Top 6 Soft Skills for the Workplace
Summary
TLDRIn this EngVid business English lesson, Adam emphasizes the importance of soft skills in the modern workplace, where they often outweigh hard skills. He discusses six essential soft skills: communication, critical thinking, leadership, attitude, teamwork, and work ethic. Adam provides insights into active listening, conflict resolution, and the significance of non-verbal cues. He also highlights the value of creativity, flexibility, and a positive attitude in enhancing one's career and workplace relationships.
Takeaways
- π The modern workplace prioritizes soft skills over hard skills for job seekers and employees.
- π§ Hard skills are technical qualifications required for specific jobs, such as a medical degree for doctors or a law degree for lawyers.
- π€ Soft skills, also known as people skills, are personal attributes like communication and leadership that are not certified but are crucial for success in the workplace.
- π£οΈ Communication is the most important soft skill, including active listening, which involves encouraging, confirming, reflecting, and clarifying what is being said.
- π Active listening is crucial and includes non-verbal cues like nodding, maintaining eye contact, and having good posture to show engagement and interest.
- π€ Critical thinking is essential for analyzing information and making informed decisions, involving creativity, flexibility, curiosity, and out-of-the-box thinking.
- π₯ Leadership skills are important for conflict management and resolution, even for those not in management positions, as they demonstrate the ability to handle disagreements and delegate tasks.
- π A positive attitude, including confidence, humor, and politeness, is vital for building good relationships with colleagues and contributing to a healthy work environment.
- π« Teamwork is key in most jobs, requiring individuals to be open to feedback, self-aware, empathetic, and ready to collaborate with others towards shared goals.
- π Work ethic reflects how well one works, encompassing competitiveness, drive, persistence, resilience, and a results-oriented mindset.
- π The video script offers a wealth of vocabulary and insights into the importance of soft skills in the business world, encouraging continuous learning and improvement.
Q & A
What is the main focus of today's lesson presented by Adam?
-The main focus of today's lesson is on the importance of soft skills in the modern workplace, especially for business people and job seekers.
What are hard skills according to the script?
-Hard skills are the technical skills or qualifications required to perform a job, such as a medical license for a doctor or a law degree for a lawyer.
What is the difference between hard skills and soft skills as explained in the video?
-Hard skills are specific, technical abilities that can be certified through education, while soft skills are personal attributes like communication and leadership that are not certified but are essential in the workplace.
Why are soft skills more valued in today's workplace compared to hard skills?
-Soft skills are more valued because they contribute to effective communication, teamwork, and problem-solving, which are critical in the modern, dynamic workplace.
What are the key components of active listening as discussed in the script?
-Active listening involves encouraging and reassuring the speaker, confirming and reflecting to show understanding, clarifying and paraphrasing for clarity, and using non-verbal cues such as nodding and maintaining eye contact.
Why is it important not to interrupt when someone is speaking to you?
-Not interrupting is important because it shows respect, allows the speaker to express their ideas fully, and is a key aspect of active listening.
What is critical thinking and why is it important for business?
-Critical thinking is the ability to analyze information and situations to make informed decisions. It is important for business because it leads to better problem-solving and decision-making.
How does creativity relate to critical thinking?
-Creativity fuels critical thinking by encouraging out-of-the-box ideas and flexibility in approaching problems and decisions.
What are some examples of leadership skills mentioned in the script?
-Examples of leadership skills include conflict management, delegation, decision-making, and the ability to inspire and motivate others.
Why is attitude considered an important soft skill in the workplace?
-Attitude is important because it influences how a person perceives work and life, affects interactions with colleagues, and can determine their overall approach to job responsibilities.
What does 'work ethic' refer to and why is it significant for employees?
-Work ethic refers to the degree of dedication and diligence one has towards their work. It is significant for employees because it demonstrates their commitment, reliability, and potential for success in their career.
How can maintaining a sense of humor contribute to a positive work environment?
-Maintaining a sense of humor can ease tension, foster camaraderie, and allow individuals to cope with stress and challenges in a more positive manner.
What is the advice given for dealing with feedback in a team setting?
-The advice given is to be open to feedback, listen without immediately reacting negatively, and to absorb and apply the constructive aspects of the feedback to improve.
Why is it important to be self-aware and have empathy in a team?
-Being self-aware and having empathy are important because they help individuals understand how their actions affect others, allowing them to adjust their behavior to create a more harmonious and supportive team environment.
