Digitalization of all the equipment has knotted the world in a never ending loop of technology, younger folks more than adults.
Today’s young generation is under the impression that imparting knowledge about softwares and technological solutions is the only requirement to qualify in reputed organizations. Hence to enhance those qualities, they indulge even more in their laptops, smartphones and other electronic devices.
On the other hand, the way organizations have transformed is totally contradictive. Major firms no longer rely on technical expertise of their employees because technical development is inevitable. The factor differentiating these giant organizations from other struggling competitors is the employee’s soft skills because that defines the quality of a person which favors the company in the long term more than the technical know-hows.
A few soft skills that the IT firms expect in their employees are listed below.
Verbal Communication
With the increasing influence of social media and irresistible indulgence in smart phones, the person to person communication hardly occurs in today’s world. People have become used to getting a pass on facing others as texting saves the effort of actually talking! The negligence of this behavior has brought us to a point where organizations are losing their major stake holders and customers due to poor communication from the employee end and hence started to take major actions to overcome the issue.
Most of the times to get over something, going through it again and again is the best solution. If it troubles you to talk to your peers or any person in general, start getting out more often. To improve your professional communication, instead of avoiding things that are coming your way, take the tasks in your hands, get involved in the group activities at your workplace or if possible, take initiative to start them. Work on yourself and take suggestions from your friends, peers and people who encourage you to open up.
Always remember, even in this digitalized era, the best customers are earned only through real communications and personal meetings and not through video calls and emails!
Collaboration and Organization
Two most essential skills required to effectively complete your daily tasks and meet the deadline are collaboration and keeping everything well organized. List the tasks according to priorities and distribute them to a group of people together instead of assigning individually. This will save time for error correction, improve quality of work and motivate people to bond together.
Connectivity is not just an online thing. To connect with clients personally accounts as the real benefit because they are investing in the firm. Loyal customers are built on a strong platform of faith and understanding. To understand the demand of your stake holders and other business tycoons involved in your organization, spread your network through all the areas, whether it is business sector, IT industry or potential investors. Extending a hand for collaboration is the first step of business expansion.
Problem Solving Approach
How fast an organization grows is more dependent on its problem solving abilities rather than anything else. You can’t start racing again until you get the tire stuck in the mud pit out of it faster. Faster because, we have competition! Excellence of problem solving team is the leverage of a company.
With increasing cybercrime and cyber security threats, it is crucial that every employee of the firm is educated about the basic trouble shooting or error diagnosis process. The frustration to acquaint to the updated systems peaks if the user is totally helpless. Being the experts of the department, help your fellow people to sort the trouble in their systems. Be vocal regarding the procedure of the problems encountered and their solutions so that everyone is aware about the method and gains knowledge on the subject. In case you are unable to solve the issue at hand, communicate it to the desired person. Being there for your people in the time of trouble is least expected and most praised.
Risk Taking
Curiosity dies where failure arises! People are so afraid of failing that they accept the mediocrity instead of chasing the brilliant ideas that flash in their mind. An optimistic environment at your workplace is very essential for the ideas to grow and flourish. Also always promote smart risk taking methods. Handling the downfalls softly will retain the confidence of your employees or peers and assure them of your supportiveness. Everything is a process and patience is the key.
Other important tools for analyzing the quality of your work are criticism and skepticism. Always stay open to the critic review from your users, customers or even your colleagues. The best method for error detection is the user feedback. Therefore, it is very important that you maintain an active feedback system and take the customer feeds into consideration.
Leadership Culture
Leader is a person on whom the whole crowd relies in a crisis for important decision-making. On the contrary, time can demand anyone to come forward to make a call of action in critical situation. Hence it’s imperative that every person should endorse leadership skills irrespective of their position in the hierarchy of the organization
It is vital to remain in a position where you can evolve and adapt to the changes demanded by certain situations and help your team in doing so too. A strong leader empowers and uplifts the team to stretch the limits to take risks and prepares their mindset for the forthcoming possibilities. He is proactive in detecting the issues and finding quick solution as and when required.
The perfect combination of soft skills along with strong hold on technical knowledge will enlist you as the most preferred candidate by any established organization and will filter you out of the mediocre horde. In the end, it’s all about being uniquely qualified!
– Namita Patil
