This is an article written and contributed by a member of the Kool Kanya Community! We love it when our users engage with us and strive to always encourage and empower them in their pursuits. If you wish to have your writing featured on the Kool Kanya blog, sign up and send in your article to the Kool Kanya Community!
Soft skills are a range of talents that people can acquire in a professional environment. It can range from interpersonal and communication skills like teamwork to personal character traits like time management and organizational aptitude. Modern businesses are all about creating synergy between human resources, and soft skills are indispensable when it comes to making connections!
To survive the fast pace of the business world, offices have to keep evolving and growing. 2020 has brought a major change in the workplace culture as well. Remote work has had a positive effect on productivity and reduced recurring expenses both for employers and employees. Therefore, many companies are sticking to remote work or more flexible work weeks.
This means that there are going to be a number of soft skills for 2021 that will dictate the structure of workflow in 2021! Here are some of those soft skills that you can add to your own resumes.
1. Communication And Collaboration
As many non-essential businesses continue to operate in a fully remote work environment, communication remains imperative. This means communicating in a much broader sense–communications between colleagues, employees, managers, clients, and vendors.
According to a survey in 2020, communication was one of the skills that most employees lacked. With offices moving to a remote style of working, communication as a soft skill in 2021 will become essential to the survival of individuals as well as companies.
2. Adaptability
The recent developments have given new significance to adaptability as a skill. Employees have had to adapt overnight to manage this huge transition into remote work. A lot of workers have also had to learn how to manage emotions and stay positive amidst fear and uncertainty.
Adaptability is also an important skill to have as it promotes flexible thinking and open-mindedness, which leads to you becoming a more reliable worker. It also increases resilience and shifts the way you view the world. If you look at the world in a positive light, often it reflects upon your work as well!
Continue Reading Below.
Here Are The Top 5 Qualities Recruiters Are Looking For Right Now
Stop Giving Soft Skills A Hard Time
Upskill Yourself: The Case For Lifelong Learning
3. Emotional Intelligence
It is vital to have high emotional intelligence when working with others in order to deal with challenging situations that might arise. Emotional intelligence can also be called an emotional quotient, and it is already a sought-after skill in employees. It can encompass empathy, conflict resolution, and self-awareness.
Developing and increasing emotional intelligence will help you approach the challenges in a more structured manner, communicate with colleagues with empathy, make decisions effectively, and build quality relationships that will help you with your career.
4. Critical Thinking
According to a University of Louisville research paper titled, ‘What is Critical Thinking,’ this soft skill can be termed as the ability to assess situations logically and come up with rational answers to the problems that arise. This is the process of carefully and systematically analyzing problems to find ways to solve them.
It involves identifying several possible solutions and then logically evaluating each one, comparing them to one another on their merits, and then selecting the one that you conclude is the most promising. Employees should be able to not only solve problems quickly but also effectively, which is why this is a skill that employees ought to inculcate early on.
5. Time Management
Life has become fast-paced and hectic. With work-from-home in full swing in many organisations, the work hours blend in with personal time. This means that many people feel that there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Time management skills can help you use your time effectively and achieve desired results.
It is important to plan and set daily, weekly, and monthly goals, as well as prioritize tasks. Learn the art of delegating work to your subordinates as per their skills and abilities and get more done. This will not only free up time for you personally but will help your team members too.
6. Creativity And Innovation
Creativity is an essential skill to have regardless of what industry you work in. It is not just the ability to create things that are new and fresh, but also the ability to think outside the box and apply new solutions to existing problems.
These are skills that make us ‘innately human,’ and a machine cannot do this for us. Creativity would require one to develop an aptitude for innovation, mental gymnastics, and flexibility when it comes to problem solving and brainstorming.
7. Leadership
Leadership skills are highly sought after by employers as they involve dealing with people in such a way as to motivate, enthuse, and build respect. The main characteristics of good leaders include their flexibility and ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
Leadership roles often require people who can bring together a team in such a way as to minimize emotional cost and maximize output by every individual. As the world moves to online offices, leadership qualities become more in-demand by employers.
The bottom line is that the human brain is incredible and more powerful than any AI in existence. As we gear up for another year, we should all be looking to harness our unique human capabilities and cultivate these softer skills.
These skills promise to become the stepping stone into the future. It is time we stop treating soft skills as second thoughts because, in the coming post-pandemic era, these soft skills will be the most sought after resource on any resume!
Ladies, it’s time to start upskilling.
Last updated: 15 March 2021
You’re invited! Join the Kool Kanya women-only career community where you can network, ask questions, share your opinions, collaborate on projects, and discover new opportunities.Join now.