Outlines
π Introduction to Modern Workplace Skills
The video script introduces the importance of soft skills in the modern workplace, contrasting them with hard skills. Hard skills are technical qualifications obtained through education, like a medical license or a law degree. Soft skills, on the other hand, are personal attributes such as communication and leadership that are not certificate-based but are essential for career advancement and workplace success. The speaker, Adam, promises to cover the six most important soft skills, starting with communication, which is critical for both speaking and listening effectively in various professional scenarios.
π€ Active Listening and Non-Verbal Cues
This paragraph delves into the concept of active listening as a part of communication, emphasizing its importance in business and personal interactions. Active listening involves encouraging the speaker, confirming understanding, reflecting what is being said, and clarifying when necessary. Non-verbal cues such as nodding, hand gestures, and maintaining eye contact are highlighted as crucial for showing attentiveness and interest. The speaker also discusses the importance of posture, tone of voice, pace of speech, and the critical rule of not interrupting others while they are speaking.
π‘ Critical Thinking and Creativity
The speaker discusses critical thinking as a complex and highly valued skill in the workplace, which involves analyzing information and situations to make informed decisions. Key features of critical thinking include creativity, flexibility, curiosity, and out-of-the-box thinking. The paragraph encourages viewers to develop these aspects, suggesting that creativity can stem from activities like art, and that being open to new ideas and continuous learning fosters better analysis and decision-making.
π₯ Leadership and Conflict Resolution
Leadership skills are explored as essential for managing conflicts and making effective decisions in the workplace. The ability to delegate tasks, make firm and quick decisions, and inspire team members are highlighted as important leadership qualities. The speaker also touches on cultural differences in non-verbal communication, using the example of head movements to indicate agreement or disagreement, and emphasizes the importance of maintaining a positive attitude in the workplace.
π€ Attitude and Teamwork
The paragraph focuses on the importance of attitude in the workplace, including being positive, confident, and maintaining a sense of humor. It stresses the value of being courteous, patient, and honest, as well as the significance of a strong work ethic. Teamwork is also discussed, with advice on getting along with colleagues, being open to feedback, and showing empathy towards others' feelings. The speaker encourages viewers to be social, collaborate, and contribute to a friendly team environment.
π Work Ethic and Professional Advancement
The final paragraph emphasizes the importance of a strong work ethic for professional success. It defines work ethic as the degree of hard work and dedication one puts into their job, rather than moral correctness. The speaker outlines qualities such as competitiveness, drive, persistence, having a thick skin, and being results-oriented as components of a good work ethic. The paragraph concludes with the advice to keep these soft skills in mind when applying for jobs or seeking promotions.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Hard Skills
π‘Soft Skills
π‘Communication
π‘Active Listening
π‘Critical Thinking
π‘Leadership
π‘Attitude
π‘Teamwork
π‘Work Ethic
π‘Delegation
π‘Empathy
Highlights
The modern workplace values soft skills more than hard skills.
Hard skills are technical qualifications required for a job, such as a medical license or law degree.
Soft skills, unlike hard skills, are not certified but are essential for the modern workplace.
Communication is the most important soft skill, involving both speaking and listening.
Active listening is crucial and includes encouraging, confirming, reflecting, and clarifying.
Non-verbal cues such as nodding and eye contact are important in active listening.
Critical thinking is a key soft skill that involves analyzing information and making informed decisions.
Creativity, flexibility, curiosity, and out-of-the-box thinking are components of critical thinking.
Leadership skills are important for conflict management and resolution in the workplace.
Delegation is a vital leadership skill, involving passing on work to others to complete tasks.
A positive attitude is essential for a healthy work environment and personal well-being.
Teamwork involves getting along with co-workers and being open to feedback.
Self-awareness and empathy are important for creating a friendly team environment.
Work ethic refers to the quality of work and includes competitiveness, drive, and persistence.
Being results-oriented means working towards a goal and achieving the desired outcome.
Cultural differences, such as head movements for 'yes' or 'no', can affect communication.
Humor and courtesy are part of maintaining a positive attitude and work ethic.
The importance of being social and collaborative in a team setting.
Developing a thick skin to handle failures and negative comments without being deterred.
Transcripts
Hi. Welcome again to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. Today's lesson is primarily for business people;
it's business English. However, everybody has something to gain by listening and watching
this video, because what I'm going to talk about is very, very important whether you're
working already or you're going to be looking for a job in the future, because the world
is changing-okay?-and there are certain things that you need to understand in order to enter
the modern workplace-okay?-and the modern workplace cares more about soft skills these
days than they do or than it does about hard skills.
Now, first of all, let's start with hard skills. What are hard skills? These are the technical
skills or the technical qualifications that you must get in order to do a job. So, for
example, to be a doctor, you need to go to medical school and get your medical license.
