The case for soft skills

 

I was excited to read a BBC news article this morning that said:

 

"Soft skills" need to be taken much more seriously as factors for business success, says a campaign by employers.

 

I could write at length about the use of the term 'soft skills' to describe skills such as "communication, initiative, interacting with customers and team working" but that's for another blog. Although I have written a blog for those thinking "but I don't do soft skills".

 

I can certainly say that when I was first immersed in soft skills training 15 years ago my business life changed for the better. There's isn't a day goes by that I don't use these skills even if it's just to remind myself that how I see the world isn't how others do. Which is why I love the graphic above. A visual reminder that we're all different.

 

What this appreciation of our different world views does is takes out the tone from our language - the tone that says "I'm right and don't need to listen to you" and replaces it with a tone that says "My understanding of the situation is this - what's yours".

 

I use the next graphic, and when delivering workshops actually act this out, to demonstrate that if you keep doing what you've always done to someone you may never open the door to mutual understanding ie you don't push someone when they need to be pulled - or more specifically you don't give someone a detailed report if they'd prefer and take more meaning from a one page visual. 

 

 

The reaction I often get when coaching, facilitating or training this subject is "Why do I need to adapt my style to other people".

http://thepurchasingcoach.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/what-motivating-your-actions.html

It's as if people think they'll lose their identity if they don't express themselves exactly as they'd like to.

My response is always the same "you don't need to change anything if what you're doing is working - if you're happy with the current state of affairs then keep doing what you're doing."

Over the 15 years there have been many responses to my use of 'soft skills' in the procurement training we deliver and more generally in my blogs. What I have noticed in the last 6 months is a step change on attitude. A move away from "it's manipulative" towards one that appreciates that its adoption can open many closed doors. Whether those closed doors are to:

• understanding
• success
• change
• appreciation
• results
• collaboration
• team working
• and so on

Of course you might just see soft skills as fluffy and not want to go near them with a barge pole in which case you might want to read my blog on my response to "But I don't do soft skills".

Before Christmas I wrote a blog exploring this subject more fully and it has been one of my most popular blogs since starting. This interest provided the inspiration to write more broadly on the subject covering such topics as Trust, Change Management, Taking Responsibility, State Management, Creativity and Kindness. This month I've also covered Values, Goals and even shared a great process involving Standing in the other person's shoes.

Happy for any suggestions for future blogs or questions on the subject of soft skills development - either below in comments or to alison@thepurchasingcoach.co.uk or +44 (0)7770 538159

Alison Smith
Inspiring change inside and out - when what you're doing isn't working

The coaching and facilitation I offer is specifically aimed at identifying what it holding you or your team back from achieving your objectives including understanding all aspects of these soft skills. More here on the type of coaching I offer, and more specifically when someone else might be the more ideal coach for you.

Pain or pleasure?

 

I love observing patterns in language - as you will have discovered from my previous blogs.

 

I'd like to share one such pattern I observed in one organisation because it might just help you notice your own organisational culture and therefore help you improve your influencing.

 

The reason for the lull in blogs in December was I was involved in delivering category and supplier management workshops for Future Purchasing * in 3 countries over 3 weeks. It involved spending 12 days with the pharmaceutical client delivering the training to over 70 procurement team members.

What I noticed was the frequency that people used "Pain" to describe or define their objectives.

• Find the pain points for the stakeholder
• What's the pain
• Help them avoid the pain
• Feel their pain

Of course I've heard it used before but not with such frequency.

Step back a minute and of course it should come as no surprise that a company that's aim is to alleviate pain should find alleviating pain coursing into every aspect of what it does.

The benefit of understanding this potential pattern is to then use it when selling ideas within the organisation. Perhaps use of 'health' might motivate their stakeholders to listen to them, however I certainly recommended they use 'pain' more in their language and to notice the impact doing this had.

I then wondered how this might be represented in other industries:

• Transport - destinations and on time or to schedule 
• Financial services - investment and security ?!?
• Education - learning and results 
• Retail - meeting needs 

What words do you hear a lot at work and do they reflect the end product in anyway. Do let me know as I'd love to explore this further. 

Alison Smith
Inspiring Change inside and out - when what you're doing isn't working

* I'm an associate of Future Purchasing - so for more on the category and supplier management work I do with them please visit the website.

Do they know what the potential pitfalls are?

 

Yesterday I decided enough was enough and to get the office chair out of the box and put it together. I hate to admit how many weeks it's been there - although as I've not worked much from home since it arrived that's my excuse. 

I had a home assessment of my office * and was told that, despite my old chair being ergonomically sound when I bought it 7 years ago, wear and tear had done the same to it as I have to my knees and it needed replacing. 

All went well until I got to the placing the top on the bottom and then the diagram failed me. It took me lots of attempts, an aching back and a few choice words to realise I needed help. 

I rang the help line to say I was having trouble placing part C on part D. She automatically said "there's another hole just behind D and that's where C needs to go". I laughed at the simplicity of the solution and asked "do many people have the same problem" "oh yes many" she replied.

Which reinforced for me why in our training we include a section on what a completed template doesn't look like ie what poor looks like. Helping people understand what to avoid - ie providing details of the potential pitfalls others often fall into when undertaking this task. 

In the diagram above all they needed to do was add an additional arrow and a cross to show that no D does not fit in C and then show it fitting into E - simples.

Where might you be spending just a little too much time on what you do want and forgetting to provide information on what you don't want or some of the potential pitfalls to avoid?

Alison Smith

Inspiring change inside and out when what you're doing isn't working 

 

* other recommendations included replacing the footrest and hand rest. They also suggested I keep a better eye on the glare from the window ensuring I used the blinds or screen and to ensure additional heat in the room was placed nearer to me than I had been putting it.