Soft Skills at Work

Rizwan Hassan
17th December 2008
 Outline
• What are Soft Skills?
• Leadership skills
• Personal Organisation and effectiveness
• Innovation
• How to be successful in Career?
 What are Soft Skills?
• Personality traits, social skills, communication, ability
with language, personal habits, friendliness, and
optimism that mark each of us in varying degrees.
• Soft skills complement hard skills which are the technical
requirements of a job.
• Organizations, particularly those frequently dealing with
customers face-to-face, are generally more prosperous if
they train their staff to use these skills.
• Soft skills are increasingly sought out by employers in
addition to standard qualifications.
• In a number of professions, soft skills are more important
over the long term than technical skills.
Personal Organisation and effectiveness

• Interpersonal skills
– Lead, Motivate and delegate
– Team working
– Negotiating skills
– Communication skills
– Time management
Leadership Communication
The Situational Team Leadership Model—
The Four Leadership Styles
Team Development Stage Model
 Communication Model

Intended meaning can be different from the perceived meaning

 Time Management
• Under promise and over deliver
• Always meet the deadlines
• Prioritise
• Plan ahead for tasks and objectives
• Watch out for the time wasters
– Un necessary interruptions
– Emails ( don’t be reactive!)
– Don’t say ‘Yes’ all the time – learn to say ‘No’
 Innovation

“Imagination is more important

than knowledge”, Albert Einstien
 How to be Successful in Career
• There is no short cut to success
• Perception can be more important than reality
• Pro-activeness – Take initiatives
• Assertiveness
• Flexibility
• Dealing with difficult people
• Work smart not hard
• Prioritize and Focus
• Work for results
• Take risks
• Own responsibility
• Always re-evaluate and improve
• Take a broader view of things
• Bring solutions not problems
• See the bigger picture
• Separate issues from personalities
Thank You and Good Luck