To be a lawyer, you need to get your law degree. To be a carpenter or a plumber, you need to
know how to use the tools. You need to know how things work in order to work with them.
So, those are the hard skills that you go to school, you study, you get a certificate,
you get a diploma, you get a degree. However, the soft skills are things that you cannot
go to school for. Of course, you can learn them while at school, but there's no certificates
for communication. There's no certificate for leadership or critical thinking. These
are attributes or traits or characteristics-all three are synonyms-of things that you have
as a person. It's part of your personality. Now, this doesn't mean that you can't work
on these things, but it's something that you... A lot of people either have or don't have.
If you don't have them, figure out a way to get them. Okay?
Another way to say "soft skills" is "people skills". So, what I'm going to do in this
lesson, I'm going to give you the six most important soft skills that you need to work
on or make use of in order to get a job, in order to advance in your career, in order
to have a healthy relationship with your bosses and co-workers. And again, even in a social
situation, this will help you make new friends, make new contacts, etc. So, we're going to
do six, but I'm going to do three and three. The most important soft skill that you need
to make sure you work on or develop is communication. Now, of course, communication is a two-way
street. You have to speak and you have to listen. And if you read... If you ask a lot
of CEOs, a lot of human resources managers these days, the one or the biggest complaint
that they have about the new people entering the workforce is their lack of listening skills.
Now, listening is a very important skill. A lot of you don't realize this or you don't
think of listening as a skill. You listen, you hear, you do whatever. Right? So, the
most important thing to do is active listening. And active listening comes in three parts.
While someone is speaking to you, or while someone is giving a presentation, or you're
in the middle of negotiations, or you're in the middle of an interview, or you're in a
class, in any situation, you need to demonstrate active listening. Now, how do you do that?
You encourage and reassure. So, when a person is speaking to you and you go, "Go on. Go
on. Oh, okay. I get it. I agree", all of these things indicate to the speaker that they have
your attention and that they should continue on because you're understanding them. If somebody
doesn't understand you and you don't know, then you're speaking for nothing. So, for
example, if I start speaking really fast and you don't understand me, then there's no point
of me speaking at all. Right? Now, I can't see you, you can't give me these cues, and
I'll talk about cues in a second, but again, when you're in a face-to-face situation, keep
these things in mind. Encourage the speaker, reassure. Reassure basically means make them
feel like they're okay, like make them want to continue, as it were.
Also, confirm and/or reflect. So, to make sure that... For them to know that you understand
what they're saying, confirm to them. "Okay, yeah, I get it. I see." Right? When you say
"I see", it means "I understand", or "I get it" means "I understand", or "Do you mean
this? Okay. I get it." Right? So, ask questions or say things to make sure that they know
that you understand what's going on. And reflect. Maybe just repeat what they're saying so they
know that you caught it and absorbed it. That's another way to do it.
Clarify and paraphrase. Right? If you're not sure about something or you're not 100% sure,
clarify. Put the same thing that the speaker said into different words with the same meaning
to make sure that you're on the same page, that you understand each other.
Now, there are also many non-verbal cues. Cues are signals that you're giving the speaker.
These are very obvious because you're saying these things, the person can hear these cues.
Non-verbal cues means without words, obviously. Non-, no-verbal words. So, you can nod, shake...
Move your head up and down, nod. Hand or face gesture. Okay. Right? So, when I do like this,
I get it. Like, thumbs up, that's a hand gesture. Nodding is also a facial gesture, but surprised.
Right? I understood what you're saying, like what you said was interesting. Show them you're
interested, show them you're attentive, show them you're... Whatever the situation is.
Right?
Now, eye contact. Eye contact is very important. If you can't maintain eye contact with a person
speaking to you, they might get offended, they might think they've lost you, you're...
You know, you're daydreaming, you're thinking about something else. They might think you're
bored, they might think you don't like them. They can think all kinds of things. When you
keep eye contact, they know that you're paying attention to them and they can continue speaking.
Especially, if you're going to a job interview, if you don't maintain eye contact with the
interviewer, your chances of getting that job go down very quickly because it shows
a lack of confidence, it shows a lack of interest, etc.
Posture. If you're standing like this and somebody's speaking to you, "Oh, you know,
I'm probably not very interested, but if I'm standing straight, I'm facing you, I'm showing
you that I actually do care what you're saying." Posture, how you're standing, how you're sitting,
very important. If you're in a chair and you're, like, you know, leaning over like this, not
the best impression. So, again, lots of different things. Now, when you're speaking, make sure
that you're aware of your tone. Like, are you speaking like you're angry, or are you
speaking very casually, or are you speaking very friendly, right? How you speak, very
important.
