Soft Skills

For detailed descriptions of each and every soft competency or soft skill, please refer: http://soft-competencies-skills.blogspot.com/

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For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/

(Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/)

Two Basic Types of Skills

Hard skills
Soft skills

Hard Skills

Hard skills are technical skills. Like writing programs for computers, preparing a balance sheet, working on a particular machine for a particular process in a manufacturing workshop, acting in a television serial or a cinema film, carrying out a surgery etc.
One must have proficiency in these skills in order to become a good professional in one's chosen fields and to earn decent living.
Hard skills are important and you should never undermine them. They are your bread and butter skills.
Hard skills are more rational types.

Soft Skills

One can do a still better job of one's chosen professions if one also acquires proficiency in those soft skills which are required to perform the jobs better. These soft skills are behavioral in nature. For example, how do you communicate with the people, how good are you in making business presentations, how empathetic you are with the people you come across, can you work as a team member, do you manage your time well and so on.
These skills make all the difference. Mere technical skills allow you certain degree of success. You can achieve higher degree of success if you equip yourself with soft skills too.
Technical skills are obvious and people learning them find it easy to understand and follow the processes of acquiring these skills.
However, one wonders as to what is there to learn in soft skills; you are already doing them. Say, communication. You have been speaking and listening from the very young age and so, one may think as to what is there to learn more and how to learn. But if you look around, you may find that some people are more effective in speaking than others. Here is the answer. The people who speak more effectively have learnt and practiced to speak effectively. They have followed and implemented certain processes and guidelines for speaking more effectively. It did hot happen to them accidentally or automatically.
Soft skills make a difference in the external and internal personalities. People who acquire soft skills of high order are more sophisticated, more cultured, more reformed and are found to be more successful in every walk of life.
Therefore, in addition to perfecting your hard skills, also try to perfect your soft skills.
Soft skills improve your emotional intelligence (Refer: http://emotional-quotient-intelligence.blogspot.com/ Emotional Intelligence)

Both Skills Necessary

For example, a tourist guide has to know the technical aspects of his job like showing his tourists the right places in a proper sequence with authentic commentary on them, the legalities of his job, the safety aspect of his tourists etc, yet, he will be more in demand and earn more if he also has the necessary soft skills for the job like manners and etiquette, interpersonal relations with tourists, humor, creativity etc.

Inventory of Soft Skills

(The detailed descriptions of all the soft skills are given at http://soft-competencies-skills.blogspot.com/ and http://shyam-bhatawdekar.blogspot.com/ and we suggest you refer these sites for greater advantage to you).

You must try to find out what soft skills you should choose to acquire and develop for success in your personal, professional, family and social life.

Given below a comprehensive list of soft skills for your guidance.

Observation (Refer: http://managing-self.blogspot.com/ Self Development, http://self-concept-image.blogspot.com/ Self-concept)
Know yourself (introspection) (Refer: http://managing-self.blogspot.com/ Self Development, http://self-concept-image.blogspot.com/ Self-concept)
Openness and flexibility (paradigm shifting) (Refer: http://humansoftware.blogspot.com/ Effectiveness Management: HSoftware), http://paradigm-mindset.blogspot.com/ Paradigm and Paradigm Shift)
Internal motivation and passion (Refer: http://motivation-people.blogspot.com/ Motivation)
Action orientation, drive and self initiation
Self development (Refer: http://human-personality.blogspot.com/ Personality and http://winners-losers.blogspot.com/ Winners and Losers)
Self confidence (Refer: http://self-confidence-improvement.blogspot.com/)
Assertiveness (Refer: http://assertiveness-skill.blogspot.com/), eBook at: http://nbuu.co/cx
Integrity (Refer: http://business-management-ethics.blogspot.com/)
Trustworthiness
Composure and self presentation (appearance, manners and etiquette) (Refer: http://executive-manners.blogspot.com/ Executive Etiquette and Manners, http://cross-cultural-etiquette.blogspot.com/ Cross Cultural Etiquette and Manners, http://telephone-etiquette.blogspot.com/ Telephone Etiquette, http://dining-manners.blogspot.com/ Dining Etiquette and Table Manners), http://email-etiquette-manners.blogspot.com/ Email Etiquette
Intellectual horsepower and learning
Creativity and innovation (Refer: http://creativity-management.blogspot.com/ Creativity and Innovation), http://six-thinking-hats.blogspot.com/ Six Thinking Hats, http://triz-problem-solving.blogspot.com/ TRIZ- Inventive Problem Solving)
Conviction
Moral courage (Refer: http://lead-max.blogspot.com/)
Dependability and reliability
Dealing with ambiguity
Time management (Refer: http://time-life-management.blogspot.com/) eBook at http://nbuu.co/cA
Goal setting and result orientation (Refer: http://goal-target-setting.blogspot.com/) eBook at
http://nbuu.co/cv
Decision making (Refer: http://decision-making-function.blogspot.com/ Decision Making and http://six-thinking-hats.blogspot.com/ Six Thinking Hats))
Problem solving and process orientation (Refer: http://problem-solving-skill.blogspot.com/)
Organizing (Refer: http://functions-of-management.blogspot.com/ Functions of Management)
Coordinating
Delegation (Refer: http://delegation-skill.blogspot.com/ Delegation)
Communication (speaking, listening, empathy, body language, writing) (Refer: http://communication-for-business.blogspot.com/, http://written-communication.blogspot.com/ Written Communication)
Interpersonal skills (Refer: http://interpersonal-relations.blogspot.com/ Interpersonal Relations and http://transaction-analysis.blogspot.com/ Transaction Analysis and http://emotional-quotient-intelligence.blogspot.com/ Emotional Intelligence))
Negotiation (Refer: http://negotiating-skills.blogspot.com/)
Conflict management (Refer: http://manage-conflict.blogspot.com/)
Presentation (Refer: http://presentation-effectiveness.blogspot.com/)
Convincing
Coaching and developing people (Refer: http://coaching-skill.blogspot.com/)
Counseling (Refer: http://counselingfamily.blogspot.com/)
Mentoring (Refer: http://mentor-mentorship.blogspot.com/)
Team work (Refer: http://team-building-working.blogspot.com/)
Team building (Refer: http://team-building-working.blogspot.com/)
Consensus building (Refer: http://group-dynamics-process.blogspot.com/ Group Dynamics, http://team-building-working.blogspot.com/ Team Building)
Conducting meetings (Refer: http://managing-meetings.blogspot.com/)
Leading (Refer: http://lead-max.blogspot.com/)
Big picture thinking and strategic thinking (Refer: http://critical-thinking-skills.blogspot.com/ Critical Thinking)
Motivating others (Refer: http://motivation-people.blogspot.com/, http://positive-strokes.blogspot.com/ Positive Strokes)
Controlling (Refer: http://functions-of-management.blogspot.com/ Functions of Management)
Safety (Refer: http://behavioral-safety.blogspot.com/ Behavioral Safety)
Stress management (Refer: http://managing-stress-strain.blogspot.com/)
Conflict management (Refer: http://manage-conflict.blogspot.com/)
Entrepreneurship and ownership (Refer: http://entrepreneurship-entrepreneur.blogspot.com/ Entrepreneurship, http://job-ownership.blogspot.com/ Ownership)
Anger Management (Refer: http://controlling-anger.blogspot.com/), eBook & paperback at Amazon

