.

Listening also needs you to look at what the other needs and understand it, not just your own. Before you think about how the person in front of you can help you, think about what this person is trying to get to you, and how you can help him and you can help the institution as a whole together.

2. Empathy

Empathy means being able to recognize the needs of the other person and know how their feelings affect their thoughts, and being able to respect and understand these feelings and see things from the perspective of the other person, not just from your perspective.

Empathy creates a more coherent, understanding and effective task force, where the leader is able to position himself or herself and see the problem more clearly so that he or she can help team members with the challenges they may face, as well as gain more experience.

3. Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence depends on understanding and managing different emotions. Emotional intelligence helps leaders create a safe environment in which team members can freely exchange information and opinions, and propose ideas without fear, which helps the institution greatly.

4. Creativity

Creativity cannot be underestimated as a necessary trait for a successful leader. The labour market is now first-class competitive, so your creativity at work and in management methods makes you a privileged position.

Creativity is to find new ways to take advantage of existing resources, which is important and very useful for employers.

5. Problem solving skill

It's natural to have a problem in the working environment at any time, and it can affect the sudden functioning of the business, so it's necessary to be ready for any problem before it happens so that you can solve it quickly and avoid waste in time, effort and money.

How to acquire the skill of problem solving

To acquire the skill of solving problems, you need to know that you have to follow a scientific approach and deliberate steps to come up with any problem.

Here are the steps you need to take to solve any problem:

1. Identify Problem

The first and most important step is to realize that there's a problem, and then to determine exactly what the problem is and how big it is, and it's important that you understand all the dimensions of the problem so that you can explain it to others.

2. Structuring the problem

This phase involves compiling more information about the problem, making sure it is well understood, and identifying the causes and elements of the problem.

3. Search for possible solutions

After research and collection of information on the problem and its causes comes the solution search step, often at a meeting of team members to gather as many possible solutions.

It is very important at this stage to accept all views and not to miniaturize or mock them. At the beginning of the meeting, we have to raise the slogan "All views are acceptable and no opinion is ridiculed." Each of us has its own experience and expertise, which is important, and will certainly be useful to all.

4. Decision-making

At this stage, the solutions that have been put forward in the previous steps are analyzed to arrive at the best solution, once you have found the best solution, try to imagine different scenarios for that solution and predict and prepare for the consequences it may have.

5. Implementation

After finding the right solution, and making sure that it's really the best and decision-making, it's time for implementation, be aware that in the implementation phase you may have new problems that were never taken into account before.

6. Note Results

After implementation, it is necessary to observe the consequences of the solution that has been implemented over time, as well as to hear the views and observations of others, so that they can quickly understand and respond in the event of any new problems arising out of the solution that has been implemented.

All these remarks would be an important experience for you and your team in case of similar problems.

6. The Skill of Teamwork

As leadership skills are a very important skill, it's also important to have the ability to work on a team, which is one of the most soft skills.

The skill of teamwork is the ability of an individual to work within a group to achieve a goal.

In any job you work on a team to achieve a particular goal, it's smart to know when to be a leader, when to be a follower on the team.

Teaming up within a team requires good cooperation and communication among all members of the team. They look like members of the football team. Members of the football team cannot play each player alone, and if that happens, the entire team will be defeated even more severely.

Each player has a role to play in addition to linking his or her role to those of the other members of the team. Communication and cooperation are therefore crucial.

The person with the skill of teamwork; He is a person who is able to work with different types of characters, no matter how different they may be, and has the ability to help the people around him do the work they are required to do.

How to acquire the skill of teamwork

To acquire teamwork skills there are several skills called teamwork skills, which employers look for in employees, and which you have to develop and emphasize in job interviews and biographies.

1. Communication

Your ability to communicate information and ideas to others well, and you should be able to communicate information through all available means of communication, and not neglect non-verbal elements of communication.

2. Conflict management

In collective action, it is very important to be able to resolve the problems that arise among the members of the Panel.

3. Listen

A very important part of working on a team is your ability to listen to all the thoughts and fears of your fellow team members, to show your interest and understanding of their fears and ideas, to be an active member of your team.

4. Respect

People will be more able and willing to talk to you if you show your respect for them and their thoughts no matter how different they may be, as well as making them feel valued when you listen to them, and using visual communication while talking to them.

7. Flexibility skill and adaptation to variables

Resilience is how you accept the variables that happen in your life. You have to know very well that change is the only thing that is consistent in our lives. All the things and circumstances as well as the people around us are constantly changing.

A flexible person is capable of accepting and adapting to changes, and he is truly a successful person with an open and distinct mind.

How to acquire flexibility and adapt to variables

There are some ways you have to go to make you more flexible:

1. Make your mind open

Try to accept all the differences and changes, it will be easy to deal with the situation and manage it if you look at it from a different perspective, try to look at things holistic and non-superficial, and promise yourself to accept difference.

2. Constantly developing your skills

Investing your time and effort in developing your skills is undoubtedly of great benefit to you. It's important to make an effort to learn new skills and the weight of your old skills, which makes you very much prepared for the changes that happen all of a sudden.

3. Be Optimistic

Some might think it's hard to stay positive all the time, but it needs training and getting used, focusing on the bright side and looking at the positive makes you more flexible.

4. Stay Calm

When things suddenly change, some may be nervous and frustrated, but that way you will lose focus and not be able to behave properly, but restoring your calm increases your focus, and makes you think better to reach a sound decision in the end.

5. Planning for the future

You can make plans for the future and anticipate changes that may emerge in the future, while making plans about actions to avoid or deal with these changes properly.

8. Timekeeping Skill

Organizing time is a very important soft skill for anyone, and it's a characteristic of successful people who are always privileged, so the beginning of the path to success is organizing time and managing it well.

Organizing time makes you more productive and easier to reach your goals, reduces the pressure on you because of job tasks, and wasting time makes you feel dissatisfied and underperformed.

How to acquire the skill of organizing time

To acquire the skill of organizing time, you have to follow the following advice:

Watch your time to find out what's lost, and write down everything you do on your day in time.

Set your goals clearly and divide them into long - term goals and short-term goals and write down all goals.

Make a daily plan of the tasks that you have to do on your day, and whenever you get a job marked, that's how it makes you feel, and accept the idea that you're not going to finish all the tasks that you have to do on your day.

Don't do two important things at the same time, because that's a big waste of time and you lose focus and achievement.

If you do an important job, set a time period where you focus only, and you don't do anything during that time period, and let (30) minutes focus on it, then you take 5) minutes of rest, then you go back to work again (30) minutes and so on.

Summary

You need to be well aware of the importance of soft skills in your working life, and also your personal life, which determines how well you work in your daily relationships and dealings with people around you.

It also results in you getting the job you want or don't, and it also depends on how well you work, how well you work, and how high you look.

It's important to know that soft skills can be acquired, but not only by knowing information about them and learning about their acquisition steps, but it needs to be practiced and this is a detailed step in the whole subject.

You need to exercise these soft skills in your life and your daily dealings with the people around you, learn from your mistakes every time, and correct these mistakes until you finally get to the stage of mastering these skills.