Pace. So, if you really want to tell somebody what you think of them, slow it down, make
sure that they understand each word, and that way they can follow you. Now, the most important
thing about active listening is do not interrupt. Now, I saved this to put specifically and
in red because this is the most important aspect of active listening. If you continuously
cut into the person's speech and they just can't get their ideas out, then you're not
actually listening. You want to hear your own voice, not the speaker's voice, and then
that speaker will just lose interest and stop speaking, basically. So, communication, most
important.
Next, critical thinking. Now, critical thinking is probably the hardest thing to develop because,
in my opinion, this takes, like, a lifetime to develop. Now, what does that mean? Especially
in terms of business, in terms of, like, a person who wants to hire you for a job, they
want to know that you have critical thinking. They want to know that you can analyze the
information you have or analyze the situation, and then make an informed decision based on
that analysis. They want you to not just jump into a conclusion or a decision without knowing
everything and without thinking what else might be there that wasn't included. What
could happen later? What might this... How might this person react? That's all part of
critical thinking. And some of the main features of critical thinking is creativity. Okay?
So, a lot of you who think that art classes are a waste of time, they're really not. Art
is what gives you creativity. Creativity is what leads to critical thinking.
Flexibility. Don't think that there's only one way to do it. There's always another way,
and another way, and another way. Be flexible. Be open to other ideas. Be willing to try
new things. Okay? Very important. Curiosity. If you think that everything that you know
is enough, it's not. You should always want to learn more. Learning more gives you creativity
and flexibility and lets you make better analyses. Okay?
And out-of-the-box thinking, this is the most important aspect of critical thinking. Out-of-the-box
thinking means don't think only what's in front of you. Always try to add new information,
new situations, new possibilities, and then integrate all of these things into your decision-making
process.
Now, again, I'm just giving you examples. There's a lot of more things I can say about
critical thinking, a lot more I can say about active listening, but these are the keys,
the key features you need to think about.
Leadership. These days, people want leaders. Now, it doesn't mean that you're going to
become a manager. Okay? Even if you're not applying for a management position, leadership
skills are very important. Why? Because there's always going to be conflict. Okay? Conflict
means like arguments, or fights, or disagreements between co-workers, between senior staff and
junior staff, etc. So, conflict management requires leadership. Conflict resolution,
so solving a problem, okay, between people especially. So, if you can show leadership,
if you get into an argument with a co-worker, if you have leadership skills, then you will
be able to find a way to fix that problem, to settle that argument without, you know,
losing productivity at the workplace.
You need to know how to delegate. This is a very, very important verb that everybody
needs to know, because this might come up in interviews, in job interviews. To delegate,
so for example, you have to do 10 tasks, they have to be finished by the end of the week.
You only have time, if you did everything, you only have time to do six of them. So,
you have to give other people small tasks to help you complete all the big 10 tasks.
So, to delegate means to pass on work to other people, and a lot of people, you know, they're
afraid to do it, or they're shy about it, or they just... "Oh, Bill, can you do this
for me?" "No." "Oh, okay. Sorry." If I'm a leader, I will convince Bill to do the thing
I ask him to do.
Decision-making. You have to be firm, you have to be confident, you have to be quick.
That's part of leadership. You have to inspire your team members, you have to inspire the
people under you, or motivate people around you, beneath you, above you, etc. So, these
are the three main ones, let's look at three more.
Okay, so now we got three more, but before I get into them, I remembered one more thing,
and this is very specific to the Indian viewers out there, those of you from India. I was
mentioning before about the facial expressions and body gestures, etc. Be very careful when
you come to maybe like North American or Western countries, because I remember when I went
to India, I had a bit of a hard time at the beginning of my travels there, because Indians,
when they say... When they want to say yes, they shake their head like this, or like...
Like this, which to a Canadian, this means no, but to Indians it means yes. So, very...
Many times there was a little bit of a misunderstanding and confusion, because I would ask something,
and the person would say yes, and I would think, "Well, why not?" And they say, "Yes,
okay, and yes." And I was very, very confused. So, keep that in mind. All of these things
make a big difference in how you communicate with people.