Get Started

Go through the above list very carefully and tick out the soft skills where you need to pull up yourself.
Then, you have to go through the cycle of gaining authentic knowledge of that skill, understanding the process (the standard operating procedure- SOP) of building that skill, practicing that skill following the process (SOP).
Practicing it, practicing it and practicing it till you get the mastery over that skill, till that skills gets internalized in you- it becomes your habit. (Refer http://shyam-bhatawdekar.blogspot.com/ Competency Matrix

Related Books

The eminent management practitioners and authors Shyam Bhatawdekar and Dr Kalpana Bhatawdekar have published a book titled "Soft Skills You Can't Do Without" and it can be obtained online at Amazon as an eBook and in paperback (printed book. You may also like to acquire authors' book titled "Competency Management (Competency Matrix and Competencies)" from Amazon. kindleunlimited, KOLL and Amazon Prime subscribers can read these books absolutely free.

Books Authored by Shyam Bhatawdekar and Dr Kalpana Bhatawdekar (available online from Amazon as eBooks and paperbacks (printed books)

kindleunlimited, KOLL and Amazon Prime subscribers can read the following

books absolutely free.

Management, Business, Self-help and Personality Development Books

1. HSoftware (Human Software) (The Only Key to Higher Effectiveness)

2. Sensitive Stories of Corporate World (Management Case Studies)

3. Sensitive Stories of Corporate World Volume 2 (Management Case Studies) (Volume 2)

4. Sensitive Stories of Corporate world (Volumes 1 & 2 Combined) (Management Case Studies)

5. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers

6. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)

7. Classic Team Building Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers

8. 101 Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers

9. Stress? No Way!! (Handbook on Stress Management)

10. HSoftware (Shyam Bhatawdekar’s Effectiveness Model)

11. Competency Management (Competency Matrix and Competencies)

12. Soft Skills You Can’t Do Without (Goal Setting, Time Management, Assertiveness and Anger Management)

13. Essentials of Work Study (Method Study and Work Measurement)

14. Essentials of Time Management (Taking Control of Your Life)

15. Essentials of 5S Housekeeping

16. Essentials of Quality Circles

17. Essentials of Goal Setting

18. Essentials of Anger Management

19. Essentials of Assertive Behavior

20. Essentials of Performance Management & Performance Appraisal

21. Essentials of Effective Communication

22. Health Essentials (Health Is Wealth)

23. The Romance of Intimacy (How to Enhance Intimacy in a Relationship?)

Novels, Stories, Biographies and Travelogues

24. The Peace Crusaders (Novel: how the peace crusaders established permanent peace on a war strewn planet?)

25. Love Knows No Bounds (Novel: a refreshingly different love story. Also available with the title “Good People”)

26. Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories

27. Stories Children Will Love (Volume 1: Bhanu-Shanu-Kaju-Biju and Dholu Ram Gadbad Singh)

28. My Father (Biography)

29. Travelogue: Scandinavia, Russia

30. Travelogue: Europe

31. सीमाओं के परे: एक अलग प्रेम कहानी (Hindi version of the novel “Love Knows No Bounds”)

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Soft Skills

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Soft Skills

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