But with that in mind, their Indian attitude was superb. Very positive people, very friendly
people, and that's what attitude is all about. It's about basically how do you feel about
life, how do you feel about work, how do you feel about your co-workers, how do you feel
about your job in general, right? This is what attitude is. It's very important to have
a positive attitude. If you come to work every day like, "Oh, I hate being here. Oh, this
is so hard. My life sucks." Nobody will want to work with you. You have to be happy and
energetic and want to be there every day, and you want to meet your co-workers, you
want to get the job done, etc. You have to be very confident in yourself. Stand up straight,
walk straight, talk straight, do what needs to be done. Very, very important, always have,
always keep your sense of humour. Be able to laugh at yourself, be able to laugh at
situations, don't get angry. Laugh about it. If somebody says a joke, laugh. If somebody
says something rude, well, I mean, don't necessarily laugh. Some things you shouldn't laugh about,
but keep your sense of humour, don't get angry, don't get upset. Life goes on, tomorrow's
a new day. That's part of attitude. Always be courteous, means be polite. If somebody
needs to use the cop here before you, let them. You can wait a second, it's not going
to change your life. Everybody has to help everybody else. Again, be friendly, be energetic,
be patient. Nothing will happen if you get something done ten minutes later. The world
will not blow up. Wait, slowly. Everything will be done, everything will be okay. At
the end of the week, you go home and enjoy your weekend. Nothing will... The world will
not explode if you don't finish this task in the next five minutes. Be honest. Always
be honest. When you start lying to people, when you start cheating, they don't want to
work with you, you may lose your job. Okay? Very important.
Next, teamwork. It's very rare that you will have a job that doesn't involve other people.
I mean, some people obviously are sitting in front of their computer, working alone
all day, and that's fine, but if you're working in a company, in an office, you're working
with a team. Make sure you know how to get along with your teammates, with your co-workers.
Always be open to feedback. If somebody wants to tell you you're doing something wrong or
you could do something better, listen. Don't just automatically get angry and attack. If
somebody gives you constructive feedback... "Constructive" means that it's meant to help
you. Listen, absorb the information, apply what you want, disregard what you don't want.
But don't get angry at people who are trying to help you.
Be self-aware. Okay? If you're doing something that irritates your co-workers, stop doing
it. Okay? If you're doing... If you're dressed in a certain way, if you're... Like, maybe
your hygiene is a certain way, all of these things, just make sure you're aware of who
and what you are and how it affects other people. And have empathy. Always think of
other people's feelings. You don't have to... Like, if somebody's crying, you don't necessarily
have to go fix everything for this person. Just say, "Sorry, are you okay?" and stuff
like that. Like, to show a little bit of caring, it will go a long way to create a friendly
team environment. Always be ready to collaborate, always be ready to help somebody work together
with somebody on a shared goal. And be social. Don't be sitting in your little corner all
day by yourself, not wanting to talk to everybody. Be friendly, be social. If people go out for
a drink or a meal after work, join them. You don't have to go every day. Once in a while
so they like you. Okay? Show them who you are as a person.
Lastly, work ethic. Now, a lot of you might know the word "ethics", basically how to basically
be good and not bad. Okay? This is not what "work ethic" means. "Work ethic" is basically
how well or not well you work. Some people just like to work, they work very hard. Some
people are lazy. Okay? So, don't be lazy. Think about your work ethic because that's
what people are looking for, that's what managers and hiring directors are looking for in employees,
in prospective employees. So, a good work ethic is somebody who is competitive. It's
not a bad thing to be competitive. Being too competitive can be bad, but competitive means
you care, it means you want more, so that's a good thing. Be driven. You want the advancement,
you want the promotion, you want to expand your career horizon, as they say. Be persistent.
If you try something and it doesn't work, try again. Doesn't work again, try again.
Don't give up easily on anything that you want to do.
Have a thick skin. Sometimes you will fail. Some people, when they fail, they... You know,
they go into, like, a little shell and they're too afraid to try anything else. Having a
thick skin. If somebody says something negative about you, don't let it bother you. If you
try to do something and you fail, don't let it bother you. Be persistent. Keep trying,
keep trying. And again, basically thick skin is when you're talking about, like, comments.
It doesn't have to be only comments. It doesn't... It's not only if somebody says something bad,
if somebody does something bad. Just understand that, you know, don't take life personally,
basically, is what this means. It's not... Nobody's trying to hurt you, the universe
is not out to get you. And be results-oriented. A person who is results-oriented is a person
who does something because they have a goal in mind and they want to reach that goal.
They want to get a certain result, and they'll do the work necessary to get that result.
Okay?
So, there you have it. Six soft skills, the most important soft skills, and the attributes
or traits, or at least some of them for each one. A lot of vocab here, a lot of good information.
Keep this stuff in mind, especially when you're going to apply for a job or apply for an advancement
or promotion, etc.
Now, if you have any questions about any of this, you can go to www.engvid.com and ask
me in the comments section. There's also a quiz to help you practice some of this new
vocabulary. And that's it. If you like the video, give me a thumbs up, give me a like
on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel, and come back for more helpful business
English lessons. See you soon. Bye